Indian locates Saudi Father after 27 years of search

In what could be described as a story straight out of Bollywood, a 28-year-old Indian found his Arab father who had left India for Saudi Arabia 27 years ago after marrying his mother.

Ahmed Fahhad Mohammad Al-Hajri, who was born months after his father Fahhad Mohammad Faleh Al-Hajri left Mumbai for Saudi Arabia, located him in Damman six years after arriving in the Saudi city.

Fahhad Mohammad arrived in Mumbai in the early 1980s to undergo a treatment for spinal pain and married Salma Khan.

The marriage was solemnised by a Qazi in Mumbai and was duly registered but Fahhad Mohammad left for Saudi Arabia after some months never to return. Ahmed was born months later, an Arab News report said.

Despite her best efforts, Salma could not trace Fahhad as the address mentioned in the marriage contract was sketchy. Salma's father, Khair Mohammad Khan, filed a complaint against Fahhad at the Saudi Consulate bit it did not yield results.

"If he is not going to come back, he should at least divorce her," he wrote in his complaint addressed to the Saudi consul general.

Finally they approached the Qazi who annulled the marriage and Salma was married to another man.

As it later turned out, Fahhad tried tracing Salma through his friends
who visited India every year but did not succeed because Salma had married another man and was no longer at the location Fahhad knew.

Meanwhile Ahmed, who wanted to find his lost father finished his studies in Lucknow and arrived in Damman in 2003 after landing a job in the city. He carried a photograph of his father and a copy of the marriage certificate.

"I thought it would be very easy to locate him. But then it dawned on me that there were hundreds if not thousands of Al-Hajris in Saudi Arabia and spread across the length and breadth of this vast Kingdom," he told the paper.

The ads that he placed in local Arab newspapers also did not yield any result. Finally a local Malayalam newspaper placed a story which connected the dots and Ahmed found his now 68-year-old father.

The overjoyed father has thrown several parties to celebrate the occasion and is now applying for his Saudi nationality, it said.

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Shilpa Shetty gets eco-friendly by supporting Solar-Power lamps

Shilpa Shetty is doing her bit to fight global warming. She has joined hands with Freeplay Energy India, a company that produces hand crank lanterns that generate electricity without using fuel.

The actress' foundation will distribute these solar power- generated lamps for free to villages in India.No fuels needed

Shilpa, who is currently in London, says, "The company has a patent technology called Crank. You don't need any kerosene or electricity or natural resources to light up these lamps. One just needs to wind up the crank system manually for one minute and you get 15 minutes of bright light. It's great for villages with no light. This way, we can save on pollution from burning fuels."

Giving ways

The actress has tied up with the company to be her sole suppliers for these lamps, which cost roughly between Rs 1000-1500 each, "I have also incorporated solar power in some lamps which I will be giving out free through my organisation, the Shilpa Shetty Foundation to some villages that don't have electricity.

It's been a cause that I feel for, besides it also promotes the cause of fighting global warming by conserving energy. Since we are giving the lamps for free we are asking people to donate generously. Recently, I have given away my prize winnings from the show 10 Ka Dum show to the SSF. We need to do our bit for society as much as we can."

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