Valerian Lobo: From Humble Beginning to Responsible Position

Report by Dr. Eugene D’Souza
Bellevision Media Network

Dubai, 18 April 2010: Destiny works in strange ways for different people at different times. Some times people plan their careers and life, and work hard to achieve their goals and may succeed or end up as failures and try other avenues. Whereas some people while aiming a particular goal may find an opportunity to choose an alternate course and change the direction for good and achieve success which they might not achieve in their chosen field. Valerian Lobo, whose parents hail from Moodubelle is a fine example of a person who wanted to be a commerce graduate and an accountant, but destiny worked in a different way and he chose hotel service instead of pursuing graduation and rose from a humble beginning to be the Food and Beverage Manager in one of the prestigious Hotels in Dubai, the Dubai Grand Hotel.

Valerian’s parents, Urban and Mary Lobo, hailing from Nittool area of Moodubelle had settled down in Mumbai since long. Mrs. Leena (Lobo) DÁlmeida, the first batch student of St. Lawrence High School and former teacher in Church Aided Higher Primary School, Moodubelle is the sister of Valerian’s father, Urban.

Born on 8th November 1959, Valerian is the eldest among two sons and two daughters of Urban and Mary Lobo. His only brother, Felix is in Sharjah with his family and sisters-Veronica is married and stays with family in Mumbai and Sandra is with her parents in Mumbai.

 

Valerian had his education up to SSC in the Sacred Heart High School, Santacruz, Mumbai. As he was keen to pursue higher education in the commerce stream and eventually become a chartered accountant, Valerian joined the MMK College at Bandra for higher secondary course.

After completing the junior college studies, Valerian continued his degree college studies in the same college. However, being the eldest in the family, Valerian did not forget his responsibilities towards his family. The poor financial condition of the family prompted him to take up some kind of job to support his parents and siblings and at the same time continue his education in the college. Fortunately, Valerian could find such as job in Holiday Inn Hotel at Juhu in Mumbai that while enabling him to earn some money did not hamper his college studies. But the task was difficult, but Valerian did not hesitate to take up challenges in life.

The Holiday Inn Management, realising his commitment for higher education was kind enough to give Valerian two shift job from 7 to 11 am and from 7 to 11pm that enabled him to continue his college studies between 1 to 6pm. Valerian had to do a balancing act by doing 8 hours duty in two separate shifts in Holiday Inn and attending the college, finding very little time in between. In spite of various difficulties, Valerian did not give up either of the pursuits, livelihood and education till a chance encounter with a German named Thomas John.

Thomas John, Director of Food and Beverages of the world famous chain of hotels, Hyatt Regency who had come to Mumbai from Dubai spotted the hard working and efficient young man, Valerian and asked him to accompany him to Dubai to work in Hyatt Regency in Dubai.

Valerian was on the horns of dilemma. If he accepted the invitation of Thomas John he would have to discontinue his education and if he chose to do the latter he would lose a fine opportunity to go abroad and prove his mettle in the hotel industry. After a lot of thinking and weighing the pros and cons of choosing either of the alternatives, Valerian became pragmatic and accepted Thomas John’s invitation to work in the Hyatt Regency in Dubai and thereafter never looked back.

With passport and necessary documents, Valerian landed in Dubai in 1980 to work in the Food and Beverages department of Hyatt Regency as a waiter. Meanwhile, he decided to do various in-house courses offered by the Hyatt Regency and acquired the certificates issued by the Head Office of the Hyatt Regency in Chicago in the United States. Valerian worked for 11 years from 1980 to 1991in the Hyatt Regency occupying the position as the Restaurant Manager during the later years of his service in the hotel.

Destiny was working secretly in giving another twist in Valerian’s career when the Food and Beverages Manager of the Hyatt Regency in Delhi, Pravin Nanda who knew Valerian’s abilities came to Dubai as the General Manager of a new chain of hotels and was assigned the task of opening a branch of Peninsula Hotel in Dubai. Realising that Valerian would be an asset to the new hotel in Dubai, Pravin Nanda persuaded him to join him as the Food and Beverages Manager.

Realising that destiny was knocking at his door for better prospects, Valerian accepted the invitation of Pravin Nanda and joined the Peninsula Hotel in 1992. Two years later in 1994, a second hotel-the Novetel was also established by Pravin Nanda and Valerian continued to hold the post of Food and Beverages Manager in both hotels spending more time in the new and more advanced Novetel Hotel.

As things were running smooth for the new chain of hotels and Valerian, an unexpected crisis in both the Peninsula and the Novetel Hotels in 1998 prompted Valerian to leave these hotels and join the Dubai Grand Hotel early in 1999 as the Food and Beverages Manager, the post which he still holds in this hotel for the last 11 years. The Dubai Grand Hotel is located on the Damascus Street which is only minutes away from two of the international airports of the United Arab Emirates-Dubai five minutes and Sharjah fifteen minutes.

Though Valerian has been in the hotel industry for the last 30 years, he is quite simple, unassuming, friendly and extremely cooperative. He is quite popular among the Mangalorean community and has special affection to people from Moodubelle. Whenever Mangalorean families approach him to organise their family functions on the occasion of Christening, birthdays or any other social programmes, Valerian obliges them with all kinds of facilities in the hotel.

According to Elias D’Souza, former President of Bellevision, when he approached Valerian ten years ago requesting him to make provision for a function of Bellevision, he permitted the Bellevision members to put up a stage and make whatever arrangements that they required. Thereafter, Elias says that Valerian, whose roots are in Moodubelle, has been a strong supporter of Bellevision.

Valerian married Gracy, originally from Karkala, but settled in Mumbai in 1984. They have a daughter, Vyona who had done BCom from the prestigious Sydenham College in Mumbai and is presently pursing MBA studies. She is working for J.B. Morgan Chase financial institution.

Though he is quite content and happy with the present position as the Food and Beverages Manager in the Dubai Grand Hotel, Valerian feels that after 30 years of hard and sincere work which has been noticed by different persons at different times, he deserves to be the General Manager of the Hotel which is his dream. Valerian is justified in his ambition, as his record of long service in the hotel industry and his rise from humble beginning to a responsible position has been a harmonious blend of both hard work and destiny.