About this episode
In 1955, a man from a small village in Kerala paid 500 rupees for passage on a crowded boat to Abu Dhabi. He told no one he was leaving.
He wasn't the first, and he certainly wasn't the last.
Over the decades, millions followed — and the money they sent back quietly rebuilt everything: houses, schools, entire towns.
Today, remittances make up over a fifth of the state's economy. Which means when war broke out across the Middle East last month, Kerala isn't just watching from a distance. The hurt is closer home.
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