The Sound Of Hope

Published: October 25, 2007, 11:54

The Sound Of Hope

Xpress News

October 25, 2007,

By Subramani Dharmarajan, Staff Reporter

For thousands of depressed Indian expats in the Gulf, he is a consoler and counsellor. He has been able to talk more than 100 people out of their suicidal tendencies.

K.V. Shamsudheen is popularly known as the Pravasi Bandhu(overseas relative) for these expats ever since he founded a welfare trust for overseas Indians six years ago.

"I was moved by the pathetic conditions of lower- and middle-income people who lacked financial resources for daily living after returning home despite working for decades in the Gulf," he said.

The Director of Barjeel Geojit Securities (LLC), which handles investment in Indian mutual funds for expat clients, Shamsudheen said his mission to help people in financial straits gives him a deep satisfaction.

"Helping the low-income earners is what moves me," he said.

"Financial crisis is the main reason for depression among Indians in the Gulf. Another factor is that they don’t get opportunities to talk about their problems as they are working 12 hours a day, travel for another four hours between home and the workplace and have to wake up early to get ready for the daily grind," Shamsudheen said.

While he advises people on the vital importance of making savings, he also motivates them to have a positive attitude to face challenges.

Every Monday morning he is at the Asianet studio in Media City to take calls from people for the Jeevatha Rekha (Lifeline) programme on the Malayalam radio channel. The theme is to encourage the saving habit.

"Ninety per cent of the callers admitted that they did not have enough savings despite working in the Gulf for 10 to 30 years," he said. So he advises them to make compulsory savings to create a fund which will take care of them after retirement.

"I advise them to just save Rs1,000 [Dh93] per month, which after 33 years with a 12 per cent compounded annual rate will yield them Rs5 million [Dh464,000]," he said.

Within five minutes of announcing his mobile number on radio, he gets an average of 26 calls. On Mondays, he gets an average of 500 calls during and after the programme. Calls continue to come in during the subsequent days.

He has been dispensing savings advice on the radio since 2001. He has also occasionally provided his advice to listeners for short-duration programmes on Radio Asia and Hit FM.

In early 2006, Shamsudheen started the Sandwanam (Console) programme to help depressed people – the helpline number is 050-646 7801.