Carrying the traditional drums or an iron box and beating it synchronously shouting the wake up calls, the sehriwala move on the streets in the colonies.
Hyderabad: A few days from now the streets in the city will reverberate with the ‘wake up calls’ of the traditional ‘zohridaar’ or Sehriwalas, the tribe that wakes up the people for ‘sehri’ meal in Ramzan.
Sehri or Suhoor is the meal eaten early in the morning before dawn, by Muslims fasting during Ramadan. It is vital to prepare the body for a long day of fasting ahead. The tradition of waking up for the pre-dawn meal is not new. It is an age-old tradition practiced worldwide.
Zohridaar or Sehriwala, as locally called are the set of people who move around the streets giving a wakeup call for the people. The method of waking up people transformed through the years.
Waking up on time to prepare the meal and then eating it is a lazy task for families who are typically unused to the new routine. It is here, the sehriwala comes into picture.
Carrying the traditional drums or an iron box and beating it synchronously shouting the wake up calls, the sehriwala move on the streets in the colonies. Some sehriwalas in Hyderabad use microphones and audio systems to wake up the people during the holy month of Ramzan.
“We leave our homes at 1 am and go to a particular locality we have identified. After taking a rest we start our work around 2:30 am and continue it till 3:30 am or 4 am,” said Jaffar Miya, a sehriwala, at Teegala Kunta.
Here several of them stay on the hill top at Ansari Road and claim to be in the profession for centuries. “People think we are beggars and move around seeking alms. It is not so. Our ancestors worked with different Sufi saints and spread Islam. Waking up for sehri is a sacred duty,” said Multan, who sticks to his traditional attire – a lungi, kurta and scarf.
There are some areas where these people are also referred to as ‘sufi fakir’. “During Urs celebrations we visit the shrines and spend time there. Every group is linked to some or the other shrine,” said Multan.
As an acknowledgment to their service people during the Ramzan donate money, groceries and clothes to the sehriwala.
