Region | Egypt

Ramadan's wake-up man slowly fades away

Beating a small hand drum, amm (uncle) Mohammad Faisal walks heavily down the streets of the Cairo's working class area of Bab Al Sha'riya, doing the job he has been doing for many years now.

  • By Ramadan Al Sherbini, Correspondent
  • Published: 23:52 September 16, 2008
  • Gulf News

 

Cairo: Beating a small hand drum, amm (uncle) Mohammad Faisal walks heavily down the streets of the Cairo's working class area of Bab Al Sha'riya, doing the job he has been doing for many years now.

But after years of toil, the man is beginning to feel a little unwanted, thanks to technology.

Faisal, 62, is a mesahariti, a man who volunteers to awaken people to have their pre-dawn meal or suhour in preparation for a new day of fasting.

"Wake up, you worshippers of God for your suhour," he hollers in a husky voice as he rhythmically beats his drum with a strip of leather.

Faisal's drum, however, is no match for cellphone alarms.

"People rely on the melodious tones of their mobile phones to wake them up for suhour" he says. A few metres from where Faisal beats his drum, patrons indifferently play backgammon and puff on the shisha at a coffee shop. Others watch television.

"Unlike in the past, many people now prefer to stay up until its is time for suhour," says Faisal.

"I inherited this seasonal profession from my father," recalls Faisal, who is originally a vegetable vendor.

"I used to escort him while roaming the streets of our village in the Delta. We would call everyone by their names in those days."

Faisal explains that he gets food and money on the first day of Eid, which supplements his income from selling vegetables.

Faisal knows his days as a mesahariti are numbered. "My grandchildren refuse to accompany me on my rounds. They say that my drumbeats are drowned in street noise," he says.

 

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