Mysuru: 'Bodymiya' Ayub gets rare Dasara honour for his work

Mysuru: "I dedicate myself to serve the people to my best so that God blesses me with Jannath," says Ayub Ahmed.

His job has been painful in the last five months. Cremating people is not something he likes, but the 38-year-old is duty-bound. In the last five months, he has cremated over 240 people who succumbed to Covid 19 at 'Mukthidhama electric crematorium' on Hunsur road in Mysuru.

The Dasara executive committee on Saturday chose to honor Ayub at the inauguration of 410 Mysuru Dasara at Chamundeswari temple premises at Chamundi hills on October 17. Speaking to The Hans India, he expressed his joy for being the chose one, at the same time felt quite saddened by the loss of lives due to the pandemic.

His mother Shaajida Baanu is no more. He has kept himself away from his father Haaji Bashir Ahmed since the last five months ever since Mysuru reported the first Covid casulaity. Since, he had been involved in performing the cremation of those who succumbed to Covid. The last time he met his father was at a function where Ayub too a selfie. Ayub's family is proud of him for the noble work he is currently invovled. His wife Ruhi Tabasum, two daughters, 12-year-old Haadiya Marium and eight-year old Bibi Aisha eagerly wait for his return at their home in Udaygiri.

Ayub feels extremely painfully when he has to bury the bodies of orphans. So far, he is beleived to have buried at least 16,000 unclaimed bodies of orphans ifor past 21 years. "I bury the body of a Muslim in Kabrasthan, the body of Christian is buried in a cemetery, the body of a Hindu is buried in cremation ground. I bury them with a hope that the relatives of the deceased come back at some point to the burial grounds," he said.

Youngest among seven children of his parents, Ayub has studied till Class 3, but he has been awarded with a doctorate from Harmony University of America for his humanitarian services. He is even the recipient of Kannada Rajyothsava award given by Mysuru district administration. "My father is a carpenter and all my three brothers and three sisters have studied well. But somehow, I was never interested in studies. I used to give my attendance at 9am and used to move out of class with the pretext of going to toilet at 9.30am I used to run away.

And I used to cover myself with a blanket (to save the name of family, since his uncle Ismail was a well known person) and beg near mosque, to give that money to people who begged near mosque to help them," says Ayub. This small way of helping people went on in a bigger way even as he started serving food to people on pavements every night at Mysuru railway station for the last 21 years with the money he earned by driving auto and also taking up daily wage work at city based Boti Bazaar or at any other market. He has over 10,000 followers on Facebook, his fans call him Bodymiya (for his buries orphan and Covid bodies), are serving food for over 58,000 people at railway platforms in different cities across the country and even in Bangladesh. He is training over 20 women at a time in batches at a tailoring institute he has started. And he is taking care of 10 senior citizens who are being abandoned at a rented house where he is running old age home. He wants to buy a ambulance to cremate orphan bodies and even wants to start an orphanage and a school so that he can educate the children from kindergarden to higher studies and ensure they get a good job.

For all his humanitarian services he has even received APJ Abdul Kalam, award given by a private organization, and several other awards. He has even started a charitable trust too.