Why This Oil & Gas Engineer Left Dubai for India After 11 Years

3:48 Let's start a bit with your background. what what's your education background? What made you to move out of India, spend close to four years in Asia Pacific and then why Dubai? So that would help us in setting the stage and understanding a bit about you. Yes, sure. I did diploma in mechanical engineer. So after that immediately I got placed in LNT. I was very good with what I studied. So that was not never an issue and I was very you know keen in mechanical things as well. So when I joined L&T the you know everything was good except for the fact that salary was very low as usual in India you know and when you're starting out the the that that time and I the the period of learning is quite steep because you know it's very competitive in India and all the all the people in my

4:48 Department were especially like all college you know So it was very competitive plus I come from a very poor background right poor family. So I I needed lot of money very quickly. So I decided okay me and few of my friends we got together decided know see which industry pays more or which company pays more and we stumbled upon that that oil and gas so this sector pays a lot for for mechanical engineers and so we just started randomly reaching out these companies even though we didn't have any experience whatsoever we just you know 6 months since we joined and it I was just you know training phase and and all.

5:40 So but after I think for about 6 or 8 months we we we finally got some interview interview of mentalities and a few of my got my friends got placed in some oil fields services company. Then after few months I got placed in you know I got an opportunity in oil drilling company. So which which basically have oil platforms in the middle of sea and you go out there and you you drill spec on on a specific locations where you get there there is high probability of getting the oil. So and that turned out to be on a on a rotation basis job. So it was like one month on, one month off and I was like man this is even even better.

6:33 So I I went joined and as soon as I joined they sent me to lot of different projects that was going on overseas. So that's how my overseas journey started. Sure. And pretty much fundamentally it started basically you know chasing money. Yeah. you know so chasing money and the department where I got placed as well is it's not like the core mechanical you know it's related supply chain which was know I had no clue about so fundamentally it was just chasing money and I'm glad I ended up in in the right places I went to go overseas in lot of different countries at a very young age so but it was mostly on not in the offices it was mostly on the shipyards where it's there is a force and all that but at the end of 2014 or 15 when I got married I thought

7:33 Okay I can you know stop this rotational thing since I'm married now and join some stable office role so that's where I got a placement in Dubai and then I moved moved there first alone And after few years, few months basically my wife followed because I mean she was expecting that kind of pretty much started a fresh and it was very good comfortable life but again after few years you know you since I've always been living in a like a community Bombay is very very crowded right so lot of community activities, lot of different religions and we all celebrate together. So I was kind of missing all of those action a lot. So but and and the the more the more I we used to come to India for

8:38 Vacation and every time we I notice how things are different here than compared to life overseas. Yeah. The more it was you know compelling for me that okay in the end we should be moving here okay the we were chasing money at some point but it should stop at at at some point and when when we have enough and we should come back because India has a lot of things to offer still even at this point of stage got it so I know you mentioned

9:11 About a stable job in Dubai so it's still in the oil and refinery but not in the rigs like maybe more like an office kind of a a role just yeah got it and so yeah let's talk about the life in Dubai right how was how are things you know you've been there for 7 years have you had the plans to move back since beginning like you know do you have like certain money in mind and then once you reach certain milestones whatever it could be money or the kids or whatever you want to come back or it just like life has taken its own sweet time and things have changed and evolved and then that's how the interest of moving back to India has come into picture. Yeah, that's you know that's a good question. Fundamentally I never thought because you know it offered everything a young couple would need basically you know the safety security and you know the culture is very

10:12 Vibrant u and it's modern lot of influence by you know African culture and all so or Instagram likes you can say but sooner or later after I got a kid I I realized that you know Indian culture is very important and you know if you I I I've seen you know the kids who grew up in in Dubai or in UK and and when they Indian kids basically and they they had everything except for that Indian culture it was very different So that was not I was looking for for for my kids being grown up you know after they Indian culture is very respectful of the elders and their close mate and all so and and the unity is very strong still many cultures they

11:15 They live jointly with the family and that is lost in between the western culture because as soon as you grow a certain age you you're out and you are alone and all and even the family is if it's there it's it's more like a nuclear family you know so which is like the smallest section of of you know the community basically in India so that was one thing plus another thing was the the education the education I didn't I I did not feel that it was offering what it should be offering. India have lot of things yoga, aya and all that that needs to be learned learned about and we have all our vedas and you know all the sanatan dharma things that is very important

12:18 For for having a fulfilling life. So those were those were missing those kids if I see even if they attain a certain success in their life they were still not quite as happy you know in India we all the ' 90s kid who who had grown up you know we we we grow up in a poor family and all but still if I can sum up my my childhood it would still be a joyful experience to be honest. So just considering all that I thought you know we we will stay here as long as needed. but at the end I want majority of my kids childhood to be to be in India. Got it. So sounds like I think it's not anything like a

13:09 Pre-planned but as you spending time abroad and just the fact that you want to bring the kids in Indian culture the education I think that's the main driving factor. So curious in terms of the timing of the move. is that based on certain milestones or certain things that you want to achieve or before the kids goes into education like why the move in 2023? actually the move move start actually the move first my thought started in 2020 itself but because of co it got restricted. Okay. then then it was better to stay at one place because India had lot more lockdowns than it a few few years went past and then we thought okay we we I I started telling my company as well that okay I don't want to stay here because I

14:11 See my corporate ladder and I see the guys you know who are few years ahead of me and I see s see their life and I didn't wanted to waste any more time this I kept pushing pushing and when the time was right they allowed okay you can do that start that rotational job again and all that so it was not u I I I could have lived few more years there as well because my kids are young basically there they were like six and four when we when we did the move last year so I was not in a rush but again I didn't see any point continuing further. Yeah. To be honest because you know the more we stay the more we were missing out basically. I felt you know every time there is a there is a festival we all the festivals get just pushed pushed down to the weekends because

15:11 Everybody is busy. Yeah. The culture itself was was not very good. Yeah. So how did you plan on a career side?

15:22 Because you're in the oil and refinery industry like how are the opportunities in India? how is that going in terms of the transition with with your professional career? Oh because luckily my job allows a rotational part as well. So even though even if I leave the corporate life which is basically 9 to5 5 days a week kind of thing there is there is some portion in in my industry that you can go especially the one with the engineering background they can go and work actually in the field which is the the oil path in which which works in the middle of sea and it's a different location. So when you work there, you work for one month and one month you're off. So basically you you're kind of free yeah wise you don't need to be at one place because anyway you're going to try

16:23 And work and for a month and you come back. Okay. So it was not restricted to any job of preparation. So sounds like I think you're back into that field kind of the role like you know spending the time in the the Yes. So I have to I have to stay away from my family for a month whenever whenever I go. So that's that's the compromise I thought okay it's it's worth going for because even if you stay at home for a long time the the the quality of time you spend with the family is more important than the quantity. So what's the point of being being at home 24/7 and you're just you know you're not happy and you get aggressive and all that. So Got it. And curious in terms of the place of

17:09 Relocation to India. I think sounds like you have the flexibility because you know your role requires you to travel abroad you know once a month but how did you select you know where you want to move to in India like is it like close to the family or is it like something close to like you know some other aspects curious on that. Yeah. actually when I when I thought I'll go back to India, it was like u no question that I I'm born and brought up in Mumbai. So I I'll be going and settling in Mumbai. So but whenever I used to come for vacation every time I see Bombay as you know of course the population is growing but culturally wise as well there was community aspect was slowly getting lost. was not the same as what I was grown up with. Mhm.

18:04 Because lot of new guys coming and the the job lot of people are in different industry it and all that. So they keep switching the job keep changing the location. So even if I go spend crows of money buying buying a small flat Mumbai is like crazy high real estate but the the community aspect would still not be there because lot of my neighbors would still be tenants and okay even if I build a relation after one year you don't know they going to continue here or not. Yeah. So that that's what happened where I I where where where I've gone and brought up in Mumbai as well. All my old neighbors who have spent like 20 years they have lot of them have relocated back to their hometown as such especially during especially that during the covid period.

19:01 Yeah. So then I at the end when I come for vacation I I see new faces every year. So I was like no we need we need people who are like owners who you know because tenants would not invest so much of time to you know judge with neighbors or community aspect they want culturally invest lot of their time. So who whoever are living there and they want to continue to live there for the rest of their life to invest to make the community better all the time. So Mumbai was crossed out. Then I thought where where we will go. I was looking into settling somewhere you know on the on the on the not on the city but basically T one or T two or T three cities. Yeah. Small city. but then I I met one of my friend who lives in the outskirt of Bangalore and he's

20:02 Associated with the art of living so they have their big headquarters here but big asham is there and next to that there was a community where a lot of the community people were associated with the asham as well but I happened to just come and meet him and I I like the surrounding I like the people were like pretty conscious aware of their their actions. Yeah. You know, so the the all the people who are associated with ash are more like culturally very inclined to you know Indian traditions and all that. So I thought this is the best this is what I was looking for. So got it. Anyway anyway I didn't had much little back nobody. So I thought okay we'll go and try and see if it works. So sure. So we we thought we'll just buy buy a house on a rent and then we'll see how fast

21:02 It's so good. So we are finally looking for for a apartment to buy here. Got it. Great. Thanks for sharing that. yeah.

21:11 So I think let's talk a little bit about on a financial planning right especially for someone who is moving from Middle East to India. is there anything from a pension funds or a corpus fund like you know the movement of money is there anything that you can share like you know so that it could help like others who are moving from from that regions. Yeah. no man I think anyone who's working on private companies you guys are on your own. So do your own financial planning because at the end you're not the government is not going to give you any retirement fund or anything. It's just part of the part of deduction that you pay to the government at the end you you'll get I got I got it as well but it's not much. It's it's that is meant for your survival in case you go lose a job or something

22:11 Happens then you you can survive for next four five months. Okay. So but retirement purpose or anything I I didn't put much thought on that to be honest. But of course when you when you actually sit down and calculate when I sat and calculated everything falls in your favor. When you returning to India I believe the the finance wise will definitely fall in your favor because you have been earning in dollars or you know what for for Middle East or whatever the currency it is but most of them are financially like a stronger currency. So you would always always be on a positive side when you calculate and when you come to India it's and the metros is expensive but as soon as you get on the outskirt of the metro or tire to cities or the the

23:11 Prices drop drastically drastically so so metros are comparable with Dubai the cheaper sections of Dubai and north but as soon as you move out the food, the the dental cost, the house prices, the school fees, everything drops and and everything it's not like there is no facility here. Everything is there. It's just that the standard is little little down. So it depends on what you value. like for for me the ash art of living ash was was a boom basically. So they have their own school, they have their own hospital which is more more majority on the ID side but still so they have their own clinic and doctors. So lot of

24:13 These basic things is like kind of sorted. Okay. And even if I ignore that there there are still proper hospitals here which is I mean the the size is is different but you get the basic facility for sure. So so all these thing would would definitely fall in your favor and if you're only just remember when you when you are out like for for me when I was in Ruba I had in my mind clearly that I won't be spending my lifetime here for sure. So I it was very clear that I'm here to earn money and I was saving like wherever possible I would save trying not to spend unjustly and all that. you know I was very cautious of my mind because every bit that you save there like if you're in UK US every pound you you say you would save there you can easily two or three times you

25:16 Can when you come back it it it multiplies spend spend lavishly on those definitely is there anything unique

25:30 Things that somebody needs to be aware like if they're moving from Dubai or anything like that from your perspective. from a logistic side. Yeah. No, Dubai is actually know one of the best place out of India if I say because they we Dubai is filled with DC guys. So DIY guys that means DC entrepreneurs and DC solution. Yeah. So all these things are taken very much taken care of you know so the the all the business owners of Dubai as well they understand their clients are pretty much you know from the Indian background and they grow up they grew up in India and all so they're very mindful of the money so all all the stuff and and to be honest when I when I started

26:30 Living in Dubai I I it it was very clear from the beginning that I I I don't want to stay here for long. So I didn't did not invest in lot of things you know furniture and all which would last for a lifetime. So all the furniture that I bought or all the all the things that I did while I was there it was kind of in the mind that no it's all temporary. Yeah. So when I did the moment I did not basically bring all the furniture, all the baggage etc. It was very me. Yeah. So that clarity did help me. Makes sense. So how has the kids adjusted in India like with the

27:12 Education, with the school, with the social life and so on. kids are my kids were young to be honest. So they had no problem adjusting at all. So as soon as we came and and for for kids even even if they have images and all after we came one of my neighbors as well they they moved back to India and and they moved in Bangalore as well. Okay. So their kids are are like 15 15 to 18 years to boys. So initially the teenagers have kind of yeah make made a new friend and all that but as soon as they came even they said that it was because it was very smooth because because of a lot of things are ongoing here all the time. So you you you cannot be indoors because every every once in a once a month there there's a festival and something

28:13 Happening where you go out and when you go out you meet people. Yeah. And neighbors are very you know interactive as well. So the corridor the doors are open and people always chithat together unlike in Dubai. depends on the neighbor but Dubai mostly you know we just say good morning that's good evening that's it. The small talk wouldn't go further than than most of the time. Yeah understood. Unless you are from the same state or same thing you have some commonality but India is very different and very very vibrant. I mean anybody who have already grown who had their childhood spent in India they would definitely know that all these things are like you know you you can't you can't have to think about it that okay this will be a problem. Got it. Cool. is there any

29:14 Topic that we haven't covered that you want to bring up that would be related to like you know with your move with your transition and so on? no I think we covered pretty much all that but is I want to just join the threads here like anybody who's planning to move to India the one thread is that connects us is you know our love love for our culture or tradition and all that. So we have to it depends on the individual basically not everybody would want to come back. Somebody want who who wants to leave they can they can continue to leave but people who wants to come back I mean u you have so many just one Google search or channel like yours will give enough data that you know coming back u is is a good thing and you know

30:18 Because at the end of the day what do you what you want out out of life you know the reason we migrated like I migrated from India to overseas was was because of money. Yeah. So the reason my my parents migrated from the village where where their whole ancestry grew up and and they have all their families and communities they migrated to city was because of money. So at some point in in a generation you should have like oh this enough of this now we have to go back to wherever our roads are. Yeah. India at the end you you want your close close families and you want few of your friends you want to spend quality time and you want to spend things that you you love as well. Yeah. Right. instead of you know you know I never as a kid I never thought that I want to be a

31:19 Supplying guy working on the ring and it's so those are like dumb dumb thing that we pick up like as a career that we I want to do that nobody this all boring admin jobs some of you some of the guys may like if they like their job that's fine but I'm just generalizing you know what I saw a lot of people they hated the job but again they it was like the comfort zone or it's the money that they they think it's it's important and they kind kind of make a perception that oh no even India is like that no India cities have turned western for sure but if you go on the the outskirt you you travel and you go stay with locals you'll see that India is still still pretty much the same. So basically few of the things and and it's it's it's

32:21 Getting better because the internet connectivity become better. So you can work remotely you can still if possible earn good good amount of money you know if lucky you can earn in US dollars while being remote in India that would be like the best. Yeah. So and and if you're worried about hospital and all that. So India didn't have much hospital from the beginning. So it was not like people were just going left and left and right. So we we have our own way of treating the disease and lot of them are like preventable and lot of them are just like you know hugs and all that you can do and take care and build your natural immunity. So all those things are little hard of course but yeah people who want to make a switch they you have enough enough resources at your hand if you really want and at the

33:22 End life should be about you know pursuing what you like and spending time with your family and all that what's the what's the point why we are in this you know we have to ask the fundamental questions and you see dig deep dig down and see what you really like. If you if you really like what you do, you just continue to do it. If you don't, then you you plan and make a move. Simple as that. So, fundamentally, we we all like the same things, you know. We all like to spend time with the family. We all like to do what what is really meaningful for us. So, it's it's nothing nothing is going to happen. Yeah. Yeah. I completely agree. Yeah. So, thanks a lot Rakkesh for taking the time and sharing your journey with us. sounds like I think you get the best of the things like you know the things that you want to do and seems like the think kids are happy the things that you want to have that and seems like I think you're able to provide that. So once

34:23 Again thanks a lot for taking the time and sharing your story with us. Thanks. Thanks a lot.