The man who fell in love with astronomy
Dr Saleh Al-Ojairi walks down memory lane
KUWAIT: As any child with fears, Saleh Al-Ojairi in particular was afraid of nature such as lightning and thunder, the sky and the stars. But one day Ojairi decided to face his fears by knowledge, and now, at 95 years old, Ojairi no longer consider nature his foe, but rather see it as his friend. Now, he is Dr Saleh Al-Ojairi, a popular Kuwaiti astronomer, who made the history of the astronomy of Kuwait.
Dr Ojairi was born in Kuwait in 1920, the eldest of nine siblings. At 4 years old, his father enrolled him in school to learn reading, the Holy Quran, mathematics and other subjects. His father was the first to encourage him to study astronomy as he was the one who sent him to the desert when he was a kid to learn the life of bedouins (stateless tribe) and learn horse-riding, shooting and other skills. It was in the desert observing the sky with its sun, moon and stars that Dr Ojairi became more in love with astronomy.
Turning point When he was 18 years old, Dr Ojairi began his passion in reading books and read the book that changed his life. ‘Al-Manaheg Al-Hamedia,’ written by the Egyptian writer and astronomer Ghaith Abdul Al-Hamid Morsi, made Dr Ojairi wonder about many things in life and it was in reading this book that Dr Ojairi made a turning point and decided to meet the writer and ask him about everything. “I traveled to Egypt to meet the writer who made my brain explode with questions. That time we had no buses or planes, so I went to Egypt by land, and traveled from Kuwait to Basra, then to Beirut, then to Alexandria and finally to Cairo,” said Dr Ojairi. “I met the writer who welcomed me and taught me a lot but he kept his valued books away from me, and I was dying just to take them, and read.”
Later, Dr Ojairi continued his university studies in Egypt and got married when he was 20 and had four sons and one daughter. During the interview, Dr Ojairi opened a cupboard and showed Kuwait Times a set of old books.
“After a while, the Egyptian writer’s wife called me and told me that her husband passed away and that she wanted me to have some of his books, and that was my chance to get in his secret library. I took all the books that I so desired and asked the wife how much I owe her. Her response was that those books were her husband’s second wife’s and she hated them so bad. That moment was my happiest,” he said.
After graduation, Dr Ojairi worked as a teacher and was a teacher to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlSabah. He then worked as an accountant first for the government and then for a bank. In 1971, Dr Ojairi retired and spent his time managing his business.
Ojairi calendar Dr Ojairi issued his first calendar in 1945 which he printed in Baghdad and was called the Ojairi calendar. Later he issued different publications such as wall calendars, pocket diaries, office diaries and others.
Dr Ojairi is a model to follow by those thirsty for knowledge. He spent seventy years of his life struggling to learn astronomy and received highly valued medals and certificates, an act that has made him a well-known scientist not only in the Arab world but also in the entire world.