Dubai delivery man delays his iftar to serve customers

Dubai: Often Syed Minhaj Al Deen has had to postpone having his iftar meal for later to ensure his customers enjoy their iftar meal on time.

Working as a delivery man at the fast food chain Burger King, Minhaj Al Deen is always ready to rush to serve his customers.

"But, sometimes it can be trying. You are fasting and you rush to deliver the food and occasionally you come across an angry customer yelling at you."

"Most of the times, customers are very understanding though," he adds.

Difficult situations mostly arise when we have too many customers to serve at the same time.

"Sometimes we get a delivery order even 15 minutes before iftar."

"Despite the odds, I fast all the 30 days in Ramadan," he said.

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Living in the UAE for two years now, he is originally from Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, India.

He works seven-and-a-half hours during Ramadan, unlike normal days when he works nine-and-a-half hours.

Work shift

The employees work in shifts.

"If I am on a shift 5pm to 4am, like today, after work I get to the company accommodation."

Then he prays Fajr and sleeps until the afternoon prayer. "Sometimes I sleep a little bit further, before it is time to get back to work again."

During Ramadan, it is busiest at the time of Suhour. There are also orders close to iftar, but the rest of the day is generally calm, he said.

His family, including his wife, child, parents and brother live back home in India.