Mumbai: During Ramzan, men who deliver milk, food to fasting families at night

Mumbai milkmen go the extra mile during Ramzan.

For a month every year, milkmen in several parts of the city work over time so that families fasting during Ramzan do not miss their glass of milk or their cup of tea with the early morning meal. For the benefit of those observing Roza during the holy month, men like Fakhrun Jama deliver milk to houses early in the morning, ensuring that the customers have the supply for sehri — the meal that sees them through till the end of the day. Jama (30), a milkman in Mumbra, also delivers eggs and brun paav along with milk. But the duty comes at a cost — he himself cannot fast during Ramzan.

“I start distributing milk around 1.30 am and it goes on till 4.30 am during Ramzan. I cannot go back home during sehri, which gets over by 4.30 am. So, I have to miss out on fasting,” he said, adding that after reaching home around 5 am, he goes to sleep and wakes up around noon. Between 4 pm and 6 pm, he makes the rounds of the houses delivering milk and other essentials. After offering prayers at 11 pm, he goes to the dairy to collect milk. “Even though I cannot fast, I think of this as a good deed. It helps those fasting have a healthy sehri, enabling them to go on through the day,” Jama said.

For the rest of the year, Jama only starts the deliveries at 5.30 am. In south Mumbai, 28-year-old Mohammad Jakeel Khan has been been delivering milk, eggs and brun paav to houses on Mohammad Ali Road for a decade now. “This is my ancestral business. My family hails from Uttar Pradesh and my great grandfather started selling (the items) after coming to Mumbai. After my father took over, he started selling eggs and other edibles as well,” he said.

Khan, who starts his rounds at midnight during Ramzan, said he delivers milk and other edibles to households in 18 buildings. “I have to climb five storeys for the deliveries and go to 18 buildings, due to which I am not able to fast. I did try and fast for a week but as I wasn’t able to work, I had to break my fast,” Khan said.

He added that he only reaches his home in Mazgaon at 8 am. “I have been staying in a rented apartment in Mazgaon. After reaching home, I pray and go to sleep. I wake up around noon and get started with the routine of buying goods in the evening and then selling them at night.”

In other parts of the city, dairies that do not offer additional delivery services during Ramzan compensate by extending hours of operation. Munaf Ghaswala, who runs Ghaswala Dairy on S V Road in Jogeshwari West, said on an average, he sells around 90 litres of milk every night during Ramzan. “We stay open till 1 am all month because there is a lot of demand for milk late at night. For the rest of the year, we sell no more than 10 litres of milk at night,” he said.

On the last two days of Ramzan, close to Eid, Ghaswala Diary stocks between 2,000 and 3,000 litres of milk. “People come to blows in the shop over buying milk. Everyone wants fresh milk to serve to their guests at home,” said Ghaswala. Each year, the dairy stays open for 24 hours on the last two days of Ramzan. “We only shut between 4 am and 5 am to clean the place,” said Ghaswala.

At Imambara in Dongri, the oldest government booth in the area only downs the shutters after 2 am, after ensuring that the last of the strugglers has purchased milk for sehri. Kurban Shaikh, who mans the stall, said customers only have to knock on the door to ask for milk. “The doors of the booth are never shut. Even if I am asleep when customers arrive late at night, I wake up to serve them,” he said.

Shaikh works as a manual labourer, unloading cargo from trucks at godowns in Dongri during the day and has been working at his sister-in-law’s milk booth at night for the past 15 years. “Normally, we stock up about 100 litres a day but order 50 litres extra during Ramzan as people buy milk after 11 pm on their way home after prayers,” he said.

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