Ashraf who inspired a Mammootty-starrer biopic said that nothing is more gratifying than helping out expatriates in the United Arab Emirates to cope with a relative’s death.Dubai: Ashraf Thamarasseri’s showcase is brimming with awards and honours, including a Pravasi Bharatiya Samman. The social worker who inspired a Mammootty-starrer biopic said that nothing is more gratifying than helping out expatriates in the United Arab Emirates to cope with a relative’s death.
Ashraf suddenly found himself in the spotlight when he helped Sridevi’s relatives go through the official procedures after the actor’s tragic death in a hotel room in Dubai. A Manorama report on the social worker was followed up by global media including the New York Times.
Ashraf, who hails from Thamarasseri near Kozhikode, went to Ajman to set up a small business 18 years ago. The turning point came when he visited a sick friend at a Sharjah hospital. On the way back, he saw a miserable-looking young man on the hospital premises. The youngster had just lost his father and had no idea how to get the body flown back to his family.
Ashraf was so disturbed by the plight of the youngster that he began informing himself about the procedures to be followed in the event of a death. He eventually took it as a mission and got some of his relatives to look after his business.
500 bodies and counting
He has helped about 5,000 families from around the world to fly the bodies of their loved ones who died overseas. His efforts were officially recognized when the government of India honoured him with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman in 2015. He has been felicitated by countless association in India and abroad. He said that he had attended more than 600 receptions in the UAE alone.
The awards and mementos were so plenty that he found it hard to keep everything in his Ajman house. Two of his visitors have gifted him two showcases to keep them. He has stored away the other mementos in boxes.
The awards and mementos were so plenty that he found it hard to keep everything in his Ajman house. He has also been honoured by the Dubai police and the Dubai Orthodox Christian Youth Movement. The Kings University in the United States conferred a doctorate on him. At least four Malayalam books have been written on his life, including Bashir Thikkodi’s ‘Paretharkkoral’, O M Abubacker’s ‘Maranapusthakam’, Saleem Noor’s ‘Mruthyuvin Karam Pidichu’ and K P Sudheera’s ‘Swargavathil’.
Ashraf’s work has also inspired a movie to be directed by actor Tini Tom. Mammootty is expected to play the role of Ashraf. The actor has also promised to produce the movie.
The Kerala government had nominated his name for Padma Sri this year. He could also find a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Pound of flesh
Ashraf has been helping out people in distress, whether they be celebrities or ordinary workers. Most of his work centers round the Muhsina Medical Fitness Center where the bodies are embalmed before flying in aircraft to their homes. Sometimes, he would have to bear the entire expense of flying a body.
The awards and mementos were so plenty that he found it hard to keep everything in his Ajman house. The mourners who want to get a body back home would be stumped by a strange rule followed by airlines including Air India. The airline treats a body as just another piece of luggage, charging by weight!
Ashraf has been lobbying the airlines to change the way they charge for transporting the bodies. His alternative is to charge 1,000 dirhams for anyone below 30 years and 1,500 dirhams for older persons. He raised the demand in the recent Loka Kerala Sabha organized by the Kerala government in Thiruvananthapuram.
Ashraf has kept a record of his work, and it is not encouraging. The number of expatriates who die in Dubai is on the rise, he said. The list includes even very young men. He has sent at least 600 bodies to India last year.
The single largest cause of death seems to be heart attack, he said. The stress in family or at workplace, coupled with a lack of physical exercise, proves fatal for the expatriate workers. His only advice to expatriates is to lead a stress-free life and pay more attention to health.
Ashraf said that he would not have succeeded in his work but for the support from his family. Wife Fathima Suhra helps him with his business and runs the household. The couple has three children - Shafi, an engineering student, Shifana and Muhammed Ameen.
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