I joined Kuwait Airways on November 1, 1980 as Commercial Adviser.  Emile Boulus had been serving in the same capacity for many years and I was provided an office next to him.  We were both assigned to work with Fahed Al-Wazzan, the Commercial Director.  I had known Fahed from his stint in India as the country manager for Kuwait Airways.  He had received me at the airport in June of that year when I had arrived to meet with Ahmed Al-Mishari, their CEO and had taken Manju and me out for dinner where he briefed me how to conduct my interview with Mishari.

Fahed introduced me to all the department Heads and other senior personnel during the first couple of days.  After that, most of my initial period was spent in Fahed’s office where I learnt the workings of the airline and met with many executives in the Commercial and Planning Departments.

It was a very pleasant reunion with some of my former colleagues from Air-India who had made the transition to KU before I did.  Stephen Rajaratnam was an assistant to the Commercial Director; KK Menon was looking after Complaints and Nair and Gopal Rao were well established in the Planning Department.  Stephen was a great help in guiding me and settling down in Kuwait.  Unfortunately, he did not drive having been unable to qualify for a driving license - the local laws were designed to work against people from the sub-continent and most of those who did get a driving license had to undergo 5 or 6 tests before they were given the prized document.  I don’t believe this prejudice applied to Europeans or white skinned persons.

I was very fortunate in this regard.  On my second day in office, I was taken for an eye test and a photograph and the following morning, my driving license was delivered to me along with a car provided by KU, for my use.  In the meanwhile, Air-India’s GSA , Al-Ghanim, was very generous.  They provided me with a car and a chauffeur until I got my own car.

Incidentally, George Ain, Al-Ghanim’s General Manager continued to offer me the courtesy of a car whenever I visited Kuwait from New York during the remaining term of my appointment with the airline.

On the day my family arrived, Chattrapal Singh who was AI’s Manager dropped in with a box of groceries along with a couple of bottles of liquor.  Kuwait’s laws did not permit consumption of liquor, but I soon found the double standards under which nationals of the country lived.

For example, Fahed Al-Wazzan arrived at our apartment with a case of Black Label and told me that if ever I need replenishment, I was to speak with him.  He also told me never to carry liquor in my car and not to drive after a drink or two.  He stated that as a Kuwaiti, he would escape prosecution but I as a foreigner, would land myself in serious trouble.

I spent a little over 9 months in Kuwait before moving to the USA.  During this period, the Chairman, Ahmed Al-Mishari had given me a number of projects and once these were completed, my transfer to New York took place; though not without some obstacles, which I will relate later.

My passport was taken from me and kept along with the passports of all expatriates working for KU.  I was given an ID card which I was required to keep with me at all times. This, I was told, was the law of the country and and applied without any exception.  The passport would be handed back to me whenever it was necessary for me to travel and I was required to return it when i came back from my trip.

My first assignment was to learn about the inner workings of the airline and I soon found out that the Commercial Department revolved around a “Gang of Four”.  They were Emile Boulus of whom I have spoken earlier, the Cargo Manager, the Reservations Manager and the Ground Handling Manager - all of whom were Palestinians.  They literally “ran the show” even though both the Commercial Director and his deputy were both Kuwaitis. 

Most of the Commercial Department staff in Head Office, the airport and the city office were expatriates; with Palestinians and other Arabs, such as Jordanians being in the majority.  They followed every edict from the Gang of Four and there were no secrets between this close group.  They also knew everything, including where the “bodies were buried”.

I also learnt that for every Kuwaiti middle manager, there was an expatriate with adjoining desks in each office.  If you visited any Kuwaiti’s office, you could see that his desk was empty until 1:15 or 1:30pm. His desk also had two telephone instruments; one of which was for personal calls outside the office.  The desk of the expatriate was always piled up with papers and there was only one telephone instrument for both internal and external calls. 

The Kuwaiti spent most of the day drinking tea and making personal calls while the expatriate had his nose to the grind until 1:15 or 1:30, at which time, he sat opposite the Kuwait and presented the latter with letters and papers to sign.  Once this major task was performed by the Kuwaiti, he was free to leave the office.  I was most amused to see how they (the middle level Kuwaitis) exited the building en masse at 2:00pm.  One could relate it to the sound of the school bell at the end of the day and all students rushing home.

It wasn’t too long before I learnt that in Kuwait, the hierarchy showed the Kuwait on top of the pyramid with the white skinned expatriate immediately below, followed by other Arabs and at the low end of the Totem Pole, was the humble “Hindi”; a term given to each one of us from the sub-continent, be he/she an Indian, Pakistani, Bangla Deshi or Sri Lankan - we  were all Hindis.