Indian Expat's 50 Years In UAE Comes Full Circle As He Leaves On Same Date He Arrived

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Abidh CK arrived in the UAE on November 10, 1976, aged 16, with Dh10 in his pocket and a visa sent by his uncle. Fifty years later, he is leaving on the very same date.

"I came with Dh10 in my pocket," he said. "Now I am leaving feeling like I was blessed. I built a whole life here. My two daughters are married. I have six grandchildren. This country has been nothing but generous to me."

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That life began with a letter from his uncle, who invited him to come to the UAE and enclosed a visa. Abidh said goodbye to his family, took a train to Bombay and then boarded a flight to Dubai.

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He had sewn Rs2,000 into the pocket of his trousers, part of which he later exchanged for Dh10 at Bombay airport. Before boarding, he sent a telegram to his uncle to let him know he was on his way. But the message did not arrive in time.

"When I came to the airport, uncle wasn't there," he recalled. He took a taxi to Rolla in Sharjah, where the taxi stopped in front of his uncle, who had just received the telegram and was rushing to pick him up.

Working as a salesman

The next day, Abidh started work as a salesman at the Sharjah branch of a textile shop. He had already worked in Mangalore at 15 and had studied typewriting there, so he was not new to the job. To speak to customers, he learnt Farsi, Arabic, Hindi and other languages. "I used to look at name boards and learn language," he said.

On that first day in Rolla, some buildings were still being constructed. "I wondered whether I would stay long enough to see buildings being built," he said. "I was hoping to stay for just two or three years to make some money and then go home."

He lived with his uncle in a villa. His first salary was Dh700. He sent Dh250 to India, which was Rs500 at the time - a generous amount for a family to survive in those days - and saved the rest.

When his uncle traveled to India, he sent all his savings with him to his father, a ship's captain who had traveled around the world. "He was renovating our house, and he was overjoyed when he got the money," Abidh said.

Unfortunately for Abidh, his father died while his uncle was still in India.“I wasn't able to see him after I came to Dubai, but I am glad I was able to give him some happiness with the money I earned,” he said.“At the time, communication was quite slow. I didn't know of his death until two days later when a telegram came.”

How Abidh spent his weekend

In those days, the weekend was Friday. Abidh worked in the morning and had the evenings off, taking a shared taxi to Dubai (Dh2 per person) to visit relatives. The whole city was limited to Deira, Qusais and Bur Dubai, and then there was desert until Abu Dhabi.

Later, cinemas opened, including one in Nasser Square, and he sometimes watched a movie with friends. "I used to frequent Kader Hotel and meet fellow Malayalis," he said. "The best place to be on Thursday night was Naif Road. There would be sales, a lot of Indians used to come. It was very festive."

About three years after he arrived, he was asked to move to the Dubai branch of the textile shop in Murshid Bazaar.

Building a life in the UAE

Abidh got married to his wife Sahira at 22. At 25, he went to Hajj by bus with his mother. His first daughter was born during that trip.“I was in Buraidah when the call came to tell me," he said. "So, I named her Buraida."

In 1986, his wife came to the UAE. Two years later, his younger daughter Fahima was born. At first, his wife came for visits, then gradually she settled here.

Abidh was always curious about new technology. When the internet arrived, he built a website called keralauae. "At the time, there was no Google," he said. "I wanted to make it easier for people like me to get everything in one place."

The site linked to local Malayalam newspapers, train and flight booking pages, matrimonial sites and other pages people needed.

How business has changed over the years

Abidh has watched the way business is done change completely. "Earlier, people used to come into the shop and look at the wares," he said. "Now, we have entire transactions on WhatsApp and done online. Now we don't even have to reply. AI is doing the replying before we get to it, they will finalise the deal without a human having to intervene. Sometimes I am so fascinated by how far technology has come. Customers don't come in person."

Coming to the UAE has also become far easier. "Earlier it was difficult to come here. If you didn't have a job, you had to leave. Now it has become so open for people to come, there are flexible visa options. The UAE has become everyone's dream destination."

Last year, Abidh decided to return on the same day he had arrived. When asked what he will miss the most, he did not hesitate. "Probably the peace and security," he said.

On November 10, 2026, he will leave the way he came, on the same date, fifty years on.

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