Ramadan in Indonesia

I just found out today that our travel dates (for the Indonesia cohort) are being modified slightly.  Instead of traveling 14-28 July, we will be traveling the 17 - 31 of July.  I'm very eager to travel and the dates really aren't that important, but the reason for the change is that Ramadan begins July 19 and the host teachers in Indonesia said it would be easier for them if we changed our travel dates.  Thinking about Ramadan in Indonesia reminded me of a puzzling incident while I was in Hyderabad.

Hyderabad is about 50% Muslim and while my daughter and I were there, we stayed with her friend, Sahiti, and her parents.  They were a devout Hindu family (at least the parents were!), and I remember seeing her mother doing her morning prayers and puja in the family shrine.  She would always arrive, freshly bathed, and complete her prayers.  When finished, she would ring a bell hanging by the entrance to the puja room.  So, I was used to hearing bhajans being sung every morning.  But one morning, I was in the bathroom and I caught the faintest whisper of an old Baptist hymn: "All to Jesus, I surrender.  Lord, I give myself to thee."  I strained to hear because I thought I must surely be hallucinating, although the Telugu accented English kind of belied the experience as a fantasy.  Who could be singing about Jesus in this Hindu neighborhood?  Later, Sahiti cleared up the mystery by explaining you could hear surrounding neighbors practicing various music in their homes.  At 4:30 AM (I was never up that early), you could hear the neighborhood muezzin's call to prayer for the Muslim faithful.  At 6:30 AM, a young girl could be heard practicing Indian classical music.  And then around 7:30, what I heard, two brothers who are church musicians would begin their practice.  Should I make a pun about them all living together in perfect harmony?  Nah, I'll restrain myself.  Kind of.

So, I can't wait to experience Ramadan in Jakarta, or wherever in Indonesia I find myself.  And maybe I'll be humming a tune.