Even though not too many jobs were to be found in the India of the 1960s, engineers did not have it that tough. Within two weeks of passing out, Abdulgani was hired by the Gujarat State Electricity Board. He was to receive a princely amount of Rs 250/month. From the Rs 50 that he would save for his family from his scholarship money, the amount he could now send home would go up considerably and improve the condition of his loved ones. He became his family’s pride and the toast of his town. When he handed over his first salary in its entirety to his mother, there were tears all over the household. They were tears of joy. The money was used to buy a ceiling fan. And then for the very first time Umarbhai’s household could install a tap that would give them running water.

Six months down the line he joined the ACC Ltd, a premier cement company in India. He worked at their factories in Sevalia in Gujarat and Lakheri in Rajasthan before moving to the headquarters in Mumbai. At this point in life, his classmate and friend Hemendra Teli, who had moved to the USA, encouraged and sponsored him to apply for higher studies at a university in this North American nation. With his intelligence and aptitude, Abdulgani secured admission at the University of California in Berkeley. He got a student visa easily, but then cropped up another hurdle—there was no money for the considerable airfare that was required to fly to the USA. But his stars were on the ascendant, he obtained a rupees 5,000 scholarship from the Tata Education Trust which was enough to pay for the airfare. He borrowed another 10,000 rupees from the Sethna Trust run by the Parsi community, and that would help him pay for his tuition.