Successful abroad, successful back home too

AN INDIAN ACCOUNT: Indians abroad sent over Rs 1.2 lakh crore rupees back home last year.

          

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Indians working abroad sent over Rs 1.2 lakh crore rupees back home last year.

Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra send out the most number of migrants, but half of India's remittances come from Punjabis and Keralites.

The bulk of the remittance money comes from Indians working as unskilled labourers, who send almost everything they make back home.

Hyder Haji, 73, struggled to make it big when he started. Haji left for Doha in 1962 with just Rs 75 in his pocket. Today, he owns a supermarket chain overseas. Back home in Thrissur, he is the director of an engineering college and the owner of a Tata Motors showroom.

“Ten years ago, when you asked migrants who had returned home what are you doing now, he would say I'm unemployed. Now, when we asked in a survey are you unemployed they say ‘no, I'm self-employed’,” says Dr. Rajan, of the Centre for Development Studies in Thiruvananthapuram.

In Punjab, and Kerala to a lesser extent, returned migrants are creating new jobs and opportunities for young Indians. Along with the conspicuous consumption, there is also a growing desire to give something back to the community.

Thomas James and his wife Alfonsa have finally been able to fulfill his dream. After 16 years of working and saving in Muscat, the pharmacist couple returned to their hometown in Thrissur to start a medical shop. And its not just the money what’s helping their venture become a success story.

James and Alfonsa can speak Arabic, Hindi, Malayalam and English—languages they picked from their life abroad.