By Amit Kumar, TwoCircles.net
How much money do you need to be called rich? And more importantly, how much money do you need to assure yourself that you are rich? It is a question that occupies the minds of millions who are, or want to be, rich. But for Mohammed Farooq, a resident of Bangalore, it is a question that barely bothers him. Farooq, who deals in construction, hotels and real estate, is a rich and affluent person no matter what your parameters are: he has a house in Old Bangalore, he just bought a new Rs 20 lakh car and has a big staff of people working under him. But then, for some people it is never about what they do for themselves with their money; it’s what they do for others which make their lives worth living and appreciating. And that is why Mohammed Farooq, the man behind an old age home, a food bank and providing quality education to lesser privileged person, is a person who people thank for his efforts.
Within the first few minutes of meeting Farooq, one can see that he is a jovial person who loves talking to people, irrespective of who they are. Our meeting point is on Mosque Road, Frazer Town, a part of Old Bangalore that still captures the charm of the city. As the founder chairman of Al-Aman Educational and Welfare Trust since its inception in 1995, Farooq has for long been involved in various charity works and says it is a trait that was handed to him by his father. “Zakat is an important pillar of Islam and my father followed it to the best of his ability…the thing is, when we were young even we did not know that he was helping so many people and institutions,” he says with a smile on his face as we head towards the Ashiana Old Age Home, located in the Devanahalli Taluka, about 20 miles from Frazer Town.
Farooq’s father was a well-known publisher and the man behind Urdu newspaper Daily Sultan. However, as demand for newspapers fell by the turn of the century, Farooq, an engineer by profession, focused more on building his business. Today, it is thanks to this business that he is able to conduct a number of philanthropic services for so many people.
In 2011, Farooq, then 38, was speaking to a family friend when he heard a story that changed his course of life. “A relative informed me about the plight of an old family friend, who was thrown out of his house by his children. The man was from a very respectable family, the thought of him being abandoned and left on the streets was very distressing for me.” Initially, he tried to put the old man in one of the existing shelters, but when he found that all were either full or in a bad condition, he decided to take matters into his own hands. It helped, of course, that as someone who dealt with land and property, that he had some land just near the Bangalore airport. “I started the Ashiana old age home with the help of Al-Aman trust with the idea that we will take as many people as we can manage in a way that they never feel they are in a ‘shelter’, but instead a home,” he added. Soon after he started the old age home, he started getting a lot of requests. “There are never enough old-age homes in any city…right? I mean, there are so many people who need a place to stay in their twilight years. Ashiana is just a small drop in an ocean, but it is the best we can do right now,” he tells TwoCircles.net.
Farooq narrates an interesting story from the initial days of the old-age home. “About 10 months into setting up Ashiana, I was there when the doctor came for his weekly visit. The food was being served…the doctor was appalled to see so much fried fish, Biryani, and other rich food items in the menu.” The doctor told him that this food was the reason why so many of the residents are falling sick and told him to immediately change to a simple, plain diet for all the residents. “In the back of my head, maybe even I knew that so much of fish and Biryani was not a good thing for them. But the happiness on their faces when they saw such food being served…we forgot about the consequences. All of these people had a tough life even when they had a family, but when they became alone, it was unimaginable. Some of the people who were rescued could barely even speak. We wanted to make them happy…maybe it was guilt inside us. I do not know,” he says. “What makes me sad and angry is not just how people treat their elders, but also how even simple acts of kindness have become so rare among us,” he says just as we are about to reach the old-age home. Farooq, despite his busy schedule, makes it a point to visit alone or with family every week at least once. Today, the old-age home has about 50 residents and ten full-time workers to take care of every need of the senior citizens. A doctor is available on call, and a nurse visits the place every alternate day to ensure everything is okay with the residents.
It was the same feeling and zeal that led him to start a food bank just a few metres from his residence. Ashiana Food Bank works like any other food bank: it has a three-member team that has a car, ready to go to any location in Bangalore which has excess food to offer: parties, marriage ceremonies, conference meetings, hotels etc. The food is then packed in plastic boxes and kept in two refrigerators which are accessible to all. Apart from that, every afternoon, employees of the Food Bank also serve food to people. “There should be no shame attached to asking for food. We have seen people eat from dustbins, and no one should have to go through that for the basic right of food. This is just a small effort to ensure that we can help not only cure hunger on Bangalore streets but also curtail food wastage in every way possible,” he says. As and when there is excess food, packets are also sent to various hospitals. The food bank provides food to about 400 people, twice a day, every day.
No wonder then, that his efforts have been celebrated and acknowledged by people from across the country. Earlier this year, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate from Keisie International University, South Korea. his year during the period of Ramadan, US-based charity Indian Muslim Relief and Charities organised their Ramadan feeding program in their old-age home. Along with that, IMRC has also stepped in to take care of the fees of 5 of the 25 students that Al-Amin trust has put back in school. “Such help brings a lot of encouragement and happiness. It shows that when you try to do good, people come and help you in as many ways as possible.” Farooq’s next step is to expand the old-age home and build new centres for his food bank. He insists that he does not want to be seen someone who is making sacrifices for people. “I still live a good lie, Alhamdulillah, and tried to provide the best to people who are around me. The only difference is that say unlike other rich people, I sometimes spend less on a certain time to ensure that the money saved is channelled to the old-age home, food bank, children,” he says. Can he give an example? “I bought a Toyota Innova, although I wanted to buy an Audi. The money saved will help the old-age home for almost a year,” he says with a smile.