He gets you water even though he is fasting

Dubai: Six hours into his fast, and despite the small beads of sweat steadily trickling down his forehead under the hot morning sun, Abu Bakr, 42, from Pakistan is smiling as he goes about his work.

The father of three has been delivering drinking water in and around residential areas of Umm Suqeim and Jumeirah for over four years now in his capacity as a representative for Masafi.

At 10am, Bakr is half way through his day's deliveries of thousands of gallons of water to more than 100 homes. The irony of his job during Ramadan, when Muslims abstain from eating and drinking during day, does not escape him.

"It is absolutely fine and this hot weather does not deter me from fasting," he says with a smile, standing on a side street off Al Manara road, his van parked near a small mosque. "Ramadan is not about not eating or drinking, it is about prayer. It is religion, it is personal for each man," he says. "The people I deliver to are always very polite with a smile on their face, it makes it easy to do."

He said he had risen at 3am to have a breakfast of bread and milk before Imsak at 4.21am, the start of the fasting day. "I offer Fajr prayer [4.30am] then I iron my clothes and polish my shoes to get ready for duty at 6am," he said.

"It is important to fast during Ramadan. It is a very special month of the year. It is good for my health and it helps me empathise with people. I am hungry and when I see other people who are hungry, I know what they are feeling," he said.

When his working day ends at 2pm, Bakr heads home to his accommodation in Dubai Investment Park. He offers Maghrib prayers at 7pm in a prayer room near his residence where he breaks his fast with dates, juice "and Masafi water", he adds with a hearty laugh.