BUILDING DREAMS: The Sidharthan Kizhkutt Story – 50 Years at The Kanoo Group | A Four-Part Series
In the early 1970s, Sidharthan Kizhkutt carried the same dream as thousands of men from Kerala: Dubai.
It was the destination—a place whispered about in every village, every tea shop, every family gathering. Stories traveled faster than letters home, tales of men who left with nothing and returned with everything. Dubai wasn't just a city. To people across India, it was the land of opportunity, a place where hard work could transform lives and support families back home.
In 1975, Sidney made his move.
He boarded a boat that would sail for seven days across the Arabian Sea, heading toward a destination he sensed would become his calling. He wasn't alone. The vessel carried many men like him, some with wives and children in tow, all chasing that promised tomorrow.
The journey was grueling. The heat pressed down relentlessly during the day. The boat was loud, crowded, alive with nervous energy and hope. There was no air conditioning, only the warm breeze rolling off the Arabian waters, offering little relief.
But the nights were different.
At night, when the chaos finally quieted and most passengers surrendered to sleep, Sidney would look up at the endless sky. In those quiet hours, alone with his thoughts and the stars above, he would pray. He prayed that God might hear him—just him. While the world around him slept, he asked for guidance. He asked for good luck. He asked for the strength to make this journey worth it.
He didn't know it then, but those prayers were already being answered.
Sidney arrived in Dubai in June 1975.
What greeted him wasn't the gleaming city of glass and steel we know today. It was a place in the middle of becoming—raw, chaotic, and bursting with possibility.
Sand stretched everywhere. Mounds of it blown in every direction by the relentless wind. The heat was brutal, pressing down without mercy. Old model cars, trucks, and buses rumbled along unpaved roads, each seemingly choosing its own lane, its own direction, as if following invisible rules only they understood.
The buildings weren't tall. Three stories at most—modest structures separated by wide stretches of open sand, scattered across the landscape like a village that hadn't quite decided to become a city. It reminded Sidney of Kerala in a strange way, except instead of small huts, there were these low-rise buildings. Instead of narrow village paths, there were wide dusty lanes choked with vehicles, people, and the constant movement of goods and trade.
Life pulsed loudest in Bur Dubai.
People walked up and down the streets at all hours. The souks buzzed with activity—produce changing hands, deals being struck, voices negotiating in a dozen languages. Along the creek, wooden abras—water taxis—ferried passengers back and forth across the murky water, packed with people from every walk of life. Laborers. Merchants. Dreamers. All of them part of the same story.
Nearby, construction had just begun on the Al Shindagha Tunnel, a promise of what was to come.
Mix-up was everywhere, yes. But it wasn't the kind of confusion that overwhelmed—it was the kind that energized. You could feel it in the air, in the movement, in the shouts of vendors and the honking of horns. The pulse of the city beat strongest right here, in Bur Dubai, where old and new collided and something magnificent was taking shape.
Sidney stood in the middle of it all and knew this was where his story would unfold.
Sidney settled in Naif when he first arrived. It was where almost every man from Kerala ended up—a neighborhood that felt like a piece of home transplanted into this dusty, promising city.
His accommodation was basic. Air conditioning was a luxury that only clicked on at night when everyone was ready to sleep. During the day, the heat was simply part of life. But none of that mattered to Sidney. He hadn't traveled seven days across the sea to be comfortable. He'd come to build a future.
So, he hit the ground running.
In 1975, there were no CVs to polish, no online applications to submit. Finding work meant showing up—physically, persistently. Sidney did what thousands of men like him did: he went door to door, office to office, knocking and asking if jobs were available. It was exhausting, uncertain work. For every door that opened, ten more stayed closed.
But Sidney was one of the lucky few.
He walked into The Kanoo Group's Machinery Division at exactly the right moment.
There was no formal interview process, no panels or
paperwork. Just a conversation. They asked about his qualifications. He
answered honestly. Right there, on the spot, they made their decision.
He was hired.
In that single moment, standing in an office in a city he'd only just arrived in, Sidney's life changed forever. He didn't know it yet, but he had just found more than a job.
He had found his home for the next fifty years.
Part 2 will be published next Friday, November 21, 2025. Watch out!
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