Kenyan Engineer in Dubai

I met Eric when I was walking around Dubai Mall early morning one Friday.

I had gone to Dubai Mall at around 7.30 AM. At that time, the mall is just waking up. The housekeeping staff is just strolling in and one or two coffee shops are open. There is none of the hustle and bustle that you see if you come to the mall at say, 12 noon.

It is fun to walk around the mall at that time. It is fascinating to see the transition that the mall experiences every minute from 8 AM.

So, as I said, I was walking around the mall, and there I met Eric and we got chatting.

Eric is from Kenya. His full name is Eric Wilfred Ongwae. He is an Engineer working for a leading Air Conditioning Multinational in Kenya. He had come to Dubai to attend a product presentation.

His return flight was booked for 3.00 PM, he had some time in the morning and he wanted to see Dubai Mall.

When I told him that I was from India, his eyes lit up.

"I did my Engineering from India. Marathwada Institute of Technology, Aurangabad. I graduated in Mechanical Engineering", Eric told me.

"I love India. Aap kaise ho?", he threw in the mandatory Hindi phrase to prove his bonafides.

I told him I was good. How was he.?

Over a cup of coffee, Eric told me his story.

He did not need much prompting. He was keen to tell me his story of the Engineering College days.

"While studying engineering, I was also running my own business. Every weekend I will travel to Mumbai, buy clothes and watches from Crawford Market and sell the same in Aurangabad. I should confess that I used my black colour to mislead the customers. They thought that I was getting these from Kenya, I never bothered to correct them.", Eric said.

"I also earned money selling my Engineering Skills. I used to buy old, non-working refrigerators at about 1000 rupees. Most of them had problems with compressor or leaking pipes. I will repair the compressor or replace the pipes and hand over the working refrigerator to my friend Imran who was a painter. He will paint the fridge, make it look as good as new and we will sell the same in second hand market for about 10000 rupees. After all my costs, including the charges I paid to Imran, I used to make about 6000 rupees per refrigerator. I did a lot of business.", Eric continued.

"In addition, I also learned to repair Television sets. In my college and around, I was the go to person for any problems with TV. In fact I even manufactured remote for the TV which was unheard of  those days. I will repair the TV, make it remote compliant and hand over the repaired TV along with the remote to the owner.", Eric took a sip of coffee before continuing.

"I had a number of happy customers those days and I made a lot of money. In fact with the money I earned, I purchased an Enfield Bullet. I was the only person in the campus who had this bike. People thought that I had a rich dad in Kenya who was financing my lifestyle, that was not the case. My lifestyle was entirely financed by me".

"I spend a fabulous four years in India", said Eric.

It was a great story and Eric was a good story teller.

His story got me thinking.

The problem with Indian education system is that we do not teach children to monetize their knowledge. We do not demand that they go for part time work and earn money for themselves. Due to this, when they join Engineering college, they do not undergo a paradigm shift. Instead, Engineering is just another degree which they have to earn by studying the subject by rote, without ever thinking of the practical aspects of Engineering Education.

For students like Eric, Engineering education is where they learn to work with things. They look at  engineering as a qualification which deals with making things work. Perception is different. Indian students look at Engineering as just an extension of their studies, where as outsiders look at the practical aspects of studying engineering.

That is the reason why while Eric 'used his Engineering knowledge to repair TV and Fridge' while his Indian classmates must have whiled away their time sitting in front of their tables and studying 'Engineering' without ever realizing the practical aspects and the money making potential of what they were studying.

Eric story is fascinating and inspiring. Good job, Eric...