An Indian man’s raw account of losing his job in Dubai and being forced to return to India has gone viral. His post, laced with pain, nostalgia, and quiet strength, is a reflection of what many expats fear but rarely say out loud.
In a now-viral post on Reddit, the man talked about his abrupt exit from Dubai has gone viral for its emotional honesty. After five years of hard work, he said a sudden HR meeting turned his life upside down.
“I don’t even know how to start typing this. My hands are shaking, and tears are making the screen blurry. For 5 years, Dubai was my home, my dream, everything. And now, on tomorrow morning’s flight, I am going back to India with nothing. Only a broken heart and an empty pocket. Finished savings. Zero,” he wrote.
Having moved to Dubai in 2019, he said he had put everything into his job, skipped holidays, worked overtime, and sent money home. But with one meeting, it all ended. “Security walked me out like a criminal,” he said, describing how five years of effort vanished in minutes.
The man said he had applied to “literally hundreds” of jobs after his termination, but with no luck and rising expenses, he had to give up.
They fired me last month. Just like that. ‘Company restructuring,’ they said. One meeting. Security walked me out like a criminal. 5 years of hard work, overtime, skipping holidays for the project! Gone. Just a signature on paper. I begged HR, yaar, please, just a little more time? I have rent due… but nothing. Nada. Zilch. “Policy,” they said. Cold like marble in the lobby,” the man said.
“Dubai salary sounds big, but rent? DEWA? Grocery? School fee for sister back home? Petrol? All eating money like a monster,” he added.
He even sold off his few belongings – a mattress, a plant, and a small TV – just to survive. “Feels like selling pieces of my life,” he wrote.
Despite his heartbreak, he didn’t blame the city. In fact, his post read like a love letter to Dubai.
“The smell of karak chai in the morning the crazy beautiful light show on Burj Khalifa even the stress of Sheikh Zayed Road traffic jam! All gone,” the man said.
What hit hardest, though, was the weight of returning home empty-handed. “Going back to the village with empty hands shame is a heavy stone in my stomach,” he said.
He added that his father tried to stay strong on the phone, saying, “Come beta, home is home,” but the disappointment in his voice was unmistakable.
Take a look at the post here:
The post drew support from all corners. “You can start again, stronger than before,” one user said, urging him not to see this as the end.
Another user added, “It is not over. It’s just another chapter. I’ve left Dubai three times in 13 years, and every time, I came back stronger.”
A third shared their own brush with financial ruin, adding, “I’m doing really well now, Alhamdulillah. Saving this post to keep myself grounded.”
The man has not shared further updates since the viral post. But if one thing was clear, it was this, his story, though painful, resonated far and wide.