No choice but to get dragged to Jamat Khana with the family so they can go pray. I don’t want to go inside the prayer hall so I stick around alone in the social hall. They usually keep it open during prayers for breast feeding mothers or parents with loud kids. I plunk myself against its wall and just wait for everyone to finish their business. If I were to join them I’d feel like the only sober guy at a party.

They sit obediently, like a good slave of Allah, for 45 minutes doing nothing but switching back and forth between chanting and becoming silent on command. I’d rather read a book, thereby doing something productive. I’d rather do all my singing at karaoke bars, which is a better place to get intoxicated.