Rizwan Sajan: When do I stop being Indian UAE's Masala King ...

14
Cover Story
‘‘ On my
very first
visit to the
city, and
the local
shurta at
the desk
said to
me ‘kaisa
hai?´ (how
are you?).
Right then,
I knew
this was
where I
wanted to
live.
‘‘
says the self-made millionaire after pondering
over what his secret to tirelessness might
be. “My father had established early in my
life that I’d have to work for any additional
money I wanted.” And so, as an adolescent
in the crowded city of Mumbai, Rizwan sold
books and firecrackers during their peaked
seasonal demands. “It was how I earned the
extra 15 rupees I needed to pay for my school
fees, but it mostly instilled in me a sense of
independence and maturity.”
A moment, though, rewrote Rizwan’s
history –the passing away of his father
meant the role of the breadwinner was now
transferred to the young 16 year old Rizwan
by virtue of being the eldest amongst three
siblings. When an uncle deemed him unsuited
for a job in the then-upcoming Gulf country of
Kuwait, Rizwan took up a position in the same
Mumbai-based company as his late father to
fulfil his duties –a role he carved out time for
from his eventful student life.
These ideals form an integral part of his
work ethic and Danube’s values too –the
Group recently inaugurated the Danube
Welfare Society as part of their Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) plans. “The purpose here”,
says Rizwan, “is to enable applicants found not
fitting for vacancies at Danube to hone their
capabilities and skill sets to find appropriate
jobs in the country.” The Group also recently
launched the Danube Community Centre in an
attempt to spread the teaching of basic-level
English language to their workers.
He did eventually move to Kuwait. In
1982, Rizwan carried all of his 19 years to
the prosperous gulf country and joined his
uncle’s setup for a salary of 150 Kuwait Dinars.
“Kuwait made me homesick –very homesick.
From being a boy with friends and social
groups scattered all over my life, I became a
young man alone in a new country, struggling
to adapt to my disciplined uncle’s lifestyle
and routines”, he speaks of his earliest days
away from home with his first employer who
taught and honed Rizwan’s business skills.
A detachment owing to cultural shock kept
Rizwan from feeling at home despite the
apparent familial ties, and he spent most of this
coping period by writing letters to his sister
–a family member Rizwan says he’s still deeply
emotionally attached with.
Gradually and steadily though, Rizwan
warmed up to Kuwait. His learning curve
heightened by leaps with his uncle’s guidance,
and Rizwan’s business acumen was sharpened
under his wisdom. In less than a decade, he
grew to occupy the position of being, as he
terms it, his “uncle’s right hand man”. The
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait proved to be a major
setback for him, however, and Rizwan had to
move back to Mumbai in 1990. With most his
savings frozen in Kuwaiti accounts, a sense of
déjà vu came over Rizwan’s life, and he had to
rebuild the career and life he had so fruitfully
erected in Kuwait.
Unexpectedly, the UAE entered his life,
but smoothly became home to Rizwan. There
was pleasantness in the country Rizwan found
refreshingly different from his otherwise
challenging time in Kuwait, and he discovered
this, incidentally, on his very first day here in
1991. “Not too many people know this story –I
was at the Dubai Airport immigrations during
my very first visit to the city, and the local
shurta at the desk said to me ‘Kaisa hai?´ (how
are you?). Right then, I knew this was where I
wanted to live.”
A friend hired him for a salary of Dhs. 1500
–half the initial promised sum, AED 3000 –and
Rizwan meticulously worked the job owing
to lack of opportunity. He capitalized on his
clientele from Kuwait and an abundance of
The International Indian