July 3, 2011
It is very encouraging to note that there has been a marked change in the outlook of the present generation in the Gulf as compared to their counterparts of yore.
Way back in the early 1950’s I had just begun attending school. There were, in all, three men in the Gulf from my Bellore village and whenever they happened to visit home by ship, after a span of three years, I used to look up to them with great awe, and admiration. For my innocent eyes, they appeared to be the embodiment of wealth, power, prosperity and everything that man looked for in this life on earth.
The way they dressed, the way they moved in their motor cars – the only cars to flaunt in my village - that had the ordeal of crisscrossing from anywhere to everywhere to test the cruel and antique roads of my obscure place, always filled me with excitement.
I would look at them with envy, particularly, when they were gallivanting with a chauffeur at hand and their wives sticking to them, bedecked in gold ornaments that glittered in every perceivable piece of flesh in their hands and necks. Obviously, you cannot blame me, if, I in my tender and innocent mind had treasured the hope that one day I too would be like them, moving around in a chauffeur driven car with my fair and lovely bride with glittering gold “chipkoing” close to me in that happy hop round the village with all eyes glued on us? I thought, nothing could please me better than my achieving this dream.
These men in the Gulf had not only great friends, in our Bellore village but also from far and near. In my impoverished village one could only go up to class VIII. Naturally, these three men had little avenue of going beyond VIIIth std. if at all they did, yet my villagers reserved such reverence for them that no other person could ever dream of.
My father, the then the most successful businessman in the village, used to invite them virtually every other day whenever they came down on vacation. The guest would go on talking to my father during the evening while gormandizing over the spread tastefully and painfully laid out by my never say die mother. The talk over the treat and more, would go on at times deep into the night and the pitch of the tone of conversation would catapult to the deafening proportion as the time progressed to the wee hours of the night. To my extreme delight, during the climax of the talk, my name invariably used to be dragged into the conversation.
I remember once during the conversation, there was this suggestion by the venerable guest about his desire to take me to Mumbai, get me educated there and later would take me to the Gulf. I liked that decision of his, spoken under the influence of alcohol but I was too young to know of it then? Now, nothing could have been closer to my dream of being one like them and here I was almost hitting the bull’s eye!! I was virtually in the seventh heaven with ecstasy. I would have screamed with joy if my dear mother wasn’t nearby!!
I did not care whether I finished my studies or not, all that mattered to my innocent mind was to be one like these three men with lots of money, gold, and a motor car. I earnestly waited for the next visit of this gentleman during the week and when he came I was highly excited and I was all ears to the conversation. I began to eavesdrop as long as I could, and stayed put behind the door, and my mother tried her utmost to shoo me away but nothing could deter me from my resolve to listen. However, little did I realize then, that words spoken under the influence of wine had no value.
Apart from the great pomp, show and hollow talk of these men, I hardly ever noticed any sort of concrete contribution despite there being a crying need to alleviate the dismal state of the villagers who venerated these men. I do not think that my father had ever been invited in reciprocation despite playing such an admirable host.
Time passed, years rolled, I struggled on and then finished my education in the village and later in the city and settled in Mumbai. I kept visiting my village and now I was virtually oblivious of what transpired in my childhood about the men in the Gulf.
However, after several years, during one of my visits, I was struck with horror, that two of those men had now returned to the village and with a quirk of destiny were now far from being even the shadow of what they once used to be! I felt terrible to see their present state of affairs.
They had returned for good from the Gulf, but simply could not handle the wealth that was accumulated all those years. Bad management, greedy relatives, and friends and above all, that dreaded drink had conspired to drive them to utter poverty and after a certain period they were prematurely driven into oblivion. The third one went on working to the last stage of his life and returned for good as a spent force, and soon after followed the rest.
This is all what I know about quite a few of those who went to Gulf in the days of yore. They went by ship, returned after three years or more, hardly had any sort of family life and went back again to return after three years!! But then there were quite a few wise men who invested wisely and prospered but such lucky ones were few and far between.
On the other hand, on my recent visit down to Mangalore I was extremely delighted to see that the table has now turned. I was curiously and delightfully the witness to the breath of fresh Gulf air that has been sweeping the length and breadth of Mangalore and Udupi and the surrounding areas. There is a sea of change among the present generation in the Gulf. The picture is extremely rosy, as compared to that of their counterparts of yore when people came once in three years, while presently, most of the people in the Gulf live with their families. Gulf seems just a step away from home now and what’s more, the computer has brought the families and relatives even closer with various facilities to talk to each other and see one another on the monitor as and when one pleases.
I was a witness as recent as in May this year to see for myself the present scenario. I visited the patriarch of one of the families who has three of his children in the Gulf with their families and all the three have bought beautiful flats in the vicinity of Mangalore besides some land as well. I will not be surprised if they have a good bank balance as well. The patriarch himself was in the Gulf as a lonely soul earlier but could never dream of having the privileges that the present generation in the Gulf enjoys.
He has the latest luxury car for himself and another one for his wife and the family for regular use. Despite the man pushing in his late sixties, has not been idle and running his own business driving all around far and wide on his business venture.
Gone are the days when one could spot a man in Gulf sporting his thick gold chain and a big ring or rings and a Ray-Ban! The present day man in Gulf is a man in a hurry, he means business, thinks less of the present and more of the future. Neither sycophants, nor hangers on can ever influence him. Above all, while the man is concerned about his future also thinks of the welfare of his fellowmen.
If there is a sudden calamity in any family and deserves financial or moral support it is the man in the Gulf who is right in the forefront to reach out to the family. No wonder that we have been greatly relieved in recent times that when a spate of calamities struck many a family, they have been relieved of the distress thanks to the philanthropic bent of these men in the Gulf who came to the rescue in a drove disregarding caste, creed and religion.
The man in the Gulf has shunned that pomp and show, he means business. It is great to watch that many a man has turned an entrepreneur and what’s more, made the most of his skill to learn the state of the art, to bring back home and establish his own establishment that has generated jobs to the needy.
The trend is here to stay, and we will soon have a Mangalore, not only with a vast sprinkling of millionaires, entrepreneurs but also philanthropists. They are bound to uplift the down trodden and the needy and we will soon see an ideal Konkan region to live in thanks to these gentlemen in the Gulf.
Jimmy Noronha - Archives: