Waiting for the moon to shine

Last year, sometime after Ramazan, I was at the Jinnah International Airport, on my way to Lahore. In the boarding lounge, I saw a bearded gentleman with a soft stance, waiting to board his flight too. He looked familiar and he also looked apologetic. I suddenly realized that this was the most popular face of Pakistan’s Ruet-e-Hilal (Moon sighting) Committee. People sitting and standing around me also recognized this religio-celeb, and nudged each other, commenting on him. “Yahee to hai jis kee wajha se Eid ka chaand raat ke gyara bej nazar aate ha.” (He is the one because of whom ...