Back in 2008, Sarbani Ghoshal and her family were struggling for over two years to get a two-bedroom accommodation which her husband was entitled to. 

One evening while Sarbani was out on her routine walk, she heard the call for prayer ( Azaan) and wordlessly whispered to herself, "If I get the accommodation, I shall fast during Ramadan."

As she headed back home, she came across one of her neighbours in the elevator. 

"She informed me that the flat had been sanctioned to us and we could shift immediately. I was shocked beyond measure. It was nothing short of a miracle," Sarbani, a non-Muslim, tells Khaleej Times. 

Keeping the promise she made to herself, Sarbani began to fast for the first time that year during Ramadan. She says it made her feel composed and filled her with a sense of patience. Sarbani continued to keep the fast every Ramadan from then on.

Missed fasting 

Life's vicissitudes didn't cease for Sarbani. In 2014, tragedy struck her family when her husband suffered a sudden cerebral stroke, which affected 75 per cent of his brain. It rendered him jobless.

Recalls Sarbani, "It was 2014. I was in India with my family and could not fast for the first time since I started to. As soon as we came back to Dubai, my husband suffered a stroke, leaving him bedridden for long." 

At that time, Sarbani's son was in Class 9, while her daughter was 7-year-old. The family was left with no means of income.

Sarbani says, "Having moved to Dubai in 1997 after marriage, I had quit my job to look after my children. After a gap of 14 years, I had to take up a job again." 

"My son was at a crucial juncture of his studies. And I had no choice but to earn a livelihood to run the family." 

Sarbani got a job as Assistant Manager in Marketing with an India-based company. After two years, she was promoted as GCC head in the same firm. Her children were able to continue their education, without any breaks. 

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