Drum beating culture at Sehri fades

LALAMUSA: As Ramazan reaches its final days, the air is thick with nostalgia and reflection.

The sacred month, filled with devotion, togetherness and deep spiritual connection, is slipping away. With it, an old tradition that once defined the pre-dawn hours has become nothing more than a distant memory - the Sehri drum beaters. For generations, these drum beaters would walk the streets, rhythmically beating their drums to awaken people for Sehri. Their calls, both practical and poetic, were an inseparable part of the Ramazan experience.

Today, as technology takes centre stage, alarms and mobile notifications have replaced these human messengers, leaving the nights eerily silent. The near-extinction of this tradition is felt more acutely now, as Ramazan bids farewell for another year. The streets, once alive with the echoes of drums, are quiet, and those who grew up with the sound feel its absence deeply.

“It’s not just about waking up for Sehri,” laments a 72-year-old resident of Lalamusa. “It was a reminder of the communal spirit of Ramazan, a voice in the night that connected us all.” Urbanisation, modern lifestyles and changing societal dynamics have gradually pushed this custom into obscurity.

The drum beaters, once seen as an integral part of the holy month, are now relics of the past, remembered only in stories and fading memories.

The few, who still try to keep the tradition alive, do so in small pockets, but their numbers dwindle each year. As the final fasts of Ramazan are observed, the loss of such traditions reminds us of the fragile nature of cultural heritage. The spiritual essence of Ramadan remains, yet the human touch that once made it even more special is fading.