A marine engineer is not able to find a job for himself for the last two years and you will be shocked to know that the reason behind his failure is not related to his studies or knowledge but to his name. Some 25 years back, a grandfather gave a name to his grandson, wishing that he would grow into a good human being but that name has become the biggest burden of his life now.
There was one Saddam Hussain who was an Iraqi dictator but today we are going to talk about another Saddam Hussain, who is a marine engineer and hails from Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. Saddam completed his engineering from Tamil Nadu’s Noorul Islam University but he isn’t able to find a job and the reason is his namesake.
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Saddam says, “People are scared to hire me.”
He has borne the brunt of rejection 40 times from the multinational shipping companies where he has given the interview. All his classmates are in jobs but Saddam is still unemployed despite the fact that he ranked second in the 2014 batch.
In the first six months, Saddam had no idea as to why he was being rejected. In his words,
“I then inquired with the HR departments of the companies and some of them told me my name was the problem.”
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He was told that his name could make anyone suspicious and it would be really tough to work for other crew members if they couldn’t trust their colleague.
A top official of TeamLease Services said,
“If the issue involves crossing the borders, then nothing can be done as border patrol and airport authorities are very process-driven and if there is a red flag, they will check out. If the person’s job involves frequent travel abroad, he might just keep getting stuck or the company has to pull him out of the sticky situation, making the hire cumbersome.”
He further strengthens his statement by saying,
“Even Shah Rukh Khan gets detained at US airports. What is this Saddam in comparison?”
Saddam then got his name changed to Sajid and made required changes in his documents, such as passport, voter ID, driving licence but the problem came in the case of his educational qualification certificates.
A candidate needs to submit his education certificates as well for recruitment purposes but Saddam’s university refused to make changes in his certificates until his name got changed in his 10th and 12th certificates. The man has given an application in Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for name change but there has been no action from their side.
When he didn’t get any response from CBSE, he started feeling frustrated. At last, he has now approached the Jharkhand HC, appealing it to order CBSE to change the name. The court has given May 5 as the date of hearing.
Saddam loves his grandfather but sometimes he feels that he is getting punished for his grandfather’s mistake. He says,
“I am an innocent victim of somebody else’s crimes.”
We wish that problems of Saddam (now Sajid) end soon and he gets a job.