I'm a Master in India

"How is Dubai lately?"

"It's great! It's practically the Mumbai I've always dreamed of."

"Huh?" Ron looked up.

"There are brand new urban areas, wide American cars everywhere between the skyscrapers, not a soul on the road, you can drive up to seventy miles per hour!"

Vinod was talking non-stop, and he was dressed very nicely now. He wore a clean shirt, well-fitting jeans, and even had a watch on his wrist.

After traveling to the Persian Gulf countries many times and witnessing their prosperity, he had a love-hate relationship with Mumbai.

Mumbai was the city where he lived, where all his friends and family were. But there were so many terrible things here: scarce water resources, crowded slums, and garbage piles that could never be cleaned up.

It wasn't until he went to Dubai that he realized it was the future Mumbai longed for.

Not only were there a large number of Indian immigrants, but even the languages were quite similar.

It wasn't just Vinod; even the upper class in Mumbai had a fondness for Dubai.

When they held parties, they would unconsciously imitate the trends from Dubai.

For example, they would hire professional performers, have trained puppies play basketball, and prepare luxurious party favors for their guests.

From top to bottom, the whole of Mumbai yearned for the Dubai-style urban life.

Vinod was no exception; he kept chattering on and on. Ron couldn't help but laugh and give him a kick.

"That's not what I was talking about."

"Ah, Ron Baba, which one are you referring to?"

"The Mumbai gang leaders all like to be in Dubai, remotely directing the gang activities here in Mumbai. I heard they haven't been doing so well lately?"

"Much worse than before! Dawood didn't even have a big celebration for his birthday this time, not even a party."

Dawood fled to Dubai in the 1980s. At that time, he had accumulated enormous wealth through gold smuggling.

Dubai was a city of pleasure, very suitable for him.

At lavish banquets, he recreated the past glory of Mumbai. He invited wave after wave of Mumbai's most famous movie stars and cricketers to visit Dubai, and even kept Bollywood actress Mandakini as his mistress.

After Dawood fled India, his gang influence in India remained strong. Originally, he could continue to live carefree far away in Dubai.

But unfortunately, the bombing happened, and even more unfortunately, he encountered a stubborn police officer like Ajay.

As the case gradually became clear, Dawood's charge of terrorist attack was almost confirmed.

It is said that the Indian government is considering issuing an extradition request to Dubai, demanding that Dawood be arrested and brought to justice.

It's unclear if the rumors are true, but this gang boss probably heard something and is now much more low-key than before.

"It seems our business can expand into an intermediary agency." Ron vaguely had an idea in his mind.

"It should have been done a long time ago, Ron Baba, the people there are very rich." Vinod strongly agreed with this decision.

"You've been to Dubai so many times, what do you think of the labor market there?"

"There's a lot of money to be made!" Vinod shook his head. "Millions of Indians go to work in the Persian Gulf every year."

India is only separated from them by a gulf, but the geographical resources are worlds apart.

Due to the prosperity of the oil economy, the Persian Gulf countries can offer salary levels far exceeding those in India.

For example, a taxi driver in Mumbai earns around a thousand rupees per month.

But in Dubai, that number becomes over six thousand rupees.

A six-fold difference, completely incomparable.

For certain dangerous jobs, such as construction workers, the average salary in the Persian Gulf countries is around 500 US dollars.

Converted to rupees, that's over fifteen thousand, more than ten times higher than in India.

This huge disparity has led many male laborers from India's coastal states to illegally immigrate to the Persian Gulf countries for work.

India is too poor, and every family has many children, both girls and boys.

According to traditional Indian customs, the male members of the family have an obligation to prepare dowries for their sisters.

Yes, although the dowry in India is provided by the bride's family, the male members ultimately bear this part of the expense.

Indian dowries are usually mainly gold, which is expensive and a true luxury item.

This also indirectly leads more and more people to choose to work in the Persian Gulf countries.

With a market of several million people, opening an intermediary agency is a surefire way to make money.

"I'll leave this matter to you. Not just Dubai, but other cities should also have branches of our travel agency."

"Ron Baba, that's certainly no problem, but I need some help." Vinod hadn't had much education after all, and some things were difficult for him.

"Okay, I'll transfer a few more people to you." Ron planned to shift the staff from the Mumbai Tourism Information Company towards the travel agency.

There was no hope for Mumbai's tourism industry this year; the travel agency's income easily surpassed it.

Vinod had sent a total of three thousand people to Dubai in the past few months, and about the same number had returned to renew their visas.

Back and forth, six thousand person-times, Ron collected twelve million rupees just in service fees.

There were also considerable kickbacks from arranging accommodation, plane tickets, boat tickets, etc., which were just enough to pay the travel agency staff's salaries.

"Oh, right, I'll give you a contact later. He's the male lead in my movie. His family has been in the fabric business in Dubai for many years and has a lot of local connections.

If you encounter any emergencies, you can go there for help. I've already given them a heads-up."

Lanka's family was seeking to return to India. While they hadn't returned yet, the connections that should be used must be used, otherwise they would become obsolete.

Speaking of Lanka, he also didn't know how things were going with the film crew.

After hearing director Shiv say that the crew was about to leave for Mumbai, Lanka was so excited he almost cried out loud.

The past month or so of rural life had been truly difficult, especially after going to Uttarakhand. Without Ron's protection, problems kept cropping up.

First, he had some unpleasantness with the local people. Due to a shortage of staff, Lanka was helping as a clapperboard operator on set.

That day was Saturday, which is ruled by the Saturn god Shani. Shani has a bad temper, which made Lanka irritable as well.

A certain hooligan spectator repeatedly interrupted the filming progress, so Lanka asked him to keep quiet, but the argument between the two escalated into a physical confrontation.

Because of this incident, the film crew even made the headlines of the local newspaper, which read:

"Locals Beat Up New Movie's Male Lead."

Lanka scoffed at this report, insisting that the opposite was true.

"I beat up that scoundrel without a second thought."

But he was glad the newspaper didn't write it that way. If he had been portrayed as an actor who used violence against the public, the local hooligans might have come looking for trouble.

Another worrying thing was that there were no nearby homestays like in Uttar Pradesh to serve them.

The crew was filming in the mountains of Uttarakhand, and eating was very inconvenient.

To prevent the veteran and thick-skinned staff from grabbing most of the food, the producer came up with an idea.

He pre-packaged the food for everyone in plastic bags, dividing the meals into fixed portions.

The food was prepared and delivered from a restaurant run by local Sikhs. They used plenty of ingredients, the portions were generous, and they added cheese as if it were free.

But the producer had fully grasped Ron's stinginess and refused to spend even a little more money on plates.

Therefore, the crew members could only eat directly from the plastic bags, four bags per person, containing rice, chapati, lentil soup, and vegetables.

But the plastic bags were strong and difficult to open, so everyone had to tear them open with their teeth, often chewing on a mouthful of plastic film.

Lanka and the crew members joked that if anyone did an autopsy on them in the future, they would definitely find various kinds of plastic bag fragments inside everyone's bodies.

As expected, Lanka had diarrhea every day for the next few days and almost didn't even have the strength to operate the clapperboard.

Also, one time the bus carrying the entire crew broke down halfway. It was already dinnertime, and the bus wouldn't reach their hotel until 2 AM at the earliest.

So the producer took out four hundred rupees and told the thirty people on the bus to go eat dinner.

With that little money, what could they possibly eat?

Lanka and the crew members cursed him more than once, calling him a shrewd businessman, a Vaishya among Vaishyas.

As a rich second generation from Dubai, Lanka unhesitatingly bought dinner for everyone, spending twelve hundred rupees.

He didn't suggest splitting the cost because he couldn't bring himself to say it.

They were colleagues who spent every day together; he couldn't possibly say to them, "Remember to pay me back forty rupees each."

Lanka's foolish behavior led the actress who played his mother in the movie to call him a soft touch.

Of course, there were also good things. Thanks to the fight, he became a somewhat famous actor locally.

Lanka was running on a mountain path and was recognized, so people came running to ask for his autograph.

That was the most glorious moment in Lanka's life. He had fantasized about such a scene countless times before.

Some people would even run alongside him in the morning and ask the hotel receptionist, "Is there a movie actor staying here? We'd like to see him."

Then groups of three to five people would go to Lanka's room to shake his hand.

How Lanka wished at that moment that his family from Dubai were also there to witness that scene with their own eyes.

He also often went to a certain auntie's house for meals. That family had two daughters, and they both liked him.

This was what made Lanka most proud; he thought he was quite popular with women.

Especially since the girls in the crew all had a crush on Ron, which made him doubt his own charm for a time.

Although there were many difficulties during the filming process, it at least made Aiyishan realize a fact.

Unless he had the right time, place, and people, he would never become a big star.

A low-budget film, not to mention the tortuous filming process and huge expenses.

Even the minor roles in the crew were obtained after fierce competition.

Just think, which big Bollywood director would spend hundreds of millions of rupees on an unknown newcomer like him?

Obviously, his previous ideas were too naive. He also too easily believed the producer who had promised to make him famous.

These were all just polite words in Bollywood, not to be taken seriously.

Fortunately, he had already taken the first step, and the filming of "Praise to Durga Puja" was nearing its end.

There were still a few urban scenes that needed to be filmed in a Bollywood studio.

It would probably take less than a week for the film to wrap up.

During the filming, Lanka, as the male lead, also had to record a song and sing a duet with the female lead.

Other soundtrack work had already begun long ago.

The subsequent post-production would have nothing to do with Lanka.

He was very much looking forward to the day the movie would be released.

Hmm, Ron was also looking forward to it. The first movie should at least make some money, right?