Hyderabad: Elderly men make wake-up calls to 'rozadars' during Ramadan

Hyderabad: In these days of advanced technology of using mobile phone alarms and digital clocks to wake up, in a tradition that goes back to decades, several elderly men take up live singing naats (hymns) to wake up people for Sehri (pre-dawn meal) for the Ramzan fast.

There was a time when the 'Sehri-ke-fakeer' (who calls for sehri) used to wake up people with drums for a pre-dawn meal, the tradition, had great importance. This was used to perform the duty for earning rewards in the holy month. However, with time, this tradition has declined, but now people are waking up people for sehri.

In Hyderabad, mostly in the narrow lanes of Purana sheher, at around 3 am pre-dawn one can observe that elderly men call for sehri. "This is to give a call to Muslims towards the almighty and Prophet Mohammed. I am doing his duty in the month of Ramzan," said Syed Muneer, a sexagenarian, who has been waking people up for sehri for the last three decades in Hussaini Alam and surrounding areas.

Shockingly, he is blind and not a professional drummer. He just performs this for earning rewards in exchange of one's good deeds. "Earlier, I used to call without any mic or digital speaker, but one has donated me the digital speaker. With this speaker, while walking I call for sehri chanting 'Sehrikaroutho, Ramzan kerozedarosehrikaroutho, while singing hymns. Starting at 2:30 am, I visit the areas like Osman Bagh, Kamatipura, DoodhBowli, Hussainialam areas," said Muneer.

He is encouraged by appreciation he gets from people during the holy month. Hence, he is continuing with this for more than three decades. Muneer said he will serve like this till his last breath. For the last three years, he has been helped by his son, Syed Tanveer, a student.

Taking the tradition to a new level, 69-year-old retired municipal inspector Syed Osman rides through the dark lanes of Golconda, Tolichowki, and its surrounding areas on his bike with a speaker playing a hymn.

Osman said that since his retirement, he has been waking up the community for a sehri at night. "Waking up people for sehri is also a good deed. Riding my bike equipped with a sound system playing the hymn I reach localities to wake up people for sehri. I take the bike ride as I can reach more areas and more people," he says.

Another, sexagenarian, Shaikh Yousuf of Nampally, travels several kilometers and returns before dawn. Even though he does not have a cell phone of his own, his vehicle (TVS moped) keeps moving in the lanes and bylanes of localities covering parts of Old City to Tolichowki.

Yousuf has a headphone attached with a microphone to communicate loudly. "This has made my work easy; I travel longer distances now and serve more people." To those who perform this duty in Ramzan, a few residents will be giving cash, clothes and rations of their freewill.

A tradition to stay up till sehri is also fast becoming common. A majority of youth remain awake all night, spending time at hotels, restaurants, due to which the importance of those who wake people up for sehri is declining.

Mostly, the alarm system is used in homes. In certain families, relatives wake each other up, while in some, the guards at home are deputed to do this task.

History

The ritual of waking up people for sehri exists in the Muslim world since centuries. According to a tradition, the first-ever proclaimed drummer was Hazrat Bilal who was also the first muezzin of Islam. Prophet Mohammad made Hazrat Bilal responsible for waking up Muslims in Madina for sehri. This ritual still continues in various countries.