Job Discussion Forums

[justme]

Where's my cupcake?!

[Baba Alex]

[justme]

Bad dog! Sit!

[bigbadsuzie]

Got really teed off with them this week ,so when he came around on Fri I sat on the balcony with the alarm clock going and the pocket phone chiming in unison ,the look on the drummers face was a picture !
The next night I did the same ,this time three of the ne,ghbours joined in as well ,well we laughed, but , the drummer was not amused . The following night there were 10of us waiting for him the look of shock on his face was just out of this world .
Do you think we could start a movement in the country perhaps those whom want to get up and eat can use their alarm clocks and mobiles as well ?It would certainly cause a laugh . Do we all have to suffer because a few people want to do this ,usually after a fortnight they pack it in anyway woft .

[Baba Alex]

We don't get them down our way this year. Which is a shame because they could help me keep time when I do my piano practise.

[calsimsek]

Word to the wise.

The local Vali in Kartal, Kadik�y and Beşiktaş have banned the drummers this year. If any come around you can call the cops or the local zabita and have them removed.

So far this year a few drummers have been around my area, far less than last year.

In the past each area had one brummer and job went from farther to son, they came around twice a year on the 15 day and last day of the fast. Now you don't know who's who and their round all the time to get cash.

[whynotme]

we have got 3 alarm clocks+our mobile phones at home but i still want to hear the beat of the drum. I find it a part of my culture and cant think of a Ramadan without a drummer. It is like a Christmas without Santa Claus or jingle bells.

[Baba Alex]

[saloma]

My father was into Christmas in a BIG way! He had all sorts of elaborate schemes designed to make my sister and I BELIEVE! Reindeer footprints in the snow! Tape recorders attatched to timeing devices! He was oh-so dissapointed to see us grow up.

He woke us up at 5:30 every Christmas morning to open presents. Nowadays, when we actually get home for the holidays, we have to insist he let us sleep until as LEAST 7am!

Every culture has their quirky traditions. I think it would be a shame if the drummers dissapeared.

P.S.- If my family were Turkish, my dad would be a drummer. Actually, my dad IS a drummer, his band practices made it impossible for my sister and I to do homework in the house during elementary school.

[molly farquharson]

There is a cannon for iftar somewhere here is Beyoglu but I don't know where-- anyone know?

I saw on the news some time back that a lot of drummers come to istanbul specifically for Ramazan. I doubt that they are casing out the joint. "My boy" is a local and if he is making some money while keeping up the tradition, why not? He is providing a service and I am impressed that a teenager would get up so early for a month. His friends go with him sometimes, which makes it evern more impressive. One year I saw them as they came around to collect, and they were dressed up in funny costumes and sang a song, something like 'we woke you up all Ramazan, please give us a tip". I gave them money and candy

[bron]

I'm with the pro-drummer camp. It's sad to see traditions die, and I'm such a sound sleeper they never wake me anyway! I only hear them if I happen to be awake anyway.

[calsimsek]

It's sad to see that most so called 'modern Turks' want to do away with the drummer boys, yet most Yabacis want to keep up the tradtion.

[yaramaz]

I like the drummer boys. In Kayseri we used to wake up and dance on our balcony because our neighbourhood boy was truly funky in a James Brown way. Last year, when I moved to Istanbul, I really missed the drummer. This year I can hear him... but faintly, from the back depths of my flat.

I cant help thinking I really like it because I come from a place (far far away) where we don't really have any traditions. Or culture (aside from the native folks, but theirs isnt exactly mine to borrow). Its kind of calming to know that the drummer boys have been doing their thing for eons. That's cool.

[justme]

Yeah, I miss the drummer boys too! We don't have them out in the 'burbs but I always found it interesting rather than a disturbance-- something special to associate with this time of year.

Yaramaz is totally right about the funky drummers-- the one we had in Bakırk�y was so crazy that when I actually saw him as I was stumbling home one night, I was completely shocked that he was just one person!

[dmb]