Tale of Two Men in the Gulf

Sep 28, 2014

During the early 1970s the income was less and naturally commodities were cheaper than what they are now. I was working in the Gulf at this time and the salary was relatively lower yet by Indian standards it was at least five fold higher than what you got for the same job in India. I was able to save quite a portion of my monthly salary. A plot  in and around Mangalore worth Rs.50 thousand then, after forty years now it is at least worth 2 or 3 crores if not more! Money had relatively much greater value then?
            

Under such circumstances one day, when in Muscat I happened to run into Peter when I was whiling away around the town of Muscat. I had known him in Mangalore.  I was surprised to see him there and he began to narrate his plan for the future. He said, “Jimmy, I have just come here the other day and I am not going to stay a day longer after I save Rs. one lakh!” He added  “I will earn this money in two years.”  A reasonably large sum then but certainly not to throw away the kind of job he had in hand, so soon.  There would be a line of over thousand people clamoring for it should he resign.
            
Those were the days in the early seventies when we were given 33 days leave for home visit every six months and wives were not allowed to Muscat due to lack of  accommodation. I advised Peter not to be hasty and think over the matter.  My words apparently had no bearing upon Peter and he was bent upon resigning the moment he reached his target of one lac, a huge amount of money then but not any longer.
 
I told Peter “You have such an excellent job in such a reputed firm and the job is such, that is fetching you good income (bangarache shith!!) and you better think twice before you make up your mind.” But Peter would have none of it and said, “I will use my one lac to buy a coffee estate pledging it to the bank and take a loan and gradually settle the loan from the income of the coffee estate. Once the loan is settled, I will be a planter on my own right!”
            
“Is it robusta or arabica, I mean the plantation you are going to buy Pete?” I crooned with a tinge of sarcasm in it. He did not catch my joke and he said, he would buy whichever he would find suitable later on. Of course, I had my own reservations about the feasibility of such an adventure. One needs that gusto for such a venture which I am afraid our Peter lacked.  
            
I advised him further  “As your children are still very small, you may as well put in another five or six years and then you leave and be with your wife and children and let them grow under your guidance and mind your plantation too.” My advice apparently did not go down well with Peter.
            
At this time there was another young gentleman named Michael in my company who was popularly known as Minga, and whereas I joined the company in 1973, Minga had already completed five years and had saved a reasonable amount of money after spilling some of it on his favourite Scotch! Minga was such a workaholic that he would never miss any opportunity of hopping on to overtime work that used to fetch us a good amount of money. It looked as if Minga would carry on forever in the company by the way he took interest in his work.
            
The only blemish with Minga was that he had a weakness  for Scotch and Rothman cigarettes, otherwise Minga was a gem of a boy though a devil under the influence of Scotch and Cigarette.  Minga was an excellent worker that any establishment would be proud to employ. He was my good friend too though quite the other way around when under the influence of Scotch?
             
Years trickled on and by now Peter, had earned well over a lac of rupees but there was not even a whimper about his plan of coffee plantation.
             
Michael on the other hand went on working and he was a bachelor. Once when Michael was on leave of 33 days, we all got an invitation for his wedding from his home town, Falnir, Mangalore. He must have been around 33 then. We all were very happy for Michael and gave him a great party on his return after marriage sans his wife.
             
After Michael’s return I could discern an imperceptible change in his demeanor. He became more sedate, took extra liking to Scotch, more cigarettes, no taking part in week-end card games. Thankfully his devotion to work remained unhampered.  
            
Gradually I came to know that Michael was the only issue to his parents, his bride was a teacher in a well-known convent school back in Mangalore, and that his parents were quite advanced in age.
            
One evening Michael invited me for a drink and we both began to talk and then he unfolded all his woes. He told me of his plans for the future. He said he has plans to resign and return as he wants to live with his young wife, there was no other option of bringing her to the Gulf, he has his own house being the only issue to his parents, and he would be getting a job as a bursar in the same school where his wife has been working. Besides this, his aged parents now need him more than ever with all sorts of old-age ailments.
            
Parents provided him the house and a small plot in the heart of the city, some savings of their own in the bank, there was a working wife, and above all a job ready for him in the waiting, I said, go ahead and take the job and be with your wife and parents, no problems  at all.

He told me that he is not going to keep much of his savings in the bank, as most of it would be invested in the property as the land was very cheap then by the present standards. He invested most of his money in an upscale area and bought land measuring well over 120 cents in 1978 for 1 lakh 30 thousand.
            
When in class 5th I still remember my school teacher Mr. Somaya Master in Bellore telling the class, in his usual inimitable way, “Hana Kandare Hena Bai Biduthade”. The words have etched in my mind not to be erased.
            
As Peter began to work harder and earn more and more, he never bought the coffee plantation. He went on and on adding more and more money into his bank account and his wife by now was able to make occasional visits to the Gulf but sons were devoid of any parental guidance, grew up like wild weeds and were a total disaster in studies. Often his wife would confide in me how very helpless she was alone minding the house, the children, and the outdoor work with children refusing to extend any helping hand.
 
Neither of the parents could give any advice to the children as to how to go about in their academics. Clever as they were the boys went on according to their free will and ended up poorly gaining just a degree in B.Com without a professional qualification.
            
On the other hand, after his marriage, Michael got two issues, a boy and a girl, they grew up under parents’ supervision and the son turned out to be a software engineer and the daughter, after excelling in studies, got married and settled in Dubai. The son got into a multinational in Bangalore.
            
By now I too decided to leave the company and returned to India.  I had lost touch with both my old friends for a long time.
 
Peter, who had nursed the desire of being a planter but never returned to India despite several of my reminders that his children needed his guidance as they grow up now that they are at the cross-roads of their lives in the higher classes at the College. He simply refused to listen and finally retired and returned being old now.
            
Having settled far from Mangalore once my anxiety took the better of me and I decided to visit my home town after the lapse of a long time and naturally I got the inclination to pay a visit to Peter and Michael along with my wife.
            
I decided to visit Peter first. As I was approaching his house, I spotted Peter in the courtyard struggling to push a wheel chair with his wife in it and he looked a mere shadow of his former self. He began to pour out all his woes to me. He said he is now a heart patient, his wife had a paralytic attack, sons are running a small business and most of his saving is gradually dwindling to meet all the medical expenses and also help his two married sons to run their houses as they were barely able to make ends meet as the business is poor.  
            
I made it very clear to Peter, that if only he had listened to my advice and returned to India and bought that estate and guided his sons, he would have saved his health, that of his wife and above all his sons would not have been in the lurch as they are now.
            
Thereon I went to Falnir to visit my old friend Michael. He looked as fit as a fiddle. He said he had just returned from his usual game of lawn tennis at the club. He had sold most of the land that he bought from his savings and had kept a small piece of 20 cents for himself for future use. The property that he bought for about a lac and thirty thousand forty years earlier is now sold for over three crores of rupees making him an instant multimillionaire.
            
Michael is now a rich and contented man, for he wisely put his money in property, took care of his aged parents who provided him with a house and some savings, he remained with his wife and above all he brought up his children giving the right direction whereas Peter neither bought the coffee plantation, nor guided the children when they needed him the most, his wife was a wretch, he was busy with his work and bank balance that ultimately led to his downfall.
 


Jimmy Noronha
(Jimmy Noronha is born, brought up and studied in Bellore, Bantwal. He is happily settled in Lucknow.)
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Comment on this article

  • jyothi, Mangalore/Bangalore

    Fri, Jan 30 2015

    Thanks for sharing the tales of your mangy buddies in the gulf Mr. Noronha. Very interesting !!

  • jimmy noronha, Bellore/Lucknow

    Fri, Oct 03 2014

    Thanks Suchit on your comment on my article. Daniel D'Sa, while I thank you for your comment, may I know if you have relocated from the Gulf to Karkala please? Thanks Gabriel for taking interest in my previous writings also, it is a good moral booster for me for writing further.Thanks Bryan, for a wonderful hyperbole, I like that. And Sanjay, Cape Town, I am glad you liked my writing, thanks a lot.

  • jimmy noronha, Bellore/Lucknow

    Thu, Oct 02 2014

    Thanks Mr. Felix, Udipi, for your precautionary guidelines given to the people in the Gulf.
    Mr. Mathew, your views have been extremely useful to me right from 2009, please keep advising, it is a great shot in the arm I must say.
    I entirely agree with you Mr. Valerian Furtado, that right decision at the right time is the key to progress, thanks a lot.

  • Sanjay, Cape Town

    Thu, Oct 02 2014

    A very insightful article. Thank you Mr. Noronha.

  • Bryan, Bahrain

    Thu, Oct 02 2014

    I will not get tired reading it even ten times, It is so very well narrated...

  • jimmy noronha, Bellore/Lucknow

    Wed, Oct 01 2014

    Thanks a lot Sir Antony Cony DSouza for such an invaluable opinion of yours on my article. I am at a loss to know as to how you get to the root of my expression and how is that you capture the imagination of the readers. Your views are truly invaluable for me,thanks.
    Ma'a Sushma Menezes, you said it right, yes it is an advice of course.

  • jimmy noronha, Bellore/Lucknow

    Wed, Oct 01 2014

    Thanks Mr. george desouza for your views. First, your letter made me wonder, next it made me thunder, in all it is with the message that I liked to express. Thanks.
    Mr. John DSouza, I entirely agree that life is a journey full of uncertainties, you couldn't have said it better, thanks.

  • jimmy noronha, Bellore/Lucknow

    Wed, Oct 01 2014

    Thanks a lot Mr. Antony Dsouza for your views on my article and I am glad that you expressed the views correctly.
    Thanks Ma'am Sonia, on your comments on my article.
    Thanks you Mr. Rilwan for bringing forward the predicament that people often face in the Gulf, your views are in keeping with those of mine, thanks.

  • jimmy noronha, Bellore/Lucknow

    Wed, Oct 01 2014

    Thanks a lot Sir Antony Cony D Souza for your views. I am amazed at the way you caught the message of the article, I am immensely grateful to you for such lucid expressions of yours.Thanks a lot for the suggestions.
    Thanks a lot Sushma Menezes, you said it right and I say "well said".

  • Gabriel, Mumbai, Muscat

    Wed, Oct 01 2014

    I casually picked up one of your older articles. The substance, simplicity, honesty, the style and the language created such an interest in me that I finished off reading all other 10 to 12 articles in one go. Every time I open this paper, I look for a new release from you. It was a wonderful piece of work to read, rich in every sense. I am proud of you Jimmy bro. Keep these things coming and keep us connected to our roots. God bless

  • Daniel D'Sa, Karkala / Mumbai

    Wed, Oct 01 2014

    Very nice article, dear Jimbab. Wish you best of health and happiness. Looking forward to see more such articles - a real life experience - from you ...

  • jimmy noronha, Bellore/Lucknow

    Wed, Oct 01 2014

    Thank you Manoj for your broad view on my write-up much grateful.
    Now Mr. geoffrey hat hill, may I say that you are an enigma, I wanted to know more about you right from the beginning for your views have gone a long way in shaping up some of my writings and here again you talk about Woody Allen, may I beg to differ with you? You see, God knows our plans and He will surely differ his plans if we pray to Him for our success in the venture. Ever Merciful God will abide by our wishes.All the same, I must thank you for all those invaluable comments you have been dishing out from time to time. Thanks a lot.

  • jimmy noronha, Bellore/Lucknow

    Wed, Oct 01 2014

    As oxygen is to life so are the comments -either way- to a writer. Here I can see a host of good comments, pure oxygen, an impetus to write further. I thank BROAD MIND for broad view in a single sentence and am grateful to you sir. I thank you ma'am M. Nazareth for your wise advice that I accept gratefully. Thanks Mrs. Munro, you have always been there giving your views and I am grateful. Thanks Mr.S. Noronha, for the advice and I concur with you in total and thanks for the time.

  • Suchith, Udupi

    Wed, Oct 01 2014

    Very nice article

  • Valerian Furtado, Mulki/Canada

    Tue, Sep 30 2014

    No matter how much we plan, the good result can only come when, right decision taken at the right time 75% of the time and 25% is luck. Even then a person can go wrong many times. No one can predict the future, besides gulf life is not forever for the majority of expatriates. In my opinion the real culprit is the government of India. We do not have an environment, wherein those people who want to do business or use their skills in any other productive way can do so in an ethical and corruption free way. Infrastructure is missing everywhere whether in good roads or in speedy justice. There is no safety net so that a person can contribute while working and get a pension later. Very few people pay tax. Govt. Policies affect and create inflation, with the advancement in medicine life span has increased. So whatever one does unless one is lucky to have good successful kids or lot of money with health. Over time we will see many Peters around some are vocal others are quite.

  • A. S. Mathew, U.S.A.

    Tue, Sep 30 2014

    This is an open story of thousands of people went abroad, and in their solid and wavering decision making, went apart and landed in different worlds some of them in extreme suffering and the other group in greater joy. We can't control our future and destiny, there is another mysterious power working behind that.

    If I were not rushing, I might have landed in a Gulf country, but I was too particular to land in the U.S.. When I see the comfortable and relaxed lifestyle of my cousins who did work in the Gulf countries, now retired in India, I question myself " rashly decisions".

  • Felix, Udupi / Muscat

    Tue, Sep 30 2014

    Much to learn and an eye opener. Work hard, invest something in property, buy a full family insurance policy and keep some amount in Fixed Deposits.... Working in Gulf is not bad thing but keeping a balance in life is a wise one. Those who have family in Gulf are not exempted anywhere.

  • John DSouza, Belman/Bejai/Qatar

    Tue, Sep 30 2014

    Tale of two men is the cocktail of millions of people in the gulf
    Decision making and risk taking is essential and priority in life
    Being a moving wheel, the life has to face frequent ups and downs
    Cautious decisions take to top or bottom like in snake and ladder
    After all individuals only have to face the sweetness and bitterness
    Life is a vehicle which faces unlimited uncertainties and surprises
    Audience change directions like free flowing water and blowing wind
    Only one life, for rich and poor, strong and weak & have and have not

  • george dsouza, mangalore, mumbai

    Tue, Sep 30 2014

    An article from the hear of the writer. I am not sure if it's a fact or fiction but differ on the outcome that one set of advise or rule applies to all.Peter remained in Gulf and ended up in penury and ill health as he did't heed the advise of the author on buying an estate. There are every chances that his plan would have failed even if he had brought that estate and returned from Gulf, we can quote plenty of examples of returning from Gulf, investing in business and then going bankrupt.Michael on the other hand returned in time from Gulf, settled with his family, made pots of money and his children settled doing MNC jobs. Yes that's a barometer of success going by the current trends. Even the case of Michael could have gone wrong as everything we do in life may not end up with the desired results. The only certainty is that all our actions will have some consequences sometimes desirable and sometimes undesirable.If our intentions are good for us and also for others then probably the outcome would be most satisfying. Whether one continue to work in Gulf or comes back home for business somewhere a line should be drawn on our greediness for money, a person who can do that is the most happy one. After all a nice bank balance, big house , big car and children settling down with Nice jobs is not the only criteria of good and content life moreover that's the culmination of a materialistic life which we observe everywhere.Thanks Jimmy sir for writing with such passion .

  • Rilwan, Abudhabi

    Tue, Sep 30 2014

    Really well written and real story of every expatriate.Initially we cannot settle in india, when we want its already too late."Jee chaahe hum bi ghar jaaye, pardes me hi na marjaaye jeevan ka kya aetbaar yaar my india chala"

  • Sonia, Bhopal

    Mon, Sep 29 2014

    Very well written article with a wonderful message.One should realise that money is not everything in life!Congrats!

  • Antony Dsouza, Madanthyar/Bahrain

    Mon, Sep 29 2014

    Well-written article. The expatriate life incluging Gulf life comes with its own pros and cons. The real need for money intially drives people abroad however,the greed keeps them continuing there. The writer has given a message:Return at the right time or retire just to wonder how the harde earned money is slipping away on ailments like BP, diabetis etc. Money is not everything!

  • Antony Cony D Souza, Karkala / Qatar

    Mon, Sep 29 2014

    Much I appreciated your clearly written and thought-provoking article expresses both the positive and negative aspects of gulf life without taking an emotional stance either with Peter or Minga. By any measure you are a very effective writer, educator and exhorter. Clearly, you have gift for discussing family interactions in truthful yet amusing ways.

    Thank you Jimmy Sir keep these good articles coming.

  • sushma menezes, Chennai

    Mon, Sep 29 2014

    VERY GOOD FINANCIAL ADVICE TO ALL YOUNGSTERS!!!

  • geoffrey, hat hill

    Sun, Sep 28 2014

    Another eye opener for returning NRIs. Nonetheless, can't help thinking of Woody Allen's famous quote "If you wanna make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” This is not to discourage Michaels. But all Peters don't end up losers.

  • Manoj Kumar Muliyil, Mangalore/saudi Arabia

    Sun, Sep 28 2014

    Very nice article.....I agree with Broad Mind..it is a lesson.

  • Suneer Noronha, London

    Sun, Sep 28 2014

    Insightful advice.Good things come to those who wait.

  • Molly Munro, Abu Dhabi

    Sun, Sep 28 2014

    Nice article, enjoyed reading the tale of Minga and Peter. Unfortunately Peter did not act promptly and kept dilly-dallying on his plans which lead to his downfall while Minga’s quick decision helped him flourish in life. A good lesson for Gulf people. Keep writing Mr.Noronha.

  • Melissa Nazareth, Bahrain

    Sun, Sep 28 2014

    Nice article, Mr Noronha! Staying away from family to earn a living is always a trade off. Balance is key to ensure both, a good living and a good life.

  • BROAD MIND, VIJAYADKA/FUJAIRAH

    Sun, Sep 28 2014

    GOOD ONE SIR. LESSON FOR ALL PEOPLE WORKING IN GULF.


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