Street Talk: The reluctant typist who overcame his reluctance

Hyder Ali> Nationality: Indian > Profession: Typist

Sharjah - Coming to the UAE has blessed me in more ways than one, says Hyder Ali

Being a typist was not something 28-year-old Indian national Hyder Ali aspired to become.
"I didn't come to the UAE thinking that I'll make a career out of typing documents. It was my brother who suggested that I do this for a living ... Initially, I didn't want to do it at all," said Ali.
One of the typists at Al Rayan Document Clearance Centre in Al Qasimia, Sharjah, Ali said that over time, taking up this job became one of his life's best decisions.
While stacking documents for a group health insurance policy, Ali chatted with Khaleej Times on his life's hardships and the risks and pros of a career in a typing centre.
Ali hails from Kasargode, a district in north Kerala, India. "I faced a lot of hardships as a child. My parents struggled to raise my siblings and myself. They would do manual labour in Kerala to feed and educate us."
When he was younger, all Ali wanted to do was to come to the UAE.
Eight years ago, Ali was offered a job as an office clerk in Ras Al Khaimah.
"I worked in that company for two years. It was really hard there ... There were times I thought to myself, Kerala was better because I was terribly homesick and didn't have any friends or family around. But then I pushed myself thinking about how much effort my parents put into bringing me here."
Two years after his stint in RAK, Ali's brother invested in the typing centre where he works now.
"Initially I was hired to print documents and attach them together for submission ... Like the passport, visa page and photos," he said.
Ali didn't think that he would stay at the centre for too long. His employer suggested that he learn how to type documents. Even though that was something that put him in a state of panic, Ali decided that the best thing to do was to learn by observing.
"I thought to myself that one can learn anything by observing. I ended up learning Arabic and when things got better, I took a driver's licence as well," he added.
His typical work schedule begins at 10am and ends at 10pm, with an hour-long lunch break in between.
"I've learnt to make close relations with customers and that is what makes my job enjoyable," he said.
According to Ali, people entrust their important documents with them. "Most people see document typing and paper work as a hard task, but it is something that is mandatory and needs to be done ... I've learnt to make that easy for people," he said.
One of the greatest risks in his job is to type without making errors. "If we've made a mistake in typing the document, we need to bear the cost. Documents sometimes are rejected at government offices if we've made mistakes while typing it," he said.
Ali admitted to making several errors while typing. "When I learnt that I'm the one who had to pay for those errors, I started doing my job very carefully.
"Coming to the UAE has blessed me in more ways than one."
Ali pursues his passion of playing cricket and religiously plays the game with his friends every weekend.  - dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com

Street Talk is a weekly column to get a glimpse of people's lives in UAE

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• UAE
• Sharjah

Dhanusha Gokulan

• dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com