Member-only story
Mr Rais Khan is a retired IBM and Etisalat Executive who has worked across the globe. He’s one of the kindest friends I have whom I consider a mentor as well. He’s also an author of a famous memoir called The Accidental Gypsy (shorturl.at/dqtMW).
Here’s Mr Rais Khan:
I am one of those few people who had been very lucky in life to go through the tight lanes of poverty to the huge Vista of prosperity and popularity. When I travel my memory lane couple of very bright faces come to my recollection who are responsible for building me into who I am.
Most successful people when they give credit for their success they mention their professors, some successful rich mentors in the form of their professional seniors or bosses or some, famous writers and consultants and so on.
If I honestly try to look for the lamp post of my success first name and face that comes to my mind is ChaCha (Uncle) Emad.
In Aligarh University, India every 3 rooms was assigned a waiter, crudely called a helper who was responsible for cleaning the rooms, serving food from the dining room to 10 or 12 students under his responsibility, taking care of their laundry, making their beds and doing every task which a mother is supposed to do in the infancy except changing the diapers.
At the outset, they were the helpers having to attend to all our duties from 7 AM to 8 PM after which they were supposed to leave to go to their families with 2 meals to take home.
These persons in Aligarh in spite of being our help used to occupy the status of local guardians on whom our welfare, happiness and our peace of mind used to depend.
Without these angels, we were helpless creatures roaming in the hostels without three meals, pressed clothes, unpolished shoes, dirty bed sheets and unmade beds in the evening. They also had the duty of scolding us for not taking care of our health due to drinking too much tea or occasionally smoking.
The person looking after me was ChaCha Emad.
He was a middle-aged quite sickly person so frail that the University had especially allowed him to bring along his teenage son to take care of his duties.
