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Mahendra K Asher: The man who gave up his US green card only so he could live in the UAE
Gulf News
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2/12/2025
Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/2YuNLia
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From Dh2,500 to a multi-millionaire, see this man’s growth and love for the UAE
#GulfNews #business #US #multimillionaire #people #greencard #UAE #Dubai
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00:00
The best place was Dubai and that was my destiny.
00:03
So again I came back to Dubai and I gave up my green card also just to live in this country.
00:09
My journey started from Mumbai, India, Bombay those days.
00:13
I was born and brought up in Mumbai.
00:15
My education was done in Mumbai all the time.
00:17
I was in the last year of my chartered accountancy course.
00:20
I was selected by SEBA of India and I was in the planning and control.
00:25
At a very young age I was having a very good salary.
00:28
1,200 rupees, that time it was a luxury.
00:31
At the same time I wanted to go to USA to join American University, some of the Ivy League colleges.
00:39
Those days per annum the amount of expenses for the college education was US dollar 4,000.
00:45
And I wanted to raise two years fees for 8,000 because I didn't want to have any scholarship or assistantship.
00:51
In India I would not have made that kind of money.
00:53
So naturally I was looking outside to go and here was a good opportunity.
00:58
So I joined Almula Contracting Company, my first employer.
01:02
When I came this was no UAE, UAE was born after I came.
01:07
So 1971 I came in July, August.
01:10
December 2nd United Arab Emirates was formed and then there is no looking back actually.
01:17
So this is how my journey started in Dubai and I joined Almula Construction Company as a finance and administration manager.
01:26
That was my first job but immediately thereafter Chase Manhattan Bank invited me to join Commercial Bank of Dubai.
01:34
Actually my dream came true when I got my third preference immigrant visa from US.
01:41
Now this visa was given by people with exceptional ability and high qualification without requiring any local sponsor in America.
01:48
So I landed in America in 1978 and I got a very lucrative job with Merrill Lynch New York.
01:54
Because Merrill Lynch when we joined the institution it is one of the highest rated company in Wall Street.
02:03
So Merrill Lynch gave me an offer that you write your own check.
02:07
Now that was what the figure of that say because it was commission income.
02:11
So whatever you produce you are getting certain percentage.
02:14
So it was a windfall for me that from fixed salary to flexible salary based on whatever is my production.
02:22
And I was very happy and I spent five years with Merrill Lynch very active between Dubai, New York, London all the offices I was travelling.
02:30
And this was good opportunity for me to earn a lot of money.
02:35
But in the same time during this time my family circumstances changed.
02:40
I wanted to settle down in America.
02:42
My wife also came we both of us were there in USA.
02:45
We lived in New Jersey and I worked in New York.
02:48
But in the meantime you know I had to leave because I could not call my mother in America.
02:55
After I lost my father my mother was to live with me because I was the only my eldest son was in already America.
03:02
And then I thought maybe I will be the best person to look after.
03:05
Best place was Dubai and this was my destiny.
03:08
So again I came back to Dubai and I gave up my green card also just to live in this country.
03:14
Otherwise people were asking me why are you leaving green card people don't leave the green card.
03:18
Anyway now I'm looking for the gold card or whatever they can't give me in the UAE.
03:23
So no regret life is good.
03:25
God has been rewarding and then we only believe that work is worship.
03:30
If you work properly then God will be rewarding you.
03:33
I had the opportunity of serving the community very well.
03:36
The honorary service always I have given to Indian school, Indian association, India club.
03:43
Wherever I got the opportunity this brought me very close to the Indian community vis-a-vis local community.
03:49
Our network is not counted in dirhams or dollars.
03:53
Our network is counted in the professional services we build.
03:58
The expertise which we have that is our strength.
04:02
My assets are our professionalism, our people.
04:05
We have been told from day one that honesty is the best policy.
04:09
And not only hard work never goes in vain.
04:13
So if you are dedicated to your profession, your job, your work you are going to be happy.
04:18
And if you are internally happy then money comes secondary.
04:22
This is in my case and professional it may be the same.
04:25
There is no one success mantra as such.
04:28
What is required is that you have to be dedicated to your job.
04:33
You should have the knowledge to deliver what you are doing.
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