A ‘temporary’ job that lasted a lifetime
Mohammad who took up a one-month job in 1965, retires after five decades in the same company
When Indian expat Syed Noor Mohammad took up a one-month placement with a Dubai firm in the 1960s, little did he know then he would end up staying with the same company for 50 long years.
After landing on the shores of Dubai in 1963, Mohammad did a few odd jobs before he was offered a one-month placement in 1965 by Oilfields Supply Centre to stand in for an employee who was on holiday.
He took up the offer, only to end up with the company for five decades, retiring this year as senior supervisor of accounts, a position he held for 45 years.
“I started as a temp looking after the stores and doing some typing work for a month. There was no appointment letter. As it turned out, they liked my work and I liked them, so I stayed on,” Mohammad, now 75, said.
“The thought of leaving my company for someone else never crossed my mind. I’m still in touch with former colleagues, who miss me at work,” he said.
Mohammad, who hails from Mangalore in India’s Karnataka state, had arrived by sea at Dubai Creek in 1963, eight years before the UAE was formed. Back then, the emirates were known as Trucial States as a British protectorate. Mohammad’s one-year visa was issued by British authorities in Bombay, now called Mumbai, in India, from where he had sailed. After a five-day voyage, Mohammad landed on the shores of Dubai.
“It was a very different Dubai then. Things like electricity or a TV were luxuries. It wasn’t a place everyone wanted to go to. I was homesick and missed my mother. There was little work, social life or entertainment back then. Life was not luxurious,” Mohammad said.
But he misses many aspects of Dubai as it used to be.
“You could get a room for a month for 60 Indian rupees [worth Dh3.30 today]. A meal was less than a dirham, which got you eight Pepsis. There was no traffic, nor many paved roads. Remembering phone numbers was easy because they were only three-digits long.”
Mohammad said there are only a handful of buildings from the 60s still standing today. He remembers Al Fahidi Fort and the old Dubai Municipality building, both of which are museums today.
Mohammad has five children, who were all born in Dubai. “My wife, my children and grandchildren are here. To be honest, I don’t miss India because I feel at home in Dubai.”
I started as a temp looking after the stores and doing some typing work for a month. There was no appointment letter. As it turned out, they liked my work and I liked them, so I stayed on.”
Syed Noor Mohammad