Emotional wealth For many parents, their daughter's wedding trousseau is a major financial obligationTHE majority of foreign workers living in Saudi Arabia arrive here with the dream to earn money and fulfill the responsibilities they have toward their families back home. Samy Annadurai Govinda, an Indian blue-collar worker was one such expatriate whose main priority for the last few years he was here was to save enough money for his daughter's wedding back home. Over the years, he did just that, buying gold jewelry items, an expensive wristwatch and mobile phone – customary components of the modern-day Indian trousseau. But fortune did not favor Govinda. For some reason, his sponsor reported him as a runaway worker (Huroob) and Govinda was forced to leave the country with his meager savings and without proper travel documents like his passport and iqama. It was around this time that the Saudi government announced a six-month amnesty period for overstayers (those staying in the country beyond their visas). A large number of expatriate workers reported at Huroob took advantage of this through the issuance of emergency certificates (EC) from their respective missions in the Kingdom. After some procedural formalities Govinda managed to receive EC from the Indian Embassy in Riyadh and planned to leave Saudi Arabia through a deportation center in Riyadh. However, tragedy struck when he discovered that his sparse belongings and all the gold jewelry he had bought for his daughter's wedding were stolen at the deportation center. Govinda's dream to see his daughter married ceremoniously vanished before he even returned home for the happy occasion. Devastated, he sought the help of the Federation of Kerala Associations in Saudi Arabia (FOKASA), a Riyadh-based social organization, to lodge a complaint for the lost jewelry pieces and gold ornaments. Even as Govinda was preparing to leave Saudi Arabia, the social activists at FOKASA reported the theft to Batha Police Station.They initiated their own investigation and it worked. One repentant Indian colleague, who worked with Govinda to get the EC from the Indian Embassy, not only admitted the theft but also returned all the stolen goods. By that time, however, Govinda had already left Saudi Arabia to his home town in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. FOKASA was in constant touch with Govinda and told Saudi Gazette that despite the loss, he was forced to perform the wedding of his daughter because the dates had already fixed. Govinda managed with whatever resources at hand and conducted the wedding. “However, Govinda was extremely delighted when he was told about the recovery of his stolen property and eager to receive them in India. He thanked everyone – including FOKASA members and the Indian Embassy – who helped him,” a FOKASA activist said. The social workers at Fokasa that volunteered their services in this case include Rafi Pangodu Noorudin, Nasser Kallara, Rafi Vakkom, Nissar Kulamuttom, Ismail Kannur, Shihab Kollam, Nishaf and Sudhakaran Chavakkad. Govinda has assigned some of his friends in Riyadh to collect the stolen pieces and return them to him as soon as possible so that he can present them as a surprise wedding gift to his daughter. FOKASA said that the Batha Police Stattion has agreed to revoke the travel ban imposed on the thief – who was found to be genuinely repentant for his crime – and will allow him to return home under the amnesty.
