My Journey In Retail

ARRIVAL
"I am only one, but still I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still I can do something;
and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do.
The key to accomplishment is believing that what you can do will make a difference.”

Lots of questions were jostling around in my mind. Will I be standing behind the counter? How will I use the scissor in case I need to sell a pant piece or shirt piece? I was much tensed as I had no experience of selling garments. Suddenly I heard the wheels touching the runway and all of a sudden I started experiencing the motion of the plane as it touched the ground. I could hear the seat belts un-strap here and there along the aisle. The passengers started getting up and trying to tow their handbags out as the aeroplane started parking towards the aerobridge. Through the small window I could see the vast stretches of sand dunes spread across like an ocean. There were many palm trees towards the far end of the airport. The plane came to a halt and all passengers on board started alighting from the plane and entered the arrival terminus of the airport through the aerobridge.

I noticed many passengers scamper towards the conveyer belt. Many baggages could be seen on it, moving in the direction of the conveyer belts motion. The passengers stood besides the mobile conveyer belt, their heads in synchronised motion moving from right to left uniformly with the motion of the conveyer belt. As and when a passenger could identify his luggage he would just seize it, with an expression on the face similar to a fisherman’s after a good catch during fishing. Slowly I moved towards the arrival terminus and waited near the conveyer belt to collect my baggage. The airport was a mammoth, neat and clean, unlike the one I had recently seen. After garnering my baggage I approached the immigration counter. All around I could see many people wearing a white robe called kandoora. The ladies were all covered in black robe which they call abhaya. The ladies faces were also covered. I was very nervous as this was my very first trip outside India. The police officers were talking to each other in a very loud voice. I could not understand a word they were speaking. One of them waved at me and asked “Passpoorth?” I immediately entrusted him the passport, he looked at me, then the photo in the passport and then he stamped on the visa. He gave me the passport and said “yellah” and directed me towards the exit. I understood what he meant and instantly made an exit from the immigration counter.

As I came out of the airport I saw a man standing with a placard on which was written “ALSHAYA” He was a man in around his late 30’s, having a round face, around five feet six inches tall, a bit hefty, broad shouldered and he had a fair complexion, his hair was a mix of white and grey, was wearing a bluish grey uniform with a logo on the right pocket. Ali was one of the drivers working at the head office of Al-Shaya Trading Agencies at Jamjoom centre. He was a very straight forward person, used to cracking some witty jokes, and seemed very comfortable with the job he was handling. He was from Pakistan and spoke about his family a lot. As I approached him he looked at me and asked, “From India”. I replied affirmative. Once out of the airport I could feel the dry hot air. It was terribly hot outside and the sunlight was very bright. For some moment I could not open my eyes. Then gradually I could read the words, King Abdul-Aziz International Airport mentioned on top of this huge and magnificent airport. He took me to a big van parked outside at the parking lot. I was simply mesmerised as I had never seen such a big vehicle before in India. It was very spacious inside. I put my luggage at the back hatch and got in the vehicle. I was impressed with its interiors. He told me to relax, and was very friendly in nature. He told me we will reach the accommodation in another twenty to thirty minutes. He started the vehicle and then switched on the dual air-conditioner. I could feel the continuous flow of cool and refreshing air coming out of the duct situated just above the front-seats. It was a very exciting drive from the airport to the city. I had never seen such big, wide and smooth road way back in India. Both the sides I could see lines of date palm trees and huge bungalows and big palatial villas. We were travelling at a speed of 120 km/hr.

The van halted in front of a building. Ali pointed at the building and told, “This is our staff villa. I shall introduce you to the caretaker who will guide you to your flat.”
He introduced me to Mujabur, a short and stout person, round faced without a moustache, was just wearing a blue coloured round neck sleeveless t-shirt and a ‘lungi’ which is a long piece of cloth draped around from the waist to the ankle at the bottom. He hailed from Bangladesh and enjoyed the company of all my colleagues in the staff villa. He showed me to my flat and told me to get fresh.
“Did you have your lunch?”
“No”
“Ok, when you are ready let me know. I shall take you to a restaurant down the corner.”
I was stunned to see my room. It was huge, with an attached bathroom, a bath tub, a shower curtain, and a western commode. I had not experienced all these before. Centralised air condition was available in the entire flat. I was thrilled with all this.

Later in the day Mujabur took me out in the streets of Jeddah. It was very hot outside, and the sun was still shining so brightly that I could hardly open my eyes for some seconds. We entered a Pakistani restaurant which was very crowded and congested, with lot of noise around. I noticed that most of the customers sitting inside were speaking in urdu. Most of them were in the traditional “Pathani” style salwar kurta, a loose top worn with loose pyjama-like trousers, mostly plain and white or cream shaded. Mujabur ordered for “Murg Biryani”. The dish arrived with the basmati rice laid out very adroitly, with the spices, some clove, black pepper and crisp fried onions sprinkled over it. The gravy and the main ingredient were neatly covered below the layer of rice. It was really delicious, and I enjoyed the meal. Mujabur paid the bill, and told me that he would reimburse the amount.
One thing was very common, all the restaurants, and shops out here were fully air-conditioned, even the small shops, the barber’s shop, the fruit vendor’s shop, the roadside medical and grocery store, no doubt because of the temperature out here, which is 45 degrees plus during summer.

Next day early in the morning Ali took me to the corporate office. It was situated inside a huge mall named JamJoom Centre at the Corniche end of Palestine Street and is a landmark for its interesting architecture. I had never seen something like this in my whole life. Three separate buildings of offices unite on a pedestal that contains the shopping centre; it has been described as the largest commercial centre in the world. To see such a huge shopping centre, fully equipped with centralised air-condition and with a huge parking space was a sight to see. Only tinted blue glass all around could be seen, and no trace of concrete pillars as usually the sights in all the buildings. The huge piece of construction resembled a huge giant tortoise to me. Inside the mall there were all types of shops, big ones and small ones, boutiques, showrooms, and a super market. All the shops were glowing bright with all the spot lights that it carried. There were also many branded shops with names unfamiliar to me those days. Besides one of the showrooms there was a small door, leading to the staircase. We entered the office on the mezzanine floor. Ali introduced me to the Manager-human resources, Mr. Thomas.
At last I found someone from India. He was a Malayalee from the state of Kerala in South India. Three- fourth of the Indians in the middle-east are from this state. Mr. Thomas was one among the many powerful and influential people working there. He took me to the shop floor situated on the first floor of the shopping centre. The name of the shop was British Home Stores. He introduced me to the Store Manager, Sanjay who explained to me my job profile. I was then introduced to two senior employees on the shop floor. Vikas was from Mumbai in India and Momin was from the city of Dhaka in Bangladesh. My induction was taken care of by these two gentlemen. He also introduced me to all the other staffs; some were from Sri Lanka and Philippines apart from Bangladesh and India. The staffs were all in smart uniforms, a light blue oxford full sleeve shirt, a purplish multi woven tie, black trousers and black shoes. In due course I made friends with most of my colleagues, and got to learn a lot from them.

Ashok was a tall, dark man, with good physique who had come from Mumbai. He was handling the kids department, and was an expert in doing “picking” where one needs to list down the requirements of stocks for the next days trading. Krishnakumar known as KK among all of us was also handling the kids department. He too was a Malayalee and had come from Trichur situated in the state of Kerala. Most of the Arabic language was taught by him to all of us and he was an expert in solving all problems with the local customers. He knew to speak Arabic fluently as he came to Jeddah some two years before us. He also was an expert in handling sales, and building good relationships with the local customers. Ajay, a casanova, used to also handle the kids department along with him. He also was a Malayalee, from Mumbai, very intelligent and smart. He was a master in converting customers, had a liking for all the gorgeous lady customers entering the store, with his charm would impress them indirectly by entertaining their kids. Arvind, also from Mumbai, was a very sparse guy, a Gujarati (from the state of Gujarat), who used to wear a dark black spectacle. He used to handle the footwear section. He was known for his sense of humour and was also very loquacious. Benedict used to handle the lingerie section. He was a bit more matured than the rest, an elderly married gentleman from Philippines. He portrayed a much disciplinarian character and was very professional in his job. Apart from Vikas, and Momin, Benedict was also a senior executive within the store. Samson, from Mangalore, situated in Karnataka state, was a very tall, hefty person who used to again handle the ladies section. He was a man of principles, calculative in everything that he did. He used to portray himself as a father figure, correcting and giving homilies to us whenever we were into some mischief.

What I noticed among these guys was that they were an all-rounder in the job, be it cashiering, handling their departments, displaying the stocks, replenishing the stocks or training a junior employee. I understood that if I had to work here and be among my colleagues even I’ll have to take up each and every job entrusted to me and master the same.

In the evening after office hours when I came back to our villa Mujabir introduced me to the rest of the staffs staying in the same villa. Some of them were working in other outlets of Al- Shaya, and some were from the corporate office.

In few days time I got to know Ashok, KK, Baburaj, Stylo, Arvind, Vikas, Samson, Momin and the rest. We had formed a good understanding among the group. Because we all stayed in the same villa we all shared a good rapport among ourselves.

In a few months time Ranjith and Manoj joined the gang. Ranjith had come from Kerala, a man with strong principles. He had a robust physique and was very proud about the same. Manoj on the other hand was very tall, having a pleasant personality and a good voice. Ranjith had joined the finance department and Manoj had joined the merchandising team at the corporate office.

Unlike in India the weekends out here would start on a Thursday. We all used to eagerly wait for the weekend eve. We would stay awake the whole night watching movies, playing table tennis, or chatting. On Fridays the stores used to open only in the second half at 5 p.m. The weekdays used to go by attending customers at the store, arranging the departments, and doing the daily routine choir at the store.

I still remember how I withdrew my first salary. I was issued a plastic card (debit card) from the HR- Administration desk. I was told to go to the bank situated near our store, and withdraw the required amount from the ATM – Automated Teller Machine.
I had never in my life before seen a debit card, forget using one. I took along one of my colleagues to the ATM, to withdraw cash that day. It was very fascinating to see how the machine became alive, swallowed the card in slow motion, and then after creating a mild rattling noise slipped some crispy notes out from one of the many openings it had.

For every transaction we had to use a plastic card, including telephone calls, known to me later as pre-paid cards. I was also similarly fascinated by the operation of the vending machines. At every lane there was a vending machine filled with cans of aerated drinks and distilled water. It was a very exciting experience for me and used to love explaining all about it to my near and dear ones back in India as those days no one had ever seen or experienced something like these.

Together with all my friends and colleagues we had a nice time in Jeddah, went for outings and picnics together, apart from partying every weekend in the villa. We had also formed our own cricket team, represented the company and took part in lot of tournaments.