Touched by Bursa’s Ikraam
Bursa | Wednesday, 21 August 2019
The statue of Osman Gazi in Bursa. The city of Bursa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It was a little after the Maghrib prayers were over, the sky had deepened into a dark purple and night had almost fallen upon Bursa. Uzun çarşı (which translates to ‘Long Bazaar’) and the shopping areas around it were shutting down for the day. Employees were clearing away the items out on display and rolling down the shutters of their shops. The street lights were aglow; the busy day was almost over.
Our group, which consisted of six family members, had had a tedious day full of shopping. We were unsure where we were going so my brother opened up his Google maps and directed us ahead. We passed by the Ulu Cami and came upon one of the exits of the bazaar area that connects to the main road. There was a restaurant on our right that seemed busy with customers and a retail shop on our left which had closed down for the night. As we crowded the pavement, we paused to discuss about dinner and decide where to go accordingly.
Preceding our visit to Turkey, we had gone on a European tour. My sister and her husband had followed their own itinerary while my parents along with me and my brother had followed the itinerary that I had prepared. After a month, we had all met up in Bursa.
All of us related to the fact that we managed to eat a lot of Turkish food in our European tour since that seemed to be the only halal food available in most of the cities. My sister and her husband were telling me about how they enjoyed some delectable Çiğ Köfte (a traditional Turkish dish) in Innsbruck. We too had eaten Çiğ köfte in Edirne and it had been delicious. They were disappointed to mention that they had tried the raw meatball dish in Istanbul too but they did not find it as appetizing as the one in Innsbruck.
There was a bystander on the street who overheard our leisurely, experience-swapping exchange. He was a young man in his mid-twenties and he seemed to have understood that we were talking about dinner. He approached my father, greeted him and invited him along with all of us to eat at the restaurant.
The three of us - by default - assumed that the man was either a waiter or the owner of the restaurant and was just inviting potential customers to eat at his place. It was habitual for most restaurants in Turkey to do so, especially in the evenings when it was time for dinner.
We returned to our conversation while he continued speaking to my father. At first, my father automatically came to the same conclusion that we had. But then the man took him inside the restaurant and told him to place an order and that this was a gift from his side. My father tried to politely refuse and thank him for the courtesy but the man, in Turkish, said, “You are in my city and it’s ikraam from my side”. In the Turkish language, ikraam means a kind of respect or hospitality.
My father finally understood what he meant and selected a single plate of Çiğ Köfte. The young man was insistent on buying a bigger meal but my father gently refused and thanked him immensely. After taking the food parcel, my father wished upon him the blessings of the Almighty and thanked him profusely again. The two said that they would meet soon and he told my father to come back again to his city, and then parted ways.
Before dinner that night, the six members of our family shared a small, but heartening and fulfilling plate of Çiğ Köfte that really brightened our moods. This heart touching incident left a memorable and respectful impression on all of us about Bursa and its people.
Even though the name of the kind stranger evaded my father’s mind, he said, “I have visited many countries in my life - from Australia to Europe - and this is the first time that I have had an experience of this kind. This incident has left an impression that is a kind of gratitude to Bursa and all its people.
“If there was anything I disliked about Bursa, I will completely forego it in compensation to the act of the kind stranger - for his greatness and his love.”