ISLAMABAD: Minutes before the sun began to set over the Grand Trunk (GT) Road this week, 59-year-old Khan Zahid steered his Bedford truck toward Bismillah Hotel.
For Zahid, a veteran of Pakistan’s highways, roadside eateries such as the one near Rawat, a town on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital Islamabad, are not a choice but a necessity. Thousands of truckers across the country find themselves in similar roadside stops, also known as dhabas, each evening, pausing their grueling journeys to observe iftar, the ritual breaking of the fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
“While traveling on the road, wherever the time of iftar comes, we stop there, ten, fifteen, twenty minutes before,” Zahid told Arab News, his face weathered by decades on the road. “Then after doing iftar, eating a meal, offering prayer, we set off again on our journey.”
For Muslims, Ramadan is a month of intense spiritual reflection and sacrifice, where the faithful abstain from food and water from dawn until sunset. Iftar is traditionally a communal affair, a time for families to gather around a spread of dates, fried savory snacks and cooling drinks. But for the men who navigate Pakistan’s primary trade arteries, the communion is often shared with strangers under the open sky on charpoys amid the roar of passing engines.
The life of a trucker on the GT Road is one of physical and financial endurance. Drivers frequently spend 12 to 20 days away from home, navigating a route that stretches from the coastal hub of Karachi to the northern mountains. The road itself is a relentless adversary. At various stretches, the asphalt is broken and bumpy, making the vibration of the heavy steering wheel a constant strain on a fasting body.
Zahid, who supports six children on a fluctuating monthly income of Rs40,000 to Rs60,000 ($145 to $215), describes the job as a “test of courage.”
“One has to provide education to children, there are household expenses, my own expenses, illness can happen. All these things have to be managed,” he said as he sat on a charpoy after parking his truck.
The meal at the roadside hotel is functional. While a home-cooked iftar might feature a variety of dishes tailored to personal tastes, the truckers eat whatever is available: lentils, chicken or mustard greens served with flatbread.
“The whole day there is thirst and hunger. Then we sit and wait. Waiting is a big thing,” Zahid said. “We drink water, eat a date, then drink water again... When the stomach is full, it feels great.”
Yet, the physical relief of food does little to ease the emotional ache of the distance.
“I wish that I could spend the fast with my wife and children, live life with them, but the difficulties surrounding us are such that it cannot happen,” Zahid said.
Further down the table, 50-year-old Wazir Zada, who has spent 35 years behind the wheel, echoes the sentiment. For Zada, the challenge is amplified by the lack of sleep and the harshness of commercial food compared to the “simple” meals at home.
“It becomes difficult when I am driving in a state of fasting,” he says. “Having iftar and suhoor becomes somewhat difficult. One has to drive while one is hungry and thirsty. Then at night we also have to stay awake.”
“Whatever we get, we eat it, but it feels good. The whole day I remain hungry and thirsty, so even cold water feels good, and food also has taste and pleasure,” he continued, noting that the hotel food is often “spicy and tangy,” lacking the comfort of a meal prepared by family.
“At home there is activity, asking the children to make this, bring that... it feels very good.”
As Ramadan draws to a close, the focus shifts toward Eid Al-Fitr, the festival marking the end of the fasting month. For most, it is a time of new clothes and celebration. For the truckers, it is a race against logistics.
“Many times, we spend Eid outside ... The children remain there and we remain here,” Zada told Arab News, then explaining that a lack of cargo or a mechanical breakdown can easily strand a driver hundreds of miles from his village during the holidays.
“We feel it very deeply,” he said, his eyes reflecting the flickering lights of the dhaba.
After spending a demanding Ramadan, he continued, truckers try to spend Eid with their children.
“When we see them wearing new clothes and new shoes, and their excitement, we feel very happy,” he said.
