Bahrainthismonth.com 26 August 2023 India in Bahrain AN ICON OF PROGRESS With a career in the Middle East spanning more than 40 years and as Bahrain’s sole recipient of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award to honour Non-Resident Indians who have made an exceptional and meritorious contribution in their chosen field abroad, K.G. Baburajan is one of the most important Indian citizens in the Kingdom. Currently the Chairman and General Manager of BKG Holding, he sat down with Bahrain This Month to tell his story. How did you first arrive in the region? MycareerintheMiddleEastbeganin1979 w hen I joined A l-Hoty Stanger in Saudi Arabia,a branch ofStanger,one ofthe oldestqualitycontroltestingandinspection services founded in the UK back in 1840. W esetupafacilityinBahraintoworkon theconstructionoftheKingFahdCauseway, whichwasmyfirstmajorproject.Iwasthen a s k ed to join the compa ny ’s engineering departmentofstandards,specificallythe fieldofFoundationDesignandPilingin Bahrain a couple of years later. What other projects have you been involved with? Which was the most challenging and why? Ihavealsobeeninvolvedintheconstruction oftheShaikhKhalifaPort,Alba,BAPCO, BahrainInternationalAirportTerminal modernisation,AlmoayyedTower,Shaikh IsaBridge,SitraBridgeandmore.I would saytheCausewayprojectwasthemost ch a llen gin g on e beca u s e th a t w a s th e biggestprojectintheentireregionatthe time.Plus,itwasatthebeginningofmy careersoI wasstillconstantlylearning. As a proud recipient of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, how vital do you see the relationship between Bahrain and India, both on a national level and for the Indian diaspora in Bahrain? Therelationshipbetweenthetwocountries goes back at least 5,000years,so the connectionwastherealreadygoingbackto thetradeofspicesandgrain.Inmorerecent times,becauseoftheBritishruleinIndia, Bahrain acted lik e a link betw een Britain andIndia.Indiansshouldbeproudtohave contributedsomuchtothedevelopmentof thispartoftheworld;andwearegrateful to the Royal Family for giving us the opportu n ity for u n res tricted profes s ion a l growth and progress. What are your social commitments outside of business, particularly in the area of boosting relations? I be lie ve th a t G od h a s g ive n me a ce r ta in privilege in life.I therefore feelthat I shouldsharethatwithpeoplewhoareless privilegedinallaspects,whetherthatis education,medical,socialoranyotherway wecanhelpratherthanjustfinancealone.I havebuilthousesforpoorerpeopleinKerala and other parts of the world. What advice would you give to young engineers who are interested in a career in construction or who have recently graduated, particularly young Indians? I think the most important thing to remember is that you help to give a professionalservicetothecountry,wherever youareworking.W eshouldalsouphold ourtraditionandcultureofthecountry, whichisIndia.Themostimportantthing,I wouldsay,isthattheyshouldbededicated andresponsibleintheirprofession.Then, naturally,successwillcome.Neverdo somethingjustforthesakeofdoingajob andearningsomemoney.Thepassionshould bethere,andBahrainisoneofthebestfor workingandopportunityifyouworkhard.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk0MTkxMQ==