For those Dubaikars who enjoyed Father Eusebius, here is another great man who has a special place in the hearts of Dubai Goans.
------------------- My great-grandfather, Patricino Santimano,from the sleepy village of Colva, had a soft philanthropic bone. This tall, imposing man was instrumental in rallying the villagers of Colva to build the St. Anthony’s Chapel which rests there today. He was also known to lend money to those in need of an urgent loan for a dowry, wedding or funeral expense. Often, these loans had to be written off or were repaid in reciprocal acts of kindness. It so happened that Patricino had helped a neighbour with his education expenses and in return a job for his grandson was arranged in Kuwait. In January of 1958, my uncle, a gangly youth still in his teens sailed via Karachi to Kuwait onboard the S S Dwarka. Although we didn’t know it at the time, this journey would set in motion a series of events that would radically change our family fortunes. In the same year, another relatively unknown man, Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum, was being crowned the ruler of Dubai. At the time, Dubai was a tiny fishing village, unknown to the rest of the world of its own accord and only marginally noted in maps as part of the United Kingdom’s Trucial states. Its currency was the Indian rupee, issued by the Indian government, more commonly known as the Gulf rupee. Only in 1966, in conjunction with Qatar would it issue its own currency. But oil had been discovered in the region and it was steadily gaining in prominence. In those days when Caltex used to transport its oil barrels on donkey-back, Sheikh Rashid was known to tour Dubai twice a day in his jeep, taking a personal interest in the men and women of his Sheikhdom. One of my uncle’s most treasured possessions is a yellowed photograph of him posing with Sheikh Rashid. The story of Goans in the Gulf cannot be told without paying homage to this man for he never relinquished those early ties with the people from the sub-continent. By the mid-seventies, the predominantly Indian and Pakistani workforce was facing an acute housing shortage. Spiraling rents meant families had to repatriate their wives and children back home. Sheikh Rashid embarked on an ambitious project to alleviate the situation. He began construction on Al Shaab and Al Karama, housing colonies that enabled workers to live in decent yet reasonably priced accommodation, and share in Dubai’s booming prosperity. When the Dubai World Trade Center, built by His Highness Sheikh Rashid, was inaugurated in 1979, be paid tribute to the Indian community in Dubai by incorporating the Mogul Room in its club house. Sheikh Rashid died on October 7, 1990. The General Assembly and the Security Council in the United Nations, observed a minute’s silence to honour the man. The silence in our hearts was much longer. selma
