Lack of financial discipline worried me
Iwas 24 when I arrived here on a visa issued by Trucial State Council in a ship named MV Sardana on July 20, 1970. The ship anchored far away from the Dubai port and the passengers were taken to the shore on a boat. On the same day, I travelled to Sharjah in a car of my friend. You won’t believe, the sea water was splashing on the left side of the now busy Al Ittihad Road, which was a single carriage way.
He took me to an old Arab traditional house, where my relatives were living. There was no air conditioner and at night everyone used to sleep in the parapet of the house. Social and cultural activities were also very less those days. What we had were open air cinema theatres where Hindi, Pakistani — and occasionally old English films — were screened. When a person faced some financial problem, people were ready to give loan even before they sought one.
As I was from a family of nonresident Indians (NRIs), I always had a special interest in issues of expatriates. My father and paternal uncles were in Ceylon and most of maternal uncles in Malaysia.
I met two Malayalees who kept their luggage ready to travel, but their trip was delayed because they did not have money to buy a ship ticket to Bombay. When I inquired about them, I came to know that they lacked financial discipline. They were sending what ever they earned to their home, and the family back home spent it totally. This made me curious and I learned that most of the Malayalee expats were in similar situation. I tried to educate them about the importance of financial planning, savings and investment.
It was after joining as an accountant in a company, where one of my relatives was working, I got involved in my passionate business of financial management. Seeing people sending money through illegal ways, I started advising them to send money through banks. My strength was an advice from my father who told me never to send money through Hawala and if I sent, he would not touch it whatever be the amount. Those days India was facing acute shortage of foreign currency. In two years, I found many people opening bank accounts and sending money though banks. They started asking me what they had to do with the amount they saved.
My vision was to start fullfledged brokerage house in the UAE, I made three attempts but all in vain. However, my determination and consistent effort gave me a chance to meet Sheikh Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi through one his friend Saud Mazroi. Sheikh Sultan was just 24 years old when we decided to start the present Barjeel Geojit Securities LLC, the first Indo-UAE joint venture in financial services.
I have tremendous satisfaction
It was after joining as an accountant in a company, where one of my relatives was working, I got involved in my passionate business of financial management. Seeing people sending money through illegal ways, I started advising them to send money through banks.” K V Shamsudheen, director of Barjeel Geojit Securities LLC
for being instrumental in the formation of this joint venture, which has equity participation of Kerala government. I am also a share holder in this company.
In 1990s, when the Gulf repatriation crisis deepened, I felt there should be an organised effort to change the situation. I registered a charitable trust called Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust in 2001 in India with an objective to create the habit of financial planning among the Indian expats.
After that I got chances to conduct more than 400 classes all over the GCC countries for expatriates and 750 live interactive radio programmes, 500 TV programmes. Now I am training others to continue my activities in the GCC countries.
I always feel I am blessed to live in this country, especially during the reign of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
What I noticed is, if people do business within their capacity in this country, they can succeed in their ventures. As for me, my passion became profession, which later became a business and a corporate entity, both are progressing side by side.