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 for my Uncle’s return from Saudi Arabia. Like me, hundreds milled around the airport to see their relatives returning from vacation in the Gulf.

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.

Centuries of trade and cultural familiarity gave them an edge over other Indian expatriates in acculturating to life in the Gulf. Keralites now form 60 percent of the Indian expat population in the GCC. 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, arriving Keralites would carry big cardboard boxes filled with stuff. Most had a huge tape recorder in hand, and they came with a lot of gold.

Relatives wearing traditional mundu (man-skirts) and polyester shirts 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.

The waiting crowds will soon have a glimpse of their relative, some arriving after three and four years working in the Gulf. Often, someone will lift me up above the adults to see my Uncle. He always arrived decked in a suit because he was proud of being a rare white collar worker compared to the predominantly blue collar workers that left those days.

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

My uncles’ who were in the Gulf 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 has paid off for the GCC but what’s at stake today is safety and security.

Just yesterday, my cousin living in Qatar called me and said his greatest fear is that his villa is close to the US embassy. Once, that was the 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 with the Arabs to build a new era for the Gulf.

The rest have left. The loyal expat from Kerala still stays.