LUCKNOW: One does not need to make a spectacle to express one’s benevolence. However, small gestures can be enough to create a bonhomie. The case of Gulab Yadav of Kauria village in Mubarakpur town of Azamgarh district in eastern UP, is not very different. He is setting an example of mutual respect by serving ‘Rozedaars’ (practioners of fast) in the holy month of Ramzaan in his own novel way.
Like a custodian of the much talked about Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb of Uttar Pradesh, forbearance and comity come naturally to Gulab Yadav who has been willingly following a 48-year-old tradition set by his father Chirkit Yadav in the village in 1975.
Gulab, along with his son Abhishek, has been carrying his father’s legacy with pride — he makes it a point to wake up all the Muslims residing in his village for ‘Sehri’ (morning refreshment before starting day-long Roza).
He follows the practise religiously, without a miss, on all the days of the holy month of Ramzaan. As per Gulab Yadav, he gets out of his house in the dead of night at around 1 am daily with a baton in one hand and a lantern in the other and visits the localities where Muslim families live.
Even the residents of Kauria village claim that it is not that only a few families of Muslims live there. Over 200 Muslim families live in the village and Gulab visits every door daily without fail, as his duty to wake up the Rozedaars (practitioners of fast) for ‘Sehri’ so that they don’t miss the time.
As per the villagers, Gulab is a labourer working in other states to make both ends meet. However, he ensures to return to the village with the advent of the holy month of Ramzaan to serve the Rozedaars.
“Every night, he starts knocking at every door of Muslim families, calling them by their name and asking them to wake up for Sehri. He is so particular that Rozedaars don’t have to worry about the Sehri time,” says a villager Hari Om Yadav. Another adds that the prayers and wishes which Gulab gets from Muslim families are his biggest earnings.
Yadav, reluctant to come on a call for the interview as he thinks his gesture is not an extra-ordinary one, believes that the tradition started by his father brings the two communities closer. They have been living together for ages in each other’s thick and thin.
Drawing solace from the practice, Yadav is committed to continue the tradition till his last breath. He thinks that his son Abhishek will carry it after him. The fellow villagers appreciate Gulab’s resolve so much so that once he had returned without attending the wedding of his nephew.