A group of residents of the old part of Bangladesh capital Dhaka hold an event to recall the centuries old Qasida tradition on Wednesday. Qasida, a melodious song performed by a group of singers to wake up Muslims for Sehri (pre dawn meal) during Ramadan, has become a dying culture in Dhaka in the last decade. “If we want to sing and wake up people, some get disturbed, even the people of Dhaka get disturbed. If we knock at someone's door for some tips (for the men who wake up people), people will say that we are extorting them. Then why will I take this responsibility, and why will I allow someone else to behave rudely with me?”, said 56 year old Shukur Salek, one of the organizers of the event. 70 year old Bhutto Mia, who has been performing the duty for 40 years in Old Dhaka, said that the usage of digital technology and people’s reluctance are behind the decline of the Mughal era culture. “It has declined because everyone has mobile phones and TVs in every household. Also, some people fast, and some don’t fast nowadays. However, we have kept our tradition still”, he said. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES