The name "Haidar", which is the nickname for the seller of the boiled potatoes and the ripe peas "attar" (a type of dry legume)—who has been working as a mobile restaurant in the alleys and streets of Taiz's neighborhoods for more than three and a half decades—has become a registered trademark and an integral part of the popular memory in the besieged city.
With his distinctive voice and his famous phrases, which he utters with the spontaneity of a simple rural person to market his goods in the early morning in the city’s neighborhoods, he has reserved and secured a place in the people’s hearts who became addicted to tasting what he was offering them of hot and delicious popular foods.
Ameen Mohammed Saeed Muthana, known as "Haidar", left his village in the countryside of Sharaab Al-Salam district (Aifoua)—administratively affiliated to Taiz Governorate—when he was ten years old, to settle in the heart of Taiz city in the mid-eighties of the last century and to launch, from that moment, his long story, full of astonishment, with the city and its inhabitants.
Haidar found that selling boiled potatoes and attar was the most suitable profession for a child of his age who set foot in the city for the first time. However, the self-employment among people without fear or dread was a reflection of the nature of the village child, coming from the depths of the countryside full of life.
At seven o'clock in the morning, "Haidar" begins his tour in the city's alleys and neighborhoods. The kids race out of their homes when his voice reaches them to wake them up. Soon, you find them gathering around his wheelbarrow to buy what they want of potatoes and attar. His voice delights them with his constant phrase, "Attar Mobasbas Hali Muqartas," which means: (spicy dried peas.. sweet, and kept inside small bags).
Unlike some vendors who died recently after etching their names in Taiz's memory, such as "Mohammed al-Saghir" and "Ghalib Makhasso". Consequently, the war did not succeed in silencing Haidar's voice or his symbolism, despite the great dangers he had lived through during the past eight years.
During his morning tour, "Haidar" wanders through the neighborhoods of "Usaifrah" and "Al-Rawdha" in his wheelbarrow—north and east of Taiz—and his voice reaches and resonates near the seam areas.
While he is telling "Khuyut", he remembers some of the sad details that happened to him in wartime, like when a shell fell near him, coming from Houthi areas, while he was wandering through in his potato wheelbarrow near "Tabat al-Wakeel" and it almost killed him.
Haidar says, "The Houthis were bombing the city intensively and indiscriminately," adding that he will never forget the moments of terror he experienced when a shell landed next to him.
Moreover, despite the intensification of the war that took place in the city and its surroundings, starting from the beginning of 2015, and the displacement of the majority of its residents, including Haidar's family, but he refused the option of displacement and remained attached to the city and its spirit, just as his voice remained enlightening the city’s loneliness every morning to overcome the specter of death and the whistling of bullets. Besides, his voice was motivating people to get out on the streets and triumph of life.
Today, Haidar wishes that Taiz will return as it was, that life will get back to normal soon in all its aspects, and that the people will return to their homes inhabited by the ghosts of death and destruction. Further, he hopes that his voice will resound again throughout the area, in all the alleys and neighborhoods of the besieged city, from east to west.
In fact, a long relationship was formed between the street vendor and the city's residents, which has taken root for decades. Some of its residents describe him as one of its flags. In addition, many people keep memories—which were not erased by the variables of difficult times nor the state of fragmentation and diaspora, but rather remained kept in the wall of popular memory of Taiz—centered on the character "Haidar", and what he offers them of boiled potatoes and attar (peas), with which there are many people's tales.
Hisham Al-Sulaihi, a teacher in the Department of Media at the Faculty of Arts at Taiz University, tells a funny story about a conversation that took place between him and his father when they came across Haidar passing by. Hisham started a conversation with his father with the words, "Oh, father, this is Haidar; he is selling the potatoes since the day I knew the city." Then his father’s response came quickly: "My son, since the day your father knew the city, Haidar is selling the potatoes."
Rahma Al-Aghbari says: "Haidar's voice still resounds in our ears, "Hawej wa Haidar", composed with his own voice." Likewise, Abdulrazzaq Al-Majidi describes him as a mobile restaurant in most neighborhoods of Taiz, while Adel Noman says, "Haidar struggles with poverty."
Haidar, in his interview with Khuyut," reveals the origin of this name, which has been popular for decades, to say that it belongs to another person who was selling boiled potatoes in his own shop in the "Bab Musa" neighborhood in the mid-eighties of the last century. Then the simple rural boy noticed how much people wanted what he was offering them. He was unlike what others do; he used to taste his food first, then later practiced his profession and made his famous name. Consequently, from that moment on, he forgot that his name was Ameen Mohammed Saeed Muthanna and became "Haidar".
Today, after nearly four decades of Haidar's life in the city of Taiz, he still lives in a rented house in one of the city's neighborhoods and does not even own a communication device.
