Yusuff Ali became the standard bearer of family tradition

The day after M A Yusuff Ali's mother died, an aged woman went to his house to meet him. As is his wont, he told his men to help her out. The visitor, however, insisted on seeing Yusuff Ali. When he went out to see the woman, she held out a packet in her shivering hand.

Yusuff Ali was surprised to see a gold bangle in the pack. The woman told him that the bangle belonged to his mother, Safiya, who gave it to the woman to mortgage and raise money to get her daughter married. The woman had come back to return the bangle.

Yusuff Ali said that his mother used to wrap her head in a thick scarf when she went to sleep. Yusuff Ali follows the practice, wearing a cap when he sleeps, perhaps to keep memories fresh.

Yusuff Ali learned the art of account keeping from his father, M K Abdul Khader Haji. The Haji used to record income and expenses for each day in his diary. Yusuff Ali said that he used to count the money left with him every night though he is not as strict an account keeper as his father.

Yusuff Ali belongs to the Musliyam family, a traditional merchant family at Nattika near Thrissur. Yusuff Ali was ambitious. When he set sail to Dubai to pursue his dream of being a big businessman, his grandfather, V M Kunjahammu Haji, blessed him and gave him Rs 5.

The patriarch's parting words worked like a leading light: “I raised you and taught you to pray. Your grandmother's prayers will always be with you. You have to be honest, sincere, charitable and hardworking if you want to come up in life.”

The grandparents' blessings stayed with Yusuff Ali. He became a world-renowned businessman.

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