THE OTHER HALVES
The "Gulf Boom" from Kerala to the Gulf countries started in the 1970s and continues to the present day . The Gulf those days were a transforming piece of land with a lot of petro dollars in their coffers. They needed skilled and unskilled labourers to build their country. Mallu men, mostly with a matriculation pass or fail and a mind full of big dreams, packed their bags and left in search of jobs in the gulf. These pioneers, who had mostly come from impoverished families, mostly landed in menial jobs in the gulf countries. They struggled hard under the burning desert sun, building roads, working at the drilling sites and even working in farms and cattle learning. Some started small businesses or tea shops. The salaries they got in Riyals or Dirhams seemed large when compared to the meagre amounts they would have earned for a similar job back home. They lived frugal lives, sending most of their earnings back home to their families so that they could ...