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UAE: Meet the Indian who is travelling from Kerala to London on a bicycle

KERALA :

Fayis Ashraf Ali, who is currently in the Emirates for a pit stop, says one of his biggest dreams is to meet his hero Sheikh Hamdan.

Thirty-four-year-old Fayis Ashraf Ali, a hard-core adventurer, has embarked on a big solo mission: To travel around 35 countries in 450 days — on a bicycle.

From the south Indian state of Kerala, Ali is biking his way to London to cover 30,000km. After departing Thiruvananthapuram on August 15 — where state Education Minister V Sivankutty flagged off his journey — he arrived in the UAE via Oman on September 27.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Ali said he entered the UAE through Ras Al Khaimah and cycled through Khor Fakkan and Fujairah to arrive in Ajman.

“I will cycle to Sharjah, spend some time there attending events and then head on to Dubai and Abu Dhabi before crossing into Saudi Arabia,” he said.

The cyclist plans to spend 24 days in the Emirates, the third destination on his list. Here’s a photo of him in Khor Fakkan.

Hoping to meet his hero Sheikh Hamdan

In the UAE, Ali has only one hope – to meet the Dubai Crown Prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

“He is my hero. I draw so much inspiration from his adventurous personality. I sincerely hope to meet him before I depart for Saudi Arabia,” he said.

After his UAE pit stop, he will be moving to Saudi Arabia, where he will cycle across the country for two months.

“I hope to go to the holy cities of Makkah and Medina, and visit every place in Saudi Arabia, where I worked for four years with Wipro before leaving my job,” said Ali, an electrical engineer who has kept aside his professional goal to cycle worldwide.

From Saudi Arabia, he will travel to Qatar, and Bahrain, return to Saudi Arabia then head to Kuwait.

“From there. I will go to Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey and enter Europe through Greece. I plan to ride across 22 countries in Europe and hope to reach London in 2023,” he said.

This is not Ali’s first long journey on his bicycle. In 2019, he cycled from Kozhikode to Singapore in 104 days, covering more than 8,000km. He pedalled through Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia during that time.

No support crew, no hotel bookings

Going on this adventure — without any support crew — is not a spur-of-the-moment decision for the cyclist. In fact, it took him over a year and a half to plan the solo journey.

“I am travelling alone as this is being done on a budget. I am staying with people I meet during my travels. I have not booked rooms in hotels or lodges,” said Ali.

For example, in Khor Fakkan, Ali stayed with some cafeteria workers across the police station.

“I coincidentally went into the cafeteria to eat some food and told them about my journey. They invited me to stay with them for the night,” he said. “Since I am a Rotary Club member, I stayed in some of the club locations in India. I am hoping to find similar support in Europe. If not, I will sleep in a tent, a mosque, or whichever place that will have me for the night,” he said.

The Rotary Club, Norka-Roots, Malayalam Mission, Kerala Tourism and the Kerala Hearts Foundation are supporting the endeavour.

He rides on a Surly Disk Trucker Cycle, sponsored by UAE-based travel and luggage accessories company ParaJohn. Dubai- based Emirates First is also lending some financial assistance to him.

On his bicycle, he carries four bags filled with clothes, a battery pack, dried fruits, tools, and a GPS tracker. He rides only in the mornings.

What inspired Ali to take up this adventure?

Ali left his job as a networking engineer in 2016 to take care of his father who was suffering from a cardiac ailment.

“I got into the habit of cycling around that time. I got my cycle when my father was in the ICU. Unfortunately, a week later, my father died,” said Ali. He believes cycling would strengthen one’s heart.

Ali is cycling to raise awareness about heart health, world peace, health care, zero carbon emission and zero drugs. He is married to dentist Dr Asmin Fayis and a father to two boys, Fahzin Omar and Izin Nahel.

“My wife supports me in every way possible. She is the one who plans my itinerary and posts on social media. She helps me immensely with the paperwork needed for such a journey. She does all this while taking care of our kids and is an assistant professor at the Coorg Institute for Dental Sciences. She is a superwoman,” he said.

Ali says that to make extraordinary achievements, one has to make several sacrifices. “I do not want to go back to work, and I want to achieve something extraordinary before I depart from this world,” he stated.

source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com / Khaleej Times / Home> World> UAE / by Dhanusha Gokulam / September 29th, 2022

These frontline heroes have ensured dignified funerals for COVID-19 victims for over a year

Syed Hussain and Robert Rodriguez have packed the bodies of all 93 COVID victims in Kodagu and continue to work day and night without any leave since March last year.

Syed Hussain and Robert Rodriguez (Photo | Express)

Madikeri :

“I had not observed Ramzan last year and I won’t be able to take part in the festivities this year too. Work occupies a major part of my life now and my job has forced me to stay away from my family and friends,” said Syed Hussain, a forensic department staffer of Madikeri District Hospital, who is involved in packing the bodies of COVID-19 victims.-

Syed joined the forensic department staff in the hospital nearly four years ago and there were moments when he questioned his career choice. “There were times when we had to conduct a postmortem of fetuses and it was heart-wrenching to carry out the job. But it was my duty,” he recalled. Syed, however, stuck to his choice and today he has offered exceptional service as a frontline COVID warrior.

Syed and Robert Rodriguez (the only other staffer in the forensic department) have packed all the 93 bodies of COVID-19 victims of Kodagu and continue to work day and night without any leave since March last year. “We have stayed away from our family since last year. It’s painful not to be a part of the festivities. But we do not want to risk others’ lives. I, however, visited my family last week. It was a short visit and I went to collect a few belongings,” said Syed.

He noted how it is stressful to always work wearing PPE kits and added that all healthcare workers including D-Group employees are working under stress to ensure the safety of citizens. “We have to do away with food and sometimes even drinking water as we are always wearing PPE kits,” he explained. He added that the government has not made new appointments to the district hospital and the existing staff is working under stress. “We do not get incentives for working overtime. Yet, we cannot demand things at this time of crisis and we go about doing our job,” he said.

He spoke out against publicity-seekers on social media and said, “We are working 24/7 under stress. Yet, some people shoot videos inside the hospital and make false allegations against healthcare workers. We do not expect anything huge in return for our work. The least we can ask from the public is respect. There might be a few loopholes in the hospital. But the public cannot highlight this illogically across social media for a minute’s fame. My only request to the public of Kodagu is – please respect all the healthcare workers. We too have family. But we are working for the greater good.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Prajna GR / Express News Service / April 27th, 2021

Ismail Optical: 90 Years Of Correcting Visions

Mysuru, (branch in Gonikoppal) Kodagu, KARNATAKA :

For 90 years, one optical store in our city has been framing and giving correct sight to Mysureans.

Ismail Optical and Co. on Sayyaji Rao Road, founded by Abubakar Ismail Sait and registered as A. Ismail & Bros on Feb. 16, 1932, was the first store selling optical devices, particularly spectacles with corrective lenses in city.

Speaking about how Ismail Optical Co. came into existence, Sadiq Sait, the present Proprietor and grandson of Abubakar, said that in the 18th century, a group of young entrepreneurs from Gujarat migrated to different parts of the country to try various business ventures and in South India they explored cities like Kochi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ooty and Madikeri, etc.

When the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore learnt about these entrepreneurs who were in Kodagu, he invited them to start their business in Mysore. One of these entrepreneurs, was Sadiq’s great grandfather Ismail Sait, who started a supermarket called ‘Ismail Stores’ in 1878 in Mysore.

The Maharaja had gifted Ismail Sait a building to set up his supermarket. In fact it was so large that the building had 11 doors! Even to this day, one can see a painting depicting Jumboo Savari procession with old Ismail Stores in the background displayed at Mysore Palace, says Sadiq.

Ismail Stores was located near Olympia Talkies, which was earlier known as Shivarampet. The supermarket sold a variety of items including spectacles which was one of its kind in those days. When K.R. Circle was being constructed, the supermarket was demolished and the Maharaja then provided another store nearby.

Ismail Sait’s son Abubakar Ismail Sait took over the supermarket business and then added a new exclusive optical store and registered it as A. Ismail & Bros in 1932. A receipt for goggles sold for Rs. 3 and 8 annas in 1934 is still preserved at the present store.

While the supermarket closed down, the optical store thrived. In 1971, the optical store was shifted to the present Devaraja Market building and this store was run by Sadiq’s father Gul Mohammed Sait, son of late Abubakar Ismail Sait. The store had already become famous by then for not only selling corrective lenses and frames but also for selling sunglasses to actors and film crew during film shootings.

Sadiq recalls his father selling sunglasses to actors Dr. Rajkumar, Dwarakish, Srinath, Amrish Puri, Jitendra, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Prem Chopra. The store had also supplied spectacles to the members of the Mysore royal family during the regime of Krishnaraja Wadiyar and Chamaraja Wadiyar, he added.

Sadiq says, in the early days of the business, glasses and lenses were manufactured in their factory which was discontinued after 2005 as plastic lenses came to the market and the demand for glass lenses came down.

“Earlier there were no eye hospitals and only Ismail Optical was testing eyes. Employees of the Railway Department were being sent to the stores for eye testing. All was well untill the building caught fire in 1977 and the store was gutted. It was later renovated and by that time, many eye testing centres had come up,” Sadiq revealed.

Now, Ismail Optical & Co. has 12 branches across Mysuru City which are managed by Sadiq and his brothers. They have also expanded to Kodagu and have a branch at Gonikoppal.

Over the years, Sadiq says they have managed to constantly increase the choices for their customers. “Carl Zeiss glasses from Germany, Altan frames and Crooks lenses from England are imported. We deal with a variety of frames and lenses from across the globe so our customers have choices. We also have qualified and trained staff to repair these frames,” Sadiq said.

When asked about the common complaint about buying sunglasses — fakes, Sadiq says it is very difficult for a common man to differentiate and hence it is best to purchase such sunglasses from an authorised store or dealer and added with a smile, “may be like you get a second opinion from a doctor for health, you may need to get a second opinion about the authenticity of your glasses from an authorised dealer like us,” he said.

Ismail Optical still has eye testing and an in-house eye testing clinic. “Our mission is to provide quality vision to Mysureans and we hope to set up an eye hospital soon to help achieve a cataract-free Mysuru,” says Sadiq.

Innovative – ‘Dial a Spex’

Ismail Optical has also been innovative in their service. In 2016, a unique service called ‘Dial a Spex’ was introduced where a customer could dial for an appointment with an eye specialist and a mobile van, with eye testing equipment and a doctor, would then reach the customer’s doorstep. Once the spectacle is ready, it would be delivered to the patient. This service turned out to be useful during the pandemic.

Awards

The Optical store has won many awards for being the best opticals in Mysuru. In 1996, it won an award for being the Best Optical Store in South India; Best Optical Store in Karnataka Award in 2003 and it bagged the Mysore Excellence Award — Excellent Opticians in Mysore in 2018.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / by S Kenneth Shishir / March 18th, 2022

Kodagu students take refuge in bunkers after explosions

*Students from Kodagu and other cities of Karnataka taking shelter in a bunker at Kharkiv in war-torn Ukraine. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT*

Family members tense as stranded students yet to get evacuated from the war-torn Ukraine amidst rising attacks

The family members of students from Kodagu stranded in worn-torn Ukraine are keeping their fingers crossed and desperately hoping for their early and safe return amidst unrelenting air strikes on the cities by Russian forces.

Sinya Varoke Jose, a 22-year-old fourth year medical student in the capital Kiev, which is under attack with Russian military advancing, has taken shelter in a bunker at a school building with another student from Karnataka. The Indian Embassy asked them to shift to the bunker after attacks on Kiev intensified.

Mr. Jose, Sinya’s uncle in Ponnampet, said the stranded Indian students had given the information that the Indian Embassy is in constant touch with them but their evacuation is getting delayed with rise in aerial strikes on the city, and difficulty in reaching the nearest international border amidst the war situation.

“The embassy officials seem to have told them that they need about eight buses to shift all of them to the border. Moreover, there is a shortage of gas as only 15 litress per vehicle is being provided. Even food is in short supply and they are having a harrowing time,” Mr. Jose explained his niece’s plight.

Mr Jose, who spoke to Sinya on Saturday morning and has been in constant touch since the war began, said her mother lives in a village near Ponnampet and she hasn’t been told about the crisis. “We are praying for her early return. My niece told me that the locals are helping them but the situation is very tense and unsafe,” he said.

*Likith, a student from Ponnampet in Kodagu, who is one of the students from Karnataka stranded at Kharkiv in war-torn Ukraine. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT*

Karthik is constantly watching news channels for updates on the Ukraine-Russia war as his brother Likith is stuck in Kharkiv, one of the cities bombarded by the Russian forces.

As the war situation escalated, the Indian Embassy has told Indians stranded in Kharkiv not to venture out unless told by them even as Karnataka students have so far not received any communication about their evacuation.

“With my brother, eight other Karnataka students are stuck in Kharkiv. They moved to a bunker from the basement of their apartment on Saturday morning after loud explosions. Our prayer to the Indian government is to help them reach the border and evacuate them at the earliest to India as my family is worried about their safety,” said Karthik, an MBA student in Mysuru.

The place where Karnataka students are stuck also has 100-plus students from other Indian States.

Karthik, who has sent mails to the State government and the district administration with details of his brother for help, said Likith, a third year student at Kharkiv National Medical University, was planning to return to India after tensions rose but he did not get tickets. He attended online and offline classes the day before Russian invaded Ukraine. His flight was scheduled on March 3.

The situation appears to be tense as they are constantly hearing loud explosions. From the basement, they shifted to the bunker for their safety and eagerly awaiting evacuation calls from the Embassy, said Karthik, whose mother is a nurse.

“The nearest international border is about 1,500-km. away So, it is very challenging for the embassy officials too to move all of them to the border for evacuation. We don’t know how the situation will evolve in the next couple of days as tensions are building up with essentials getting exhausted,” said Karthik, after speaking to his brother.

Ten students from Kodagu are stuck in Kiev, Kharkiv, and Sumy Oblast. They include Ashwin Kumar B.V., Alisha Saiyad Ali, Billava Likith Koragappa, Chandan Gowda, Akshitha Akkamma, M.P. Nirmala, Arjun Vasanth, Sinya V.J., Mysore Kantharaj Tejaswini and Sheetal Sampath, according to the district administration.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / February 26th, 2022

Ashram in Karnataka’s Madikeri unites those deserted by their kin

Established in April 2017, Thanal Ashram has provided shelter and been a home to many women, including a few who now live happily with their families.

Madikeri :

Solace to the distressed, neglected and the homeless – this resonates as a synonym of Thanal Ashram in Madikeri. Established in April 2017, Thanal Ashram has provided shelter and been a home to many women, including a few who now live happily with their families.

Located amid the chaos of bad roads and routine buzz of the normal world, Thanal is a symbol of tranquillity. Smiling faces and sweet greetings welcome one into the building, currently home to 24 women. Most of them are homeless, and a few others made the ashram their home, after being deserted by their families.

“A 96-year-old woman who was found on the road, was brought to Thanal. The first thing we do is give them a bath. The woman was unclean but refused to take a bath till she was fed. When we gave her food, she ate her fill. This is when I realised that we first need to cater to their hunger,” shared Shashikala BK, an employee of the ashram.

She narrated stories about many women who were, and are, being nurtured at Thanal. “An old woman, Parvathy, was brought to the ashram from the District Hospital in Madikeri. After she was admitted to hospital, no family member came to take her back. She had cancer and she passed on in a few months, after living at the ashram,” she said.

Parvathy was from the Kodava community. “In order to perform the final rites as per Parvathy’s religion, we contacted people from the Makkada Koota and Kodava Samaj. The members took Parvathy’s body for cremation, as per Kodava rituals,” explained Mohammed Musthafa, the head of Thanal in Madikeri.

“Parvathy had no family, but there were many people from the surrounding areas who attended her funeral and bid her goodbye,” recalls Shashikala.

The head office of Thanal is based in Kerala, and is founded by Dr Idris, who is also chairman of the charitable trust. In Madikeri, the trust is run by Daya Rehabilitation Trust, headed by Musthafa. “No one who has a family should stay homeless on the roads. While we shelter the homeless, we look forward to reuniting them with their families,” says Musthafa.

He narrated the stories of Muthulakshmi, Jalavathi and others who were reunited with their families after many years of separation. “Jalavathi is from Uttar Pradesh. She got lost on a train and somehow ended up in Madikeri. She couldn’t speak proper Hindi and didn’t know her address. Her son’s number was traced by Thanal and she was reunited with her family after two years,” says Musthafa.

Like Jalavathi, Muthulakshmi was found in a pitiable state near the Madikeri Bus Depot. Two of her toes had fallen off and her legs were rotting due to myiasis (infection caused by maggots). She was treated for her infection and mental illness.

“During the course of her treatment, she recalled the name of her village. There are many villages by that name and we visited several before we finally traced her village in Tamil Nadu. She was reunited with her family after seven years. No one must stay orphaned if they have a family and Thanal strongly believes in this,” said Mohammed.

However, a few women who have been abandoned by relatives, swear to spend their last days in the comfort provided by Thanal. This destitute home has sheltered over 80 women in the past three years and has united at least eight families.

In case of death, the rituals of the deceased’s community are followed during the last rites. “This is not a home for people from any particular caste or community. This is a home for humans,” shared Musthafa.

The ashram is run by the trust, and with support from the main branch of Thanal. However, it is in need of more funds and benefactors who recognise their social work. Reach out to Thanal Ashram on 9844558896.

Thanal Ashram

Established in Madikeri in April 2017 to provide a home to distressed and homeless women. It has since become a home to many.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Prajna G R, Express News Service / January 23rd, 2022

Madikeri: Woman gets her memory back after seven years, unites with husband

A couple got reunited after seven years in filmy style.

Mutthamma was suffering from psychological disorder. She was admitted into a hospital in Bengaluru in 2014.

She was in the hospital for two months. However, one day she escaped from the hospital. From that day onwards, her husband Rajappa, son in laws Dorai and Nagaraj searched for her everywhere.

At last, Rajappa filed a missing complaint on his wife in Bengaluru police station. They have given up hope of seeing Mutthamma again.

Meanwhile, Mutthamma was found near a hotel in Madikeri in 2017. Her left leg had turned to Gangrene and started decomposing. When the public informed the same to Tanal orphanage, they took her into their fold and saved her.

The organization also gave treatment to her psychological disorder and leg. Her psychological health recovered a great deal.

After Mutthamma arrived from Kerala, she could recall the name and address of her home, husband etc.

Tanal organization tried to find out her family. Mohammed, manager of Tanal in Kodagu had tried a lot to locate Mutthamma’s husband Rajappa.

Later Kodagu district magistrate Subrahmanya was successful in tracing the address of Mutthamma’s husband in Tamil Nadu.

Rajappa, husband of Mutthamma was overwhelmed when he came to know that his wife is alive. He along with his sons in law rushed to Madikeri and got united with her.

Now Mutthamma is back to her native place in Tamil Nadu healed completely.

The role of Tanal organization and giving her back a normal life is highly appreciated.

source: http://www.daijiworld.com / Dajiworld.com / Home> Karnataka / by Daijiworld Media Network – Madikeri (MS) / December 28th, 2021

People paste stickers in support of social movement

Kodagu, KARNATAKA :

*A sticker supporting the campaign for an emergency hospital in Kodagu pasted on a vehicle in Mahadevpet*

In support of the social media campaign ‘We need emergency hospital in Kodagu’, people pasted stickers on their vehicles in Mahadevpet on Tuesday.

During a campaign carried out by the members of Team Coorg, in association with Social Democratic Auto Union, the stickers were distributed to the vehicle riders free of cost.

The riders pasted the stickers on their vehicles, supporting the demand to provide a speciality hospital for Kodagu. The stickers are published by Team Coorg.

Team Coorg Founder President M N Nasir said that the campaign has gathered good response from the people.

Social Democratic Auto Union President Suleiman said that there is a need for a multi-speciality hospital in Kodagu to save lives.

Surpassing all barriers, people should support the movement urging the government to sanction the hospital, he added.

The members of Team Coorg requested the general public avail the stickers and paste them on their vehicles.

Team Coorg members Shamir, Khalil Pasha, Faizal, auto union members Rafique, Jagadish and Akram were present.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by Adithya K A / DH News Service, Madikeri / July 16th, 2019