Mumbai boys get ready to cook curry for US Marines

‘‘I will be soon be there serving as a waiter at the US Marine base,’’ Kumar says nervously, wiping the sweat off his brow on a humid afternoon. He makes no attempts to be brave.

‘‘I have two elder brothers, besides my retired father and mother, and even if something happens to me, my brothers are there,’’ Kumar says with a sad smile.

And so the men stream in to the office of Royal Consultants on a teeming road at Dadar in central Mumbai, hoping to be a part of the team of 900 cooks, cleaners, waiters and others.

‘‘I get Rs 3,000 per month here working as a waiter,’’ explains Kumar, ‘‘but in Kuwait I will get Rs 15,000.’’ It’s as simple as that.

His companion Sachin (he refuses to give his last name) says he’s in it for the experience. But he does also hope to ‘‘get more exposure there’’. Besides, of course, Sachin, a Class X-pass waiter, will be able to send money home to his parents in a distant village that he’s not willing to name.

It works well for everyone. The Americans get skilled personnel very cheap. For the boys from Mumbai, this means salaries they can never hope to get elsewhere in these depressed times. The deal couldn’t be better.

‘‘They have been issued free visiting visa and free air tickets to go to Kuwait, their visa will be converted to work permits as soon as they land in Kuwait,’’ says Clifford Mascarenhas, director of Royal Consultants, the agency that is hiring them on behalf of Eurest Support Services or ESS Support Services Worldwide of UK.

ESS provides the free tickets, food and accommodation to the recruits, while the visa are being sponsored by the Kuwait Catering Company.

What happens after three months?

Sachin, clearly hoping this will just be a stepping stone, says, ‘‘I guess some people will be allowed to stay back and will be made permanent.’’ But he is quite aware of the fact that the recruiters do not promise that.

The war recruitment has also attracted some hotel industry veterans. In 1991, at the time of the Gulf war, Srikant Nakshitri, now 40-something, was in Kuwait working as a project manager in a catering company, drawing up duty schedules for the workers, among other things.

‘‘But I had to return after the war as there was no work,’’ says Nakshitri, who says he’s taken the decision with his family’s approval.

Frank Fernandes’ family does not know about his impending move to Kuwait. A helper in an Irish-managed hospital in Kuwait during the Iran-Iraq war, he too returned after the first Gulf War ended.

His story shows how the new recruitment drive is an oasis in an employment desert.

‘‘There were no jobs in West Asia in the last two to three years, and so when they are finally getting a job there, everyone is just too eager to go,’’ says Clifford.

It’s not all free though. The recruits have to pay Rs 1,100 for a medical test. It’s a small price.