Amina approached Yusuff Ali while he was in Kerala visiting people who had rescued him after a helicopter crash earlier this year.
A heart-warming story of extreme kindness shown by UAE-based Indian businessman and billionaire Yusuff Ali, chairman and managing director of LuLu Group International that owns the Lulu Hypermarket chain worldwide, is doing the rounds of philanthropy world today. On December 5, he wiped away the bank loans owed by a family, amounting to Rs 3,81,160, in a random act of kindness when he heard of their unfortunate plight.
Amina and her husband Syed Mohammad live in Kanjiramattom, Kerala’s Kochi. They had taken out a loan from the Keechery Service Co-Operative Bank to finance their daughter’s wedding by mortgaging their house and land. Unfortunately, Syed was diagnosed with cancer, and large amounts of money had to be spent on his treatment. This resulted in repayment default, and the bank was on the brink of attaching their house and land. Amina was spending sleepless nights with no money left for recovery payment and knew that they would lose the roof above their heads very soon.
This is when she heard about business tycoon Yusuff Ali’s visit to Panangad. Ali was on a visit to meet the residents of Panangad, where his chopper had crash-landed earlier in April this year, to thank the people who had rushed out to help him and his wife after the accident.
Amina hurried to meet him and desperately asked for his help. Upon hearing her story, Ali directed his accompanying cohort to deposit the money in the bank and pay off the entire loan amount. Never in their dreams had Amina and Syed believed such generosity would come their way.
When some employees of LuLu later visited the couple to inform them that their entire loan, including interest and penalties, had been paid off, they couldn’t believe their ears. The grateful couple were also handed a cheque of Rs 50,000 to help with medical expenses for Syed. According to the bank officials, documents for the land will be returned at the earliest after changing it to Amina’s name.
With an annual turnover of US$7.4 billion from his business empire, Yusuff Ali is more than capable of showing large-heartedness like these, and he is known to have done so occasionally.
It is widely accepted that the results of philanthropy are always beyond calculation, but for Amina’s family today, their feeling of gratefulness is also beyond measure.
