This is the story of my father, Yousuf. He is a hardworking, honest, and kind-hearted person. Today, he is almost seventy years old, but when he talks about the past, it feels like those moments are still fresh in his mind.
Recently, I watched a video that my father had made, where he shared his old memories with a lot of simplicity and love. In the video, he talks about how in 1988, he used to cook for the Korean mountaineers heading towards K2. At that time, he worked as a cook in a base camp. According to him, those were some of the most beautiful days of his life, when work was done with love, and people cared for each other deeply.
My father mentioned that his journey began in his childhood, when he was just eleven years old. At that age, it was a challenge for him to feed his parents and manage the household expenses, and it was this necessity that brought him to work in the kitchen. Those days were tough, but he says that they were also very peaceful, with simplicity and love between people.
In the video, he talks about how, when he was working as a cook in the camp, the Korean mountaineers used to consider him "young" because of his age, but he had a very big heart. They would always joke with him and treat him with love.
One day, one of his close friends, Chansun Kim, who was a Korean mountaineer, said:
"Yousuf! Cook something special for me today, something that will make my heart happy."
Yousuf happily went to the kitchen, but when he walked in, he saw that all the pots and dishes were dirty. He wasn’t in the mood to clean, so in a bit of laziness, he started cleaning the pots with his spit. During this time, a Korean member walked in, saw the scene, and was first surprised. Then, laughing, he teased Yousuf, saying, "What are you doing? You’re so funny!"
Then suddenly, the Korean member picked up a stick and started playfully hitting Yousuf. Yousuf got scared for a moment and quickly ran outside, but that moment, the laughter, the teasing, and the bond they shared, stayed with him forever.
After some time, as if by fate, everything changed. The Korean friends went their separate ways. At that time, there were no network facilities or easy ways to stay in touch, and Yousuf moved forward in his own life. The relationships, the friendships, all were left behind, but they never faded from his heart.
I translated this story at the request of my brother, Andrea Gabrielli. He wanted to hear my father’s story, and today, I’ve translated the complete story from the video so that he can also read it and understand how important those memorable moments in my father’s life are.
InshaAllah, when I meet my father again, I will write down the full story, and then I will share the details with my brother Andrea🫀.