After passing the tenth class in August 1955, Balakrishnan
from Vadavannore, Palaghat joined Nambeeshan Diary Farm in Palaghat.
Later he went to Malaysia and worked for 12 years in a rubber
estate. Before the Gulf boom of the 1970s, Keralites used to
seek job in South East Asia, especially Singapore and Malaysia.
The rubber boom attracted many Indians to the plantation sector
in Malaysia.
Plantation life in Malaysia
'I was working as a field conductor of Lavu Third Mile
Rubber Estate in Saremban, Malaysia. There were 60 Tamilian and
Telungu workers under me. Later I worked for Sungai Wargil Estate
in Sityawa' he recollects. Foreign workers with residential permit
could easily change their job without restrictions. There were
many temples -Hindu and Chinese -"Malaysia was more liberal
than some of the Gulf countries. Mariamman temple in Malaysia
is very popular,' says Balettan. He got married on 25 December
1965 with Padma, a teacher of Achuthan Girls High School, Chalappuram,
Calicut who has been with him in Malaysia and in Muscat. Their
first son, Vinesh, who was born in Malaysia is now married and
working as a senior manager of Dr. Reddys Laboratories, Hydrabad.
In Malaysia, Balakrishnan was associated with the 'Keralamajam'
in which he represented one region. There were about 300 members
in Keralasamajam, Perank and main celebration was Onam. He could
developed contacts with M.K.Menon, (novelist Vilasini), who was
working as the AFP Correspondent from Singapore, poet Kunjuraman
and Malaysia Ramakrishna Pillai. Due to circumstancial reasons,
he returned to Kerala and worked as accountant in a few estates
in Mysore, Palaghat and a private company in Vishakha Patnam.
Muscat life
Through his brother in law who was working in Bahrain,
he managed to get a visa from the multinational firm Grey Mackensie,
which owned a trading company in Muscat. "I went to Muscat
on an Eid day (October 18th, 1974) and worked for 16 years with
the Oman United Agencies (OUA). On reaching the retirement age
at 55, I left OUA and joined Mezoon Travels. I am proud of working
11 years for Mezoon in my post-retirement life," Balettan
said, adding that in India also, he will try to find a work because
it is difficult to sit idle at home! Even at 70, he seems to
be young' and energetic to work for one more decade.
Recollecting the initial days in Muscat, he says the
country was gradually progressing. There were not many roads,
flyovers, residential buildings or even public telephones. "To
reach Muscat from Ruwi, we had to take two taxis - from Ruwi
to Mattrah and from there to Muscat. "I started working
with a basic salary of RO 80 plus RO 50 accommodation allowance
and RO 15 travel allowance. Even though cost of living was very
cheap, rent was very high --RO 50 for a small room, without modern
facilities. Houses were partitioned made of plywood and two Keralite
families used to share one house,'' says Balettan, who has witnessed
the country and the Indian community making rapid progress in
life in the last three decades. 'At 9 p.m. when people who return
from job were about to switch on the air conditioner, power supply
will go and we used to live without A/C. To avoid heat, we slept
with the doors open. There was no fear of theft or crime,"
Balettan said.
Old family photo
Unlike now, there was no piped water supply and tanker
was the source of drinking water. 'We used to get tanker water
at RO 20 per month, which was shared by two families,' added
Padma. Thanks to the modernization of the country under His Majesty
Sultan Qaboos, things have improved substantially from the 1980s.
"A tea was available for 30 baizes and non-vegetarian food
was available at 400 baiza. All vegetables used to cost 800 baiza
per kg. Unlike India inflation was strictly under control - a
tea is available at 50 baiza now.
As his mother was bed ridden, Balettan used to send
money for her treatment. Like many other Pravasis, he took care
of his brother and financed the sister's marriage Living with
a family of two children and wife, Balettan could not save much
from his limited income. He did not indulge in any dubious means
to make money. Even though he used to visit Kerala almost every
second year, he never bothered to smuggle a few gold biscuits
to make more money. For salaried people living with family, saving
from the fixed income was very difficult. 'I could give good
education to my two children who are well settled now. The youngest
son, Vipin, who studied in Indian School Darsait is working as
an IT systems Manager of a leading company," he added. "Even
though my wife was a teacher in Kerala, she could not find work
because the Indian schools followed double shift system and two
children attended school in two shifts.'
Investment and Home
"Now I am financially sound and there is enough
saving to sustain life after reaching Kerala. I have bought an
ordinary house of Rs. 2.5 lakhs five years ago. While most of
the Gulf Malayalis spend their lifetime savings in building very
big houses to exhibit their wealth and prosperity, Balettan's
rationale for preferring a small house sounds interesting. "Traditionally
our house was a 'Tharavadu' with 'Nalukettu' with lot of rooms.
My father was only a 'Karyasthan' and we found it difficult to
maintain such a big house. It may be due to this bitter experience
that I preferred a small house."
A family photo: Vinesh and Vipin, former Indian
School students are settled in life.
At a time when many of the Gulf returnees who have
built big houses even by borrowing heavily from banks find it
difficult to maintain, pay taxes or repay the housing loans,
a reasonable advise from an experienced Pravasi needs to be kept
in mind by other Gulf Malayalis. "My children are settled
abroad and there is no need for a big house in a remote village
in Kerala. If it is in a big town, you can get good rent and
survive,' he says. "While I was traveling in an auto, I
saw a big notice in front of a big house in Kerala, which said,
`This house is fitted with Centralised A/C'. But only an old
couple stayed there.' Real estate is not a bad investment, but
putting all the hard earned money in buildings which generate
zero revenue is foolish.
