Hyderabad: Hosting and arranging Iftar during the Holy Month of Ramzan is common, but arranging or hosting meals at Sehri before dawn is not common.
Youths in the city this time, chose to distribute suhoor meals (pre dawn meals) among attendants of patients in selected hospitals, inmates of hostels for working women, security guards at ATMs and workers of petrol pumps who are not able to arrange meals for themselves.
Mr Mohammed Farooq, who is associated with various welfare organisations, said that they realised that observing a fast for those who are attending patients in hospitals is not an easy task and many attendants are forced to miss Ramzan.
He said that families are not able to send meals to attendants during the early hours from their houses.
Attendants find it difficult to find hotels around hospitals which provide meals between 3 am to 4 am, he said. Mr Farooq said that last year, they began to supply meals in a few hospitals on an experimental basis and received appreciation and blessings, not only from the attendants but also from the managements of the hospitals.
This time, well before Ramzan, we motivated individuals and organisations to take the responsibility of supplying meals at hospitals and received an overwhelming response, he said.
A group of 15 youths of Golconda is providing hot meals to attendants in various hospitals like the government hospital at Golconda, Premier Hospital, Olive Hospital, Mahaveer Hospital, Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital and Nampally government hospital.
Mr Mohammed Rafi said that they are not only involved in supplying meals at hospitals, but also participate in cooking the food.
“Everyday we change the menu which consists of white rice, daal and sabzi and often a meat dish. We prepare more than 150 packets before 2 am and distribute this in hospitals in groups. We felt that there are Muslims who are on duty at petrol pumps and ATMs on the first night and from the second day, we supply meals to them also,” he said.
The Humanity First Foundation, which has been providing breakfast at Niloufer Hospital, MNJ Cancer Hospital and Gandhi Hospital for the past three years has also started supplying food at these three hospitals and at Durga Bai Deshmukh Hospital during the Holy Month in suhoor.
Mr Shujjathullah of the foundation said that their menu consists of khichdi, khatta, kheema, shami, curd and roti.
Likewise, Mr Mohammed Nawaz has been supplying pre dawn meals to attendants in the Sultan Baazar maternity hospital and inmates of working women’s hostels, while Mr Ishrat Ali of St. Nizam School provides food at Care Hospitals, Banjara Hills.
Deputy Mayor Mr Baba Fasihuddin arranges daily pre-dawn meals near his residence in the Borabanda area, in which non-Muslim leaders of the TRS serve food to the fasting people along with their Muslim friends.
He said that this is the fourth year he is arranging suhoor and arranging Iftar in mosques in surrounding areas on alternate days.
