On Eid Meet The Man With An Unusual Job, Keeping An Age-Old Tradition Alive

Mohd Rais, too, has been doing something special in order to please his lord. He takes to a being a ‘bangi’ during the month-long festivities and devotes the entire day to praying and working for the people. A ‘bangi’, as he is known in Old Delhi, is most often a man who is assigned by the local mosque to become a public waker for sehri – the pre-dawn meal Muslims have before they begin the fast everyday – during Ramzan.

 

Bangis are known as messaharatis in the Middle East. The bangi roams around in streets and calls out the names of the residents often carrying a stick to bang on the doors or plays a small drum. Rais has been a bangi for the past 14 years. He took over his father’s legacy. “During Ramzan, my day begins by waking up the residents of Jama Masjid area in Old Delhi. It takes me around one-and-a-half hours to call out names of almost 300 people.” His love for Allah and for his fellow Muslims is the driving force for the man.