So, there we where…me included, on a muggy day in the mid-eighties, waiting for passengers to arrive at the Trivandrum airport in Kerala, India’s southernmost state.

I was young waiting eagerly for my Uncle’s return from Saudi Arabia. Like me, hundreds were also waiting to see their relatives.

Kerala was in the middle of a Gulf boom. Millions of keralites went to the six Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC)- Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait to seek jobs and a better life. The GCC states were flush with oil money and were investing in massive infrastructure projects.

They now form nearly 60 percent of the Indian expat population in the GCC. Centuries of bilateral trade and cultural familiarity gave them an edge over other expatriates in acculturating to life in the Gulf. With hard work, sacrifice and perseverance they built a remittance economy that to this day powers India’s most advanced state.

In the eighties and nineties, Keralites working in the Gulf would arrive for holidays carrying big bags and most had a huge tape recorder in hand, a symbol of their new found wealth. They also came with a lot of gold.

Wearing traditional mundu (man-skirts) and polyester shirts, relatives would squat around a huge betel leaf stained window waiting for passengers to exit the airport. The acrid smell of sweat and rolled tobacco, called beedis would fill the air.

Anxious relatives will soon have a first sight of their relative, some arriving after three and four years working in the Gulf.

Sometimes a relative will lift me up to see my Uncle. He arrived decked in a suit because he was proud of being a rare white collar worker compared to the predominantly blue collar workers.

Over the last several decades, Keralites have powered the GCC. They built its huge skyscrapers, massive infrastructure projects and energy sector.

Like millions of expats from Kerala working in the Gulf, my uncle’s were breadwinners for our extended family. They worked hard to take care of me, my mom and sisters after my dad’s death. The Saudi riyal was our savior.

Years of investments in non-energy sectors were paying off for the GCC but what’s at stake today is safety and security for everyone.

Just yesterday, my cousin in Qatar said his greatest fear is that his villa is close to the US embassy. That was the once most secure area in the country!

This war will redraw relationships, doubt alliances, and make the GCC rethink its ties with other countries.

Keralites will still sell tea, manage shops, work in retail, start businesses and stay hand in hand to build a new era for the Gulf.

The rest have left. The loyal expat from Kerala will stay.