The intense heat is the first thing your body notices. Your arms are sore, blisters adorn your palms from yesterday's labour at the construction site. Overhead, the sun shines brightly ahead, and you wipe that first layer of perspiration away with the back of your hand. Almost on instinct, you reach into your pockets. Good, you think. The money is safe.
This is one among many vivid scenes Indian writer Jagannath Vartak describes in his memoir, Green Desert, which follows his 24 years working as a technician in the Arabian Gulf. The book tells the story of a man who realises that the only way he can bring his family out of poverty is by working overseas and sending the money he earns back home.
Mr Vartak shares the numerous struggles that many migrant workers face abroad, particularly those from South Asia. He writes about staying away from family and still somehow maintaining ties with them, ensuring he is working in a position that matches his qualifications, and trying to persuade his company superiors to give him and his colleagues more resources, including adequate bath water and food that complies with his religion.
Because the book was translated from the Marathi language, some cultural undertones are lost in translation, which makes it difficult to understand certain situations. For example, I had some difficulty initially understanding why Mr Vartak's act of writing a love letter to his wife was something extraordinary. Some cultural metaphors are also difficult to translate word-for-word.
Despite this, Green Desert is an eye-opening, heartfelt recount of life through the eyes of an outspoken, self-reflective narrator. Rather than a clichéd rags-to-riches tale, it is a collection of experiences that ultimately transform Mr Vartak's small-town naivety into a sense of global awareness.
Mr Vartak's new cultural awareness blossoms slowly as he works at different companies and witnesses loss, incredible loneliness, and satisfactions as well.
At the start of the book, we learn that Mr Vartak is from Palghar, a small district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. His small-town background may have been the reason behind his initial hostility towards the first Pakistani workers he runs into. Before boarding his first flight to Saudi Arabia, he is approached by these workers, who beg him to help them fill out their forms as they are illiterate. Initially, he is uncertain about extending a helping hand, but he quickly realises his education would have been all for nothing if he refused.
A few years later, he writes about Pakistan in Green Desert. He acknowledges that India and Pakistan may continue to exist in a state of conflict, but that the citizens of the two countries should not be divided. He also states that during his years in a Muslim-majority region, he never faced backlash from any Pakistanis.
Although his worldly views transformed him in many aspects, Mr Vartak kept his culture and values intact throughout his life in the Arabian Gulf. When faced with a difficult situation, he writes that he would invoke the name of his family deity for comfort and security. When he first arrives at his first work site, he discovers that the food consists of camel meat, which goes against his Hindu morals. He puts his foot down and demands a proper diet. Surprisingly, his requests are met.
One of the reasons I enjoyed reading Green Desert was its intimate style of narration that carried much depth between the lines, particularly during moments of sorrow or disappointment.
After spending a few years in the Arabian Gulf, Mr Vartak witnesses the brutal death of a worker. He writes about how the experience made him question his decision to be away from his family in a foreign land where he faced hurdles everyday. As we read on, we realise how much that single event altered his outlook on life.
Throughout Green Desert, Mr Vartak shows an incredible resilience. As he writes, his main goal in life was to bring financial stability to his family and provide a bright future to his children. He fights many battles along the way, all creating experiences that didn't just change his outlook, but may change yours too.