GULF EXPERIENCE - (Vol 29) DOWN MEMORY LANE!

 

This is about one of the downward phases of my career. I had been flying high professionally till then with a decade of experience with L&T (1983-1993) in R&D and manufacturing and then with Blue Star Delhi (1994-1996) and Tata Honeywell (1996-1999) managing Infrastructure Projects. If you think with these professional experiences one can only grow further up in the future, not really. One can also hit rock bottom from my experience. I always wanted to be in India and had not considered moving abroad till then.  Life is unpredictable and where it starts, and ends is sometime beyond our plan and accept things as it happens.

As Project Manager after successfully completing the Project (Chemical Plant KCPL for Tata Honeywell (THL) returned to the Chennai office in the year 1999. (Volumes 2 to 4). Everyone envy Tata culture, but in my opinion although the culture of the founders may be noble, it depends finally on the people who are running that office. Due to local politics was forced to submit resignation from Tata Honeywell within a few months at Chennai THL office.

When I started looking for another job, I realized how the market value of the professional goes down when not working.  The best offer I got was for one third salary of what I was getting then.  Blessed to enjoy sunshine in the career so far never thought of saving for these rainy days. Added to our monthly expenses we had the loan for a white elephant (Maruti car) which has to be paid.

 I took my daughters on the last ride to Besant Nagar beach the day before and had to sell off the car at discount to pay off the loan. We vacated the apartment and moved to my in-law’s home who had been gracious to accommodate us. Looking back, I could feel what a trauma, it would have been for the family at that time.

One of our family friends suggested working in Gulf will help to make money. He was an MBA from India and has worked mostly in Saudi. It was nice of him to get me a job at Saudi Arabia through his known employer.

The offer was from Saudi Arabia company (Al Khatlan) based in Dammam.  I accepted the offer and made the first trip to Gulf.  As I waited at the airport in the morning for pick up from the company a truck driver came and asked me to put the suitcase in the open truck and sit by his side. As I was thinking he is going to put me in a hotel but instead he took me directly to the company. I sat in the lounge and there was none to respond. After a few hours the HR person came and took my passport first. That itself was shocking. I continued to wait there till the evening when someone came and dropped me in a home a shady place. Our family friend came and picked me and took me to his apartment.

The day times are long and will wake up with the morning prayers broadcast from the loudspeaker.The work site was only about 10 minutes’ walk from the apartment. Being summer that time in Saudi with sunshine for about 14 hours and by 6am the temperature will shoot up to touch 100deg C and by evening around 110-115degC. This heat is so difficult even for a Chennaiite who is used to warm weather.

The company hours were long and with a 6-day week and Friday off. There is dedicated prayer hall within the office where employees do namaz during prayer times.

 There was no sign of immediate project as I expected. I was told after few weeks I will work for a project by an American company who is doing major construction project. The most difficult part is sitting idle without work for full 10 hours. We had many other Indians mostly from Kerala and they have got used to this.

There was no internet at the apartment and to contact home had to walk about 15 minutes in the evening to the Internet café which was located at the mall. As you start looking for your emails every hour there will be a break for prayers and the religious police will make sure that everyone leaves the internet café and can return after the prayer ends.

The memorable thing about the stay was the opportunity to go on a drive to Riyadh from Dammam with one of our company colleagues. It made me aware of the countryside and the freeways connecting the cities in barren land. My Saudi colleague who took me on this trip used to say that it is due to the blessing of Allah and their daily prayers that they are living comfortably. The messenger of God had made their life prosperous providing them with wealth from the oil present everywhere in that country. The oil is available so close to the surface in the desert and extraction cost is fraction of other producers and that makes Saudi Aramco the most valuable company. These oil and gas reserves in Saudi will last for another 200 years a true blessing. Allaho Akbar!

Life went on like this and on the pay day I got salary after putting thumb impression on the paper for receipt.  All this was strange. Meanwhile there was some misunderstanding with the American contractor who told the company that he will take me after some time as they don’t need the project engineer then. After 3 months of stay in Saudi, decided to leave, and had to get back the passport first before booking the return. The company paid full salary for that three month and to my surprise found that that tax free amount was more than my PF savings in India for the last 20 years. The struggle was worth because that amount helped immensely in future endeavors. One can never get this much money working in India those years.

Everyone going to Gulf may not have the same experience like me. There are two types of companies MNCs or local Saudi. If you join the MNC company operating in Gulf the amenities and tax-free salary and perks one gets is on par with the west.  The saving is immense when compared to what was paid by Indian companies.  The family can also stay comfortably there. While places like Dubai and Muscat promises better living conditions and growth prospects with better environment still countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have restrictions. The mistake in my case was that I joined a Saudi company instead of MNC where work environment would have been better.

Instead of struggling all life in low paying job in India it makes sense to spend some years in Gulf and return and settle down in life. The people of Kerala show the way!

But the problem is money is so addictive that we do not know when to stop. Our family friend made a fortune and saved a lot but when he came back to Chennai could not enjoy the fruits of his labor and success and did not live long. My PSG Engineering E&C Classmate who was our close friend after a few years in India left to Gulf for better prospects. He made enough money in Gulf, but alas had developed health issues and had premature death.

The Gulf is best place to make money for peoples who could not move to west. If one takes the right opportunity and save for the future with a definite exit plan it is great place to make a career.

I came back to Chennai with lesson learnt and wondered the next steps is needed to fix the career when I am already in mid 40s. What should I do to support the family?

 

(To be concluded)