A dying Ramazan tradition

The drummers of Ramazan also fell victim to modernisation

PESHAWAR:

Time has changed the celebrations of Ramazan in Peshawar with many things of cultural value have either disappeared altogether or fast disappearing.

One such thing was waking up people for sehri in the holy month of Ramazan by local volunteers. They employed different tactics for it including beating drums or blowing a traditional pipe called surna. For centuries these drums and surna were an essential part of the Ramazan inside the walled city in Peshawar.

In the recent times, however, people have become too modern to follow the local cultural traditions. And the drummers of Ramazan also fell victim to this trend.

“There were certain people who were musicians or qawals or naatkhwan who used to wake up people in their respective areas in Ramazan for Sehri inside the old walled city. I remember in the 1970s Ramazan was really a colourful event. There are still drummers and musicians around but they are very few in numbers,” said a local resident of Peshawar Muzaffar while talking to The Express Tribune.

“There were very few wall clocks and watches back then and it was very difficult to wake up from the sound sleep to prepare food for sehrai so there were people who were ready to help by knocking on your door each sehri to wake the inmate up,” he said, adding that the drummers and musicians and naatkhwans were then paid some eidi by local residents on Eid.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2021.