by Hummam Sheikh Ali
DAMASCUS, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Syrians in the capital Damascus are enjoying the holy month of Ramadan for the first time in the over six-year-old conflict, as the situation in the capital is leaning toward relative calm.
Throughout the last six years, all aspects of life for the Damascenes have been impacted negatively, and Ramadan was no exception.
Before the war, the markets and bazaars in Damascus used to be bustling with people and shoppers until late night hours, with coffeeshops jam-packed with people sipping different kinds of cold and hot beverages, while most of them puffing white clouds of smoke from their shishas.
For Muslims, Ramadan is the best month in the Islamic calendar, where Muslim abstain from food, drink and sex from dawn to dusk as a form of purification.
It was a month for families to get together and celebrate the holy month while reviving old traditions.
But the Syrian crisis has stolen all of Ramadan's glamour, sending people cowering in their homes, with the worship and the spiritual side largely eclipsed by the woes and bitterness of war.
The late nightlife of Ramadan disappeared during the long years of crisis, but the situation has apparently changed.
Following the implementation of the internationally-backed de-escalation zones' deal, which saw a cease-fire in several Syrian areas, including the capital Damascus last May, the Damascenes have started sensing a kind of normalcy again with the absence of the explosion and shelling sounds.
With the calm that has been coupled with the deal, life started returning to normal, in the sense of security at least, and such tranquility has positively reflected on the attitudes of the Damascenes in Ramadan, as the late night getaways and events started taking place again.
In the old city of Damascus, in front of the time-honored Grand Umayyad Mosque, people started returning to their late night prayers and events.
Just outside the mosque, Sufi dancers held their first event in years, whirling with their white robes and entertaining tens of people gathering to enjoy the show.
"I have come here because the situation is now secure and we have missed such events for a long time particularly that in previous Ramadan during the crisis, the night events were nonexistent," Sahar, an 18-year-old girl, told Xinhua as she was excitedly watching the performance of the Sufi dancers in old Damascus.
"Now you can see people, you can see movement and more people, something we haven't seen in a long time," she said.
Other people also shared the same optimism, loving the scenes of happiness they were watching as if their eyes were longing to see happiness, either in the eyes of the children who were playing in a water fountain or the beautiful light show in the Umayyad Mosque.
Layla, another student, of those who spend large chunk of their lives in the crisis, told Xinhua that such scenes instill hope that this crisis will come to an end, hopefully soon.
"I feel that this year is the year of hope for us by God's will ... the atmosphere is so good and I came here to enjoy the show and to buy my two-month-old daughter new clothes and I hope the situation could remain calm," she said.
As for the teenage boys, the calm situation in the capital played largely in their hands, as their families used to prevent them from going out late during the crisis.
Khamis was only 10 when the crisis began, so he technically missed out on most of his teenage out of his parent's justified fears.
Now, he is hopeful than ever that he could live as a normal teenage now that the situation has become better.
"Throughout the last years, my parents were so strict with me because they feared for me due to the mortar shells and frequent explosions, but now I think the crisis is over and our country is fine," he said.
