A man dedicated to his employer and the UAE

Abu Dhabi: Sunny Azhakath, known to everyone as Sunny Kutty, is a 65-year-old from Thiruvalla, in Kerala, India, whose devotion to his employer and to the UAE have led him to take some unusual decisions in his life.

Kutty moved to Abu Dhabi’s Ruwais in 1980 and fell in love with the area to the extent that in 1982 when his son was born, he named him Ruwais.

He said he loves Ruwais so much that he has never considered living anywhere else in the UAE. “I like Ruwais, I like the quiet life,” he said and his wife Jolly agrees. His family joined him in Ruwais in 1988.

Kutty’s employer GASCO, a major gas plant company, soon became another central part of his life. His dedication to his company led him to have the company’s logo embedded on his Kerala home’s front door in 2006.

The logo symbolised some of the UAE’s strong values — heritage, honour and respect — and he wanted all the things that were important to him, the UAE and his company, to be a constant part of his life.

“I love the UAE and I love GASCO, I have had such a long commitment to both. Getting a job in GASCO alone was a blessing. I am 100 per cent blessed by God,” said Kutty.

His dedication to his company, which he joined in 1980, is reflected in his autobiography, Sunny Days, which was published last year. The book is as much a description of his life as it is of GASCO’s growth in Ruwais.

His hard work and commitment to his company — the only one he has worked for since he arrived in the UAE — has not gone unnoticed. Kutty was supposed to retire five years ago but he was asked if he could delay his retirement by five years and he obliged. That contract ended on December 31 and he has been advised in the last couple of weeks that his employment will be extended by another year if he wishes to continue.

While most people look forward to retirement, Kutty can barely hide his joy at the possibility of continuing with the company and has happily agreed to accept his new contract.

“I am so happy and excited [to continue my service for one more year],” he said. “Really happy... a majority of my life has been here at GASCO and in Ruwais.”

Kutty belongs to the limited group of expatriates who have lived in the UAE for almost four decades. He has lived in the same house with his wife for 23 years and the prospect of leaving everything he and his family have become familiar with over so many years to go back to India is enough to dampen his usually cheery mood.

“I was preparing to go back,” he said, “because I didn’t know if my contract would be renewed. It was a painful time for me.”

“Thank God... I am so grateful,” he added.

His long stay in Ruwais has made him a chronicler of the changes in the area. He recalls events with dates as if he was reading them out from an encyclopedia.

“There was only a single lane road to Ruwais then; the two-lane roads were constructed some time between 1986 to 1987,” he said.

“Up to 1990s, we did not have public transportation facilities to the Western areas other than that of the petroleum companies’ [transportation]. There was limited taxi service from Abu Dhabi city to the Western areas… now we have a bus every hour.”

He recalls having to drive to Abu Dhabi or Dubai if they wanted to shop for major items such as electronics or even speciality foods due to lack of supermarkets and malls in the area. But with the growth of the Western Region, Kutty does not need to leave the area today for any reason other than to visit his children who reside in other parts of the UAE.

With his contract having been extended, Kutty is looking forward to each day of his future.