1/ Fifty years ago today, my father moved to Dubai. He was a 30 year old engineer who had spent a decade serving in the Indian Navy and then a few years working in Bahrain & KSA. He came to Dubai to start a business with his best friend. 50 years later he’s still here. [thread] 
2/ My father’s name is Kuldip Singh Grewal. He was born in Colonial India in 1939, eight years to the day before India’s independence from the British Empire. My grandfather died when my father was 17, forcing him to leave university and enlist in the Navy to support his family.
3/ My father excelled at mathematics and pursued technical training in the Indian Navy. He became an engineer maintaining navigation and communication equipment on naval ships. He left the navy after 10 years holding the rank of Chief Petty Officer and began his journey to Dubai.
4/ His first job after leaving the Navy was for International Air Radio Limited, a subsidiary of the British Overseas Airways Corporation (@British_Airways) in Bahrain. His manager there was a British man named Bill Hardman. It was Bill’s idea to start a business in Dubai.
5/ When my father arrived in Dubai, it was still under British administration. His visa was issued by the British High Commission in New Delhi “on behalf of the Rulers of The Trucial States”. This scan of his passport has a red entry stamp from Dubai Airport dated 21 Jan 1970.
6/ Upon his arrival to Dubai, he moved into the two bedroom apartment that Bill and his family lived in. The apartment was on the sixth floor of the tallest building in Dubai at the time...which only had seven floors. The living room also served as their office and workshop.
7/ The fledgling business that Bill had started in Dubai was begun in partnership of the Al Sharif Brothers of Bahrain. Later in 1970, the company was formally registered in Dubai and the name was changed to ELCOME...which was short for Electronics & Communications Engineers.
8/ Today the company has nearly 500 employees across eleven countries and is the second largest company of its type in the world. ELCOME will also be celebrating it’s fiftieth anniversary this year. You can learn more about the company at elcome.com.
9/ Almost two years after he arrived in Dubai, my father was witness to the birth of a new nation for the second time in his life...coincidentally also gaining it’s freedom from the British: the United Arab Emirates came into existence on December 2nd, 1971. 🇦🇪 [end of thread]
