More Than A Decade: Wildlife Expert Reza Khan

It was 1982. A newlywed Bangladeshi Reza Khan receives a postcard saying ‘Petrodollars calling you’. The postcard was from Dr. Salim Ali, under whom he had done his doctorate thesis in ornithology.

Two years prior, Dr. Ali happened to visit Dhaka, Bangladesh, from where Dr. Khan is. There, they had a chance conversation where Dr Khan expressed his fears about teaching not being very remunerative. At the time, Dr Ali had apparently asked him jokingly if he were looking for petrodollars. (oil export revenues denominated in U.S. dollars.)

Dr. Ali was requested to suggest three ornithologists as potential hires at Al Ain Zoo after being invited to the UAE for an official tour. One of them was Dr. Reza Khan. Fortunately, he was selected and given the position of Curator of Birds at the Al Ain Zoo.

Only one day after he and his wife Nurun got married, he accepted his first job in the United Arab Emirates.

Even though she was a biologist, Nurun discovered a new career in the UAE after joining him. She was really encouraged to see so many pupils at Al Ain who spoke Urdu because this was something she felt very strongly about. She succeeded in persuading The Central School, Dubai, to add Bengali language as a subject out of a desire to preserve the tradition of the language. She was the first Bengali language instructor in the UAE, and that was a major milestone," he exclaims with delight.

Dr. Khan worked at Dubai Zoo and lived there for five delightful years before the zoo closed in 2017, ending his time there.

I love hearing about the success stories of people in the UAE. Yes, not everyone is successful in this country, but just reading them tells me that even though I've already gone a long way, there is still a long way for me to go.

Life in the UAE is hard. There, I said it. But that's also the thing in other countries. It certainly isn't for everyone. The lovely people along the way are people who could just be in the process of building the life that they want to live here. Building their success, building their names. That's what I like about the UAE, the opportunities are here. Finding them is a different story. Sometimes, your dream life is served to you on a silver platter. One wrong move and you're still doing fine, just not living the life that you want.

I've been here for many years. The people I met are people who think far ahead. They think about how their life will be in the long run, and they see the UAE as either a stepping-stone or the destination itself.