File Photo

By- Mohd Rehan Irfan

From the footpaths to the hearts, this Ramazani Chacha is maintaining the legacy and winning the souls by his Sehri time wake up calls from past couple of years.

Holding water bottles and beating drum with his 4 companions he shouts his lungs out calling “Rozedaaro uth jao, sehri ka waqt ho rha h..,Roza rakho… Allah tmhe barkat dega”

Usually professional drummers who lose their business during Ramazan are hired by local residents for waking them up at Sehri.

He said-“I feel very happy to wake up the people for Sehri. I never enjoyed any event other than the month of Ramazan. It feels like I am doing good and spiritual job. We have a team of 25-30 people, dividing our work in 4-5 groups and we start our journey from the 4 corner of the city and ends at the central of the city. ”

“Drummers are either paid or volunteers, but their Sehri meal is the responsibility of the area people”- he added.

Now-a-days every one of us is having modern gadgets and clocks but this tradition began when there were no alarms. During Ramazan we fast from sun rise to sunset, Sehri keeps us strong throughout the day. Today there are too many houses and going to each home is very taxing so they take loud speakers and sing into it as they walk the streets of Muslim localities.

A man while beating his drum visits the most congested streets, usually around 2 am and he makes sure that the thunderous beat of his drum along with his slogans are loud enough to wake up the residents of that particular area.

Most of the drummers get their pays. They always got new clothes for Eid, as a reward for their good job during Sehri time.

The drummers do perform their duties by allocating streets on rotational basis.

This rich culture of Sehri singers is about to diminish a bit, but it can be saved if people pay attention and do hire Dhol Walas on proper wages for Ramazans.