We made the most of it: Gauahar Khan on her first trip to Mecca with Zaid Darbar

Ramzan, a month long festival of fasting and praying is always special for islamic community around the world. And this Ramzan was extra special for model actor Gauahar Khan, for Khan got to visit Mecca with her husband, actor and content creator Zaid Darbar, for the first time. “It was my first time with Zaid and Zaid’s first time there as well,” says the Begum Jaan (2017) actress.

The couple was planning to do Umrah (an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca ) ever since they got married in December of 2020, but the plans were kept at halt because of the looming pandemic. Now, after two years Mecca opened and a six day trip finally happened. “Initially we were planning we both will go, but we also decided to take our moms. Then the plan kept increasing and families kept adding on. My family joined us from Dubai and UK, Zaid’s family joined us from Bombay,” says Khan.

Talking about the family trip Khan adds, “We all shared a lot of nice moments together. Doing sehri (the early morning meal before the day long fasting) and iftar (the meal to break the fast in the evening) together, praying together. We made the most of it.”

Describing the feeling of doing an Umrah during Ramzan Khan says, “It was the best time to pray and to be close to Allah. It’s a very personal time with your almighty, you can’t really explain it. It is an extremely emotional awakening when you are there.”

On the work front, Khan has a busy year ahead and is shooting back to back. However during Ramzan the Ishaqzaade(2012) actor tries to not take up too much work. She says, “Rozas are all about controlling your instincts, whether it is about food, using foul language or from doing minor bad things that you generally don’t pay much attention to.”

For her Eid plans Khan is looking forward to spend time with family and gorge on a lot of food. “Now that I am married there are always double celebrations, where both of our families are involved. Its all about food on Eid. We kind of celebrate all the days we have fasted by eating a lot,” she laughs.