Outsiders getting free sehri, thankful to young brigade
Scores of Muslims, who are in the city to get treatment for their near and dear ones, are duly keeping rozas or fasts, without worrying to leave the side of ailing relatives and go in search of sehri (pre-fast meal). They are thankful to a 50-member group of youngsters, who champion the noble cause every Ramzan.
Every year during the holy month, the Parel-based group
arranges free sehri for outstation people in the hospitals of south and central Mumbai. The charitable initiative was started in 2012 with just five people looking after the cooking, packaging and delivery of the food. Today, more than 50 people are contributing to the cause.
The centre of this generous pursuit is a small private place near the Premiere Cinema in Parel. Here, food is cooked in huge quantities and then neatly packed to be delivered across the hospitals. At 3am, young men fan out to deliver sehri to the hospitals assigned to them.
Soheb Abdul Jabbar, the man behind the pious activity, said, “Once, some people, who were attending their relatives in a hospital, came to us asking where they could get sehri. It was difficult to find nutritious food at that time. This gave us the idea of what challenges people face in the hospital during Ramzan.”
With time, the group has increased their areas of service and now deliver sehri to thousands of people in the government facilities from Fort to Sion daily. These hospitals include Tata Memorial, KEM, Sion, Nair, Wadia. The young men also ensure to help people at private hospitals if they get a call. Not to mention, sehri is also delivered to the doctors and medical students in these institutions.
“Currently, we are covering all the hospitals from south Mumbai till Sion. Since we cannot reach all the places, we wish that more people start similar food deliveries to the hospitals in the northern part of the city and suburbs,” said Jabbar.