SALALAH, June 3 - When most of the people are taken aback by adverse weather conditions that hit Salalah recently and many others who are still debating the damages and stories doing the round, Salah bin Najim al Alawi from Muscat has launched his lone campaign to help people and bring things back on track. Salah al Alawi has a unique way of helping people. He walks alone several kilometres, talks alone with the people through a microphone when anything of importance he feels like popularising.
He was in Muscat when the cyclone hit Salalah. He took his microphone and started travelling on Muscat roads telling people to pray for the people of Salalah “as everyone cannot reach the place of occurrence to give a helping hand. I told them just pray if things are not in your hands.” “And it seems to have worked as the cyclone did not make actual landfall in Salalah saving its people, infrastructure and many other things, which even our imagination fails to travel,” says a polite but action oriented Al Alawi.
For Al Alawi, who makes his living through some small business, humanity is the best policy. He is ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of humanity. He travelled to Salalah some three days back, took his microphone in hand and started travelling all over the city on foot telling people about various aspects of post-cyclone relief. On the microphone he is telling people the importance of cleanliness during such situations and exhorting them to join hands in the event of any such situation.
Wearing a white T-shirt and a red cap with a scarf tied over, which reads ‘Oman’ prominently, Al Alawi can see on the busy Salalah roads the questioning eyes of the people seeking answers for the very purpose of him being on the road, that too on foot. And then he waves his left hand and speaks loudly that “anyone wishing to support the relief measures should contact the Department of Social Welfare in Salalah, Omani Women Association, Al Bahja Society for Orphans and Al Noor Association for Blind.”
He does not tell much about himself. “I am a small businessman, a poet and volunteer to spread awareness for good things among people. I am in Salalah for a week, but if needed I am ready to extend my stay here.” He has been exercising this microphone canvassing tool for the last 10 to 15 years and travels to all the wilayats according to their requirement. He visits Salalah generally during the khareef (monsoon) season and tells people which important event is going to be held on which date and venue. Al Alawi is fully convinced about his own mode of communication with people and hopes to communicate right the message among them by the time he starts thinking about going back to Muscat.
Kaushalendra Singh
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