M. N. Ashraf is a Mechanical Engineer by training and a reflective
writer by evolution. He graduated from Maulana Azad National Institute
of Technology (MANIT), Bhopal, India and completed his postgraduate
studies at the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines),
Dhanbad, India. His professional journey spans more than four
decades across India and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in large-scale
power generation and complex energy systems.
He began his career with Coal India Limited in Dhanbad, followed by
assignments with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Overseas
Project Division, New Delhi. His international career unfolded in Jazan,
Saudi Arabia, where he served in the operation and maintenance of
gas turbine power plants under the Ministry of Electricity and later the
Saudi Electricity Company (SEC – Southern Operating Area).
Over the course of his distinguished career, he held senior
responsibilities spanning operations, maintenance leadership,
technical support, and the technical and financial evaluation, erection,
and commissioning of major power expansion projects. His
professional engagement included advanced gas turbine technologies
from globally recognized manufacturers such as General Electric (GE),
Siemens/Westinghouse Energy, and Hitachi.
Beyond operational excellence, he played a strategic role in the
refurbishment of high-value capital components of gas turbines within
the international arena, and in negotiating and managing long-term
service and procurement contracts with OEMs and other
internationally recognized sources. These initiatives ensured
operational reliability, lifecycle optimization, financial prudence, and
sustainable asset performance. His work further involved diagnosing
and resolving complex technical challenges, enhancing turbine
longevity, and implementing advanced technological upgrades tailored
to withstand the demanding climatic conditions of Saudi Arabia.

Throughout his career, he worked in the demanding environment of
round-the-clock power generation — a world of high noise, high
precision, strict discipline, and zero tolerance for error. He came to
understand that energy infrastructure is not merely machinery; it is the
backbone of modern civilization. Discipline, accountability, systems
thinking, and ethical responsibility became foundational to his
professional philosophy.
After retiring in 2019 and returning to India, he entered a markedly
different phase of life — one defined not by turbines and control rooms,
but by reflection. The transition from a structured, high-intensity
professional routine to the quiet expanse of retirement created a
profound pause. What began as rest soon evolved into introspection.
The question gradually shifted from “What next?” to “What matters?”
Writing emerged not as a hobby, but as a second vocation — and
soon became a meaningful engagement through which experience
could continue serving society.
Drawing upon decades of hands-on technical expertise, he authored
Handbook & Practical Guide for Maintenance of Gas Turbine
Power Plant, a work appreciated by international readers and
subsequently released in a second edition (Comprehensive
Handbook of Gas Turbine Power Plant Maintenance: Systems,
Auxiliaries & Global Best Practices).
Encouraged by its reception, he expanded his writing into broader
human and societal themes.
His subsequent works include Sunset to Sunrise – A Guide to
Fulfilling Retirement, exploring life beyond professional identity;
Wisdom Across Generations – Conversations with My Great
Grandchildren, reflecting intergenerational dialogue; Return of a
Dead Man, a fictional narrative; and Sands of Time, a memoir
chronicling nearly forty years of professional and personal life in
Saudi Arabia.

With Global Crime: The Silent Epidemic – The Dark Nexus of
Politics, Money, Religion, and Technology, Ashraf extends his
analytical lens beyond engineering systems to societal systems. Just
as power plants require transparency, maintenance, and oversight to
function safely, global institutions require accountability, ethical
governance, and responsible leadership to sustain stability. His
engineering background informs his systems-oriented approach to
global issues — examining interconnected structures rather than
isolated events.
He writes from the perspective of a technocrat who has witnessed how
discipline and integrity sustain complex infrastructure — and how their
absence can lead to systemic breakdown. In Global Crime, he applies
the same analytical rigor to the moral and institutional architecture of
the modern world.
Now based in India, and frequently visiting the United States and Saudi
Arabia, he continues to write, reflect, and engage with questions
concerning ethics, governance, intergenerational responsibility, and
the future of global civilization. His work bridges technology and
conscience, infrastructure and integrity, experience and aspiration.
For him, retirement was not withdrawal — it was redirection.
And writing became the instrument through which experience
serves reflection, and reflection serves society.