Qatar's senior most Kannadiga - Syed Abdul Hye
6 decades of bonding with Doha
On account of Qatar's National Day on December 18, a team of Qatar's radio station - Olive FM invited Syed Abdul Hye to share his life's journey and experiences on the radio station's premier show - Red Carpet.
The half-an-hour-long interview was laced with the deliberate words of Hye. It elicited a great appreciation from the listeners. Aniruddh, the interviewer, said, "this was the most wonderful interview I ever had in my life."
Young Syed Abdul Hye
While, Radio Olive Director Amir Ali said, "An elderly person like Syed Abdul Haye visiting our studio is a matter of great pride and prestige for us."
Syed Abdul Hye with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
Syed Abdul Hye is basically from Mangaluru's Bikarnakatte. He is the eldest son of Maulana Syed Yunus Saheb a senior scholar and an expert of Persian Language. In 1959, when he was just 17, he left his home and started his journey towards Qatar in search of a job. He first went to Mumbai, and it took three days by ship to reach the City. There he had to spend three weeks for visa and other formalities. He traveled by the Vessel Dara and reached Doha after travelling for a week. Hye, initially worked as an employee for a few years in Qatar and gradually, launched his own business after a few years. He started Al-Maha Super Market and provided job opportunities to many Indians. His first salary in Qatar was a meager Rs. 350 per month. Three months later, he earned an increment of Rs. 50. Hye could save one hundred rupees from his salary and send it to his home in India. However, he had to pay three rupees for the post.
Kannadiga Abdul Hye is well-known to three generations of Indians, Pakistanis, and the locals in Qatar. Besides Kannada, Tulu, and Byari languages, Abdul Hye can communicate well in 17 other languages.
He speaks Arabic just as fluently as a native Arab does and speaks Malayalam like any Keralite. In addition, he has excellent command over Urdu and Persian languages. Some of his couplets, which he recited in Urdu Mushairas, are very popular among Urdu circles.
For example:
Milay Khushk Roti Jo Azad Rehkar,
Wo Khauf o zillat ke halwe se behtar
(The dry bread that is earned while being in freedom, is better than the 'Halwa' earned through fear and disgrace)
Ishq par kar doon fida mai apni sari neamaten,
Magar azadi pe mera ishq bhi qurban hai
(I would sacrifice everything with me for the sake of love, however, I would sacrifice my love for the sake of freedom)
Some of the statements of Syed Abdul Hye are remarkable:
"Life is a valuable opportunity. Use it exquisitely without wasting a single moment".
" If you have time, use it either to learn something or to teach others from what you know".
" Wealth, money, etc. have their own importance. But money is not everything. No wealth can bring the pleasure that comes to you by helping others".
Abdul Hye, who has been in Qatar for the past 60 years, has seen five great monarchs who ruled Qatar, in succession. He has recorded the memories of his days in Qatar, in the form of brief notes in his personal diary. Besides, he has with him an amazing collection of over 10,000 photos clicked by him during the past six decades. The collection can be treated as a record of different dimensions of Qatar over the past few
decades. He says that the Islamic Culture of Qatar and its tradition of looking everyone equally and providing every possible help to those in need deserves to be popularised.
According to Hye, the life of Haji Hamza, owner of the legendary Bismillah Hotel of Qatar, is an ideal for all.There was a time when Haji Hamza used to sell tea in the market, holding a pot of tea in one hand, and a stove to heat it, on the other. Later, he started a hotel of his own. One unique feature of his hotel was that anyone coming from India to Qatar seeking of a job, Bismillah Hotel used to provide him meals for free until he got a job. The beneficiary would pay his dues later in monthly installments after getting employed. This facility was a great boon to hundreds of unemployed Indians newcomers in Qatar.
Speak to Abdul Hye Saheb and you will come to know hundreds of such inspiring stories. Speak to him on any subject under the sun, be it nature, religion,literature, culture or history, Abdul Hye will not only educate you but will enlighten you. That is the reason, those who know him refer to him as a walking encyclopedia.
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Feels good when you get most decisions right: KL Rahul
Lucknow (PTI): Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul was chuffed to get most of his decisions right as he guided his team to a convincing eight-wicket win over defending champions Chennai Super Kings in an IPL game here on Friday.
Rahul had a good day in office as he was spot-on with his bowling changes and also took two catches and affected a stumping before returning to smash a match-winning 53-ball 82 to boot with.
"Feels good at the end of the day, When you win, looks like you make all the decisions right," said Rahul, who was adjudged the Player of the Match, during the post-match presentation.
"Impossible to get all right. Depends on the kind of wicket we are playing on and the kind of batters there are. We spend time doing homework on tactics and strategy and we spoke about them not settling against one style of bowling."
LSG had kept things under control before Moeen Ali (30 off 20) and MS Dhoni (28 off 9) went on a six-hitting spree to take CSK to a fighting 176 for six.
"Halfway stage, I would have been happy with 160. Felt the wicket was slow, a bit of grip but not too much. 160-165 would have been ideal.
"But MSD walks in and the bowlers feel intimidated. He walks in and bowlers were under pressure, the crowd was really loud, he has done it in the past."
Chasing 177, Rahul (82) and De Kock (54) batted with authority during their match-winning alliance of 134, the highest partnership for any wicket at the Ekana Stadium, as LSG scored 180 for 2 in 19 overs.
"Felt that if we bat well, we could chase it down. I have been trying to assess the situation and today it came off. With Chennai's spinners, they tried to put brakes on us," he said.
"We tried to get to a good start. Tried to take them down, luckily it came off. When your partnership goes on, you can take a few more chances. Glad that it happened."
Ruturaj Gaikwad, the CSK captain, said his team was 10-15 runs short with dew coming in.
"We finished off very well, couldn't have asked for more. But after powerplay, we couldn't kick on till 14-15th over. We lost wickets regularly and were 10-15 short.
"Slightly difficult to bat but with Impact Player rule you need an extra batter. With dew coming on later, felt 180-190 could have been good."
CSK bowlers couldn't produce a breakthrough as Rahul and De Kock batted well in the powerplay and Gaikwad agreed they needed to bowl better in the first six overs.
"[Bowling in the powerplay] is one area we would like to improve, puts opposition on the back foot if we can get wickets in the powerplay. Good to play them again soon, will come back with homework done," he said.
The two teams will again face off on April 23 at Chepauk.
