Volunteers deliver home sehri meals to the needy
Members of a few organisations burn the midnight oil to prepare the predawn meal for those unable to cook it themselves during Ramzan; around 400 meals have so far been delivered
When men and women, after taraweeh (special night prayers in Ramzan), frequent their favourite restaurants or have retired for the night, a group of volunteers busy themselves, chopping vegetables, cooking and straining rice, and packing the preparation. For, these food packs will find their way, through the roads and lanes of Hyderabad, to those unable to cook the sehri - the predawn meal.
“Eight years ago, when a relative was in the hospital, the attendants found themselves unable to find a place to buy sehri. When we went to deliver food to them, attendants of other patients asked us where we got the food from. That is when we decided to prepare and deliver sehri, free of charge,” says Affan Quadri of Mehar organisation.
So far, Mr. Quadri, along with his colleague Mohammed Farooq and a team of volunteers led by Mohammed Rafi, have delivered around 400 sehri meals during the first three days of Ramzan. White rice, tamaate ki chutney and tahaari were served.
“One of us buys the ration—rice, vegetables, oils— while another takes care of cooking gas, stoves and all that is associated with cooking,” says Mr. Quadri.
Volunteers led by Mohammed Rafi get to work around midnight. And by 2.30 a.m., the food is cooked and neatly packed. By 3 a.m., volunteers leave the kitchen in Golconda to make deliveries.
“Today, the fourth of Ramzan, we will be delivering to locations such as Narsingi, Abids and the Dargah area in Jubilee Hills. For the family of somebody who is being treated at a hospital, cooking sehri is next to impossible. This is one of the key reasons why we began this. Today, we got a request from Gachibowli for 75 meals,” Mr. Quadri says, adding that volunteers go home to have their sehri meal only after the deliveries are made.
Khalid Parveen, a wellknown activist from Hyderabad, and volunteers have been busy making sehri. While she began her endeavour when the COVID19 pandemic broke out, Ms. Parveen says that since Ramzan began this year, 200 meals are being prepared every day. “As the days go by, the requirement for the number of meals increases,” says Ms. Parveen.