Mangaluru, May 3: The untimely death of this young cancer patient, who was known as a “motivator”, has come as a shock and source of great sadness for his friends and well wishers across Dakshina Kannada and other parts of Karnataka.
Abdul Jabbar aka Abdul Jabbar Ponnodi, who was suffering from a cancer for past 11 years, breathed his last at a private hospital in the city at around 12 a.m. on Thursday. He is survived by his parents, a brother and three sisters.
Hailing from a poor family in Ponnodi village near BC Road in Batnwal taluk of the coastal district, Abdul Jabbar in spite of his illness and unbearable pain in his body, had become an inspiration for many.
Abdul Khader Kukkila, editor of Sanmaarga Kannada weekly, who also happens to be one of the co-brothers of Abdul Jabbar, says that though the Big C didn’t allow the latter even to breathe properly, he used to console other cancer patients and instil courage and confidence in them.
“He married my sister-in-law nearly one and a half years ago. Though the cancer had almost destroyed him, he tried his best to lead a normal life in spite of all his pains. He was talkative and friendly with all. One of his sisters recently completed MBBS thanks to his encouragement,” says Mr Kukkila.
“Cancer is mere a bodily disease. It should be restricted to the body and not the mind...” This was the reply given by the brave Abdul Jabbar to his well wishers when they questioned his decision to act in a movie to create awareness about caner a few months ago after his doctors dropped sufficient hints that he may not live beyond six months.
Abdul Jabbar had recently launched a free YouTube channel, ‘Kannada gadgets’ to share his knowledge with Kannadigas about the features modern gadgets, problems faced by people while operating them and simple solutions.
Kannada writer and director Yogesh Master had hastened to launch the shooting of his new flick Hamasageete which talks about the story of cancer survivors, after realising that Abdul Jababr’s days were numbered.
“I wanted to cast Abdul Jabbar because he’s the real hero,” says Yogesh Master, who had come to know about the “rare fighter” through Facebook. “He was hardworking and never tried to gain sympathy,” the director was quoted as saying by a news paper.
Welcoming the move Dr Arathi Krishna told coastaldigst.com that Indians stranded in any foreign country can utilize this facility. "Initially, I was approached by Mr Zakaria and Mr Sheik who wanted chartered flights to help their employees fly back to India. I asked them to write to the Indian Ambassador in Saudi Araia Mr Ausaf Sayeed. Then I requested the ambassador to forward the request to Joint Secretary Dr Nagendra Prasad, who is in charge of gulf division in the Ministry of External Affairs, and then to Secretary on charge of Gulf and then I requested Secretary of Economic Relations Mr T S Tirumurti who was also in charge of Gulf to follow this up," she said.
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Ponnodi sir didnt fail in front of death. Death failed in front of his willpower and positive mind
Deep condolences.. No death for the real warrior
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.
Great personality. It's hard to concentrate for other people while having the unbearable pain of cancer
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