Hindu helps faithful Muslims fast - Ram Dutt Tripathi, BBC correspondent

January 7, 2004

Hindu helps faithful Muslims fast

By Ram Dutt TripathiBBC correspondent in Lucknow

Barati Lal (right) makes sure the faithful are awake in time for their meal Waking up in time for a pre-dawn meal is vital for Muslims who wish to fast, as their faith demands, during the daylight hours of Ramadan. But the faithful in Lucknow in northern India have no need for alarm clocks during the holy month. They have Barati Lal, a 55-year-old Hindu government clerk. For 16 years, Mr Lal has functioned as a walking wake-up call for the city's fasting Muslims, having fended off early criticism from fellow Hindus. 'A place in heaven' Not long after 0300, he sets off for the city's Muslim neighbourhoods. Dressed in a monkey cap and a long woollen gown, he bangs a cane along the road and calls out through his loud-hailer: "Get up, my dears. It is time to take your meal."

Mr Lal has been waking up Muslims for Ramadan for 16 years

Along the narrow lanes of the Muslim quarter, Mr Lal's arrival is greeted with cries of "salaam". Abdul Wahab, 80, opens the door to greet Mr Lal, and then shuts it as the pre-dawn chill sets him shivering. At the mosque of Chaudhuri Tola, Imam Rafi Ullah and his friends are full of praise for Mr Lal. Allah will surely grant him a place in heaven, says one Muslim. Continue: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3232850.stm