Bygone eras of sehri nighouts?
This time around the scenario feels different, somewhat quieter, more bleak
Sehri runs have been a favourite activity of mine during the last few Ramadans.
With bustling restaurants, empty Dhaka streets and some good company to share the food with, I made some cherishable memories along the way.
Though I am not a fan of crowds, this year the streets felt rather too empty even for my liking.
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The tradition of keeping restaurants open all night began with Old Dhaka's Al Razzak over a decade ago, which soon spread to other eateries of the area and finally to all other parts of the city.
Posh restaurants around the city started introducing sehri deals which would ensure scrumptious meals without breaking the bank.
Also, the idea of going out in the dead of night – without family members batting an eye or roads being too empty to the point of being unsafe – holds a different kind of charm.
During the past years when I used to go out for sehri, I was always greeted with a festive environment with people strolling leisurely and restaurants chirping with laughter.
This time around, the scenario feels different, somewhat quieter, more bleak.
In the peak of Ramadan and that too on a Thursday night, the couple of eateries I went to were graced by only a handful of other diners.
What could be the reason?
Where getting a seat at a food court like Chef's Table was a task last year, this year it was empty to the point of just employees sitting around, waiting to go home.
One of the cleanliness staff there shared that the scene is always like this now. Though the food court at the heart of Dhanmondi remains open till 4am, there are barely any customers except on the weekends.
Our next stop, Al-Fresco Dhanmondi, also donned the same look as only three tables including ours were occupied before sehri.
When asked what brought this on, Mahmudul Hassan, one of the owners of Al Fresco, shared that this has been the usual scene during sehri this Ramadan.
However, he said the trend has somewhat changed as well. People do not crowd the restaurants at the last hour anymore. They tend to come for meals sparsely between iftar and sehri now.
He shared some insight into why there might be fewer people coming into restaurants this season.
One of the reasons might be the lack of disposable income. With raging inflation, people have less and less extra money to spend on fancy meals.
Citing the Restaurant Owners' Association Mahmudul said following the recent fire incident in Bailey Road and the consequent drives conducted by the government in different restaurants of the capital, at least 200 restaurants remain shut in the city.
So, no one wants to take the gamble of going to a restaurant and finding it closed right before iftar or sehri.
For Nilima this is exactly what happened.
"As Mohammadpur seems to be quite alive at night, I'd assumed sehri hours would be the same. So, I'd gone out with my family, some time after midnight last week, for a sehri trip to Salimullah Road, where they usually sell kebabs, halim and other delicacies as such. But to my surprise, everything had closed down by then," shared Nilima.
She continued, "The hotels are usually open till midnight, I thought Ramadan would be an exception. It was quite disappointing so I didn't think to stretch over toward Lalmatia or even Dhanmondi. All I could see was a ghost town with quiet streets. But I remember a time, about two years ago, when the sehri hour meant a massive crowd at certain popular restaurants."
This year, restaurants also failed to draw in crowds due to an upsurge in their food prices owing to inflation gripping the kitchen markets as well.
A lack of suitable options left people disinterested in venturing out altogether.
With multifaceted reasons behind the dwindling crowd at restaurants there arises the question, is this fad stepping toward a downhill battle?
