The secretary of the Indian Association in Ras Al Khaimah recalls one of his most memorable morning walks.  |
Shaikh Zayed often began his day quietly by the sea. |
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S.Prasad, who has been in the UAE for 26 years, went for a walk with his brother to Abu Dhabi Corniche early one morning.
There he saw a bespectacled UAE national sitting on a bench by the sea. The person looked familiar, but neither Prasad nor his brother could recognise him.
Then an Egyptian approached the man, greeted him and asked him for something. The man in the glasses invited the Egyptian to sit down. So the fellow sat on the ground. Refusing to accept this, the man on the bench asked the Egyptian to sit beside him.
The Egyptian asked the man about something, and the man promised all his wishes would be fulfilled, "God willing". Suddenly it dawned on Prasad that the man on the bench was none other than Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan — who usually began his day by enjoying a few quiet moments by himself on the corniche.
"Me and my brother then rushed to shake hands with Shaikh Zayed," Prasad recalls.
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S.Prasad will never forget his meeting with Shaikh Zayed. |
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"He had a short conversation with us before other people came and started greeting the great leader."
Such was Shaikh Zayed's charismatic charm that those who interacted with him even once can never forget that encounter.
It was Shaikh Zayed's relentless pursuit of making the dreams of his people and millions around the world come true that established him as the natural leader of the UAE. A year after his death, the facts show that Shaikh Zayed succeeded in realising those dreams better than anybody expected.
"Shaikh Zayed is a rare historic leader who will be remembered eternally ... his legacy will be preserved in the heart of history," says Ali Bin Saeed Al Dahmani, the Chief of the Al Munaie area in Ras Al Khaimah.
"The least people who lived in the era of Shaikh Zayed can do to return his favours is to pass on the legends about this great leader to the future generation," he says.
A characteristic which those who have met Shaikh Zayed agree on is that he never rejected a demand, regardless of the who was asking it. "During the several decades of his rule, Shaikh Zayed fulfilled all the demands of the people he met," says Al Dahmani. "All a man had to do was to meet him, or pass on a message and then his demands would be met, no matter what."
"We, as tribes, used to pay regular visits to Shaikh Zayed and the hospitality we received in his palaces was beyond imagination," he says.
"Since he took over the leadership of the UAE, impeccable security and prosperity prevailed in the country. He will live in our hearts forever. Whenever we went to meet him, he used to say, ‘You are all my children and money does not mean anything compared to the men who are building this country'."
Mohammad Al Naqbi, Chief of the Khatt area in Ras Al Khaimah, says that Shaikh Zayed has left behind a legacy which "will be a shining source of light in the future path for this country".
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Gul Karim Khan says Shaikh Zayed is alive in the hearts of the people. |
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02_nation_zayed_khan "The coming generations who will never get the opportunity to live under Shaikh Zayed's leadership will still consider him the Father of the Nation. The entire world has learned the virtues of generosity from Shaikh Zayed and generations will hear countless stories from their parents about Shaikh Zayed's noble deeds," he says.
Mustafa Abdul Rahman Mahmoud, an 85-year-old Jordanian who has lived in the UAE for 38 years, says Shaikh Zayed has implanted a rare kind of love among nationals and expatriates in the UAE. The credit for fostering such harmony between the various communities should go to Shaikh Zayed, he feels. "The expatriates who have lived under Shaikh Zayed's leadership are more loyal to the UAE than they are to their homelands."
Gul Karim Khan, president of the Pakistani Centre in Ras Al Khaimah, says: "I feel a debt of gratitude when talking about Shaikh Zayed ... he was a blessing for the whole Muslim Ummah. He played a big role in helping humanity in general and Muslims in particular all around the globe".
Dr Khan said Shaikh Zayed generously contributed to a number of welfare projects in Pakistan. "He is alive in the hearts of the people ... Pakistani people love him for his love and generosity towards Pakistan. Every big city in Pakistan has a charity blessed by the kind-hearted Shaikh Zayed," he says.
