Earlier this week, I was charmed by the sight of a kindergarten (KG) boy struggling to position a bandana on his head woven with the Emirati colours of green, red, white, and black. Behind him walked a few KG girls decked out from head to toe with the colours of the flag embroidered on their hair ribbons, jewellery, scarves, socks, and anything else they could fit on their tiny little figures.
As a new resident in the country, as happens to be my case, one quickly learns that this is the UAE's way of setting the mood for their National Day's festive celebrations.
When asked to describe her feelings about National Day, Fatima, a young Emirati woman, patriotically declared, "It's like a grand wedding that every Emirati is invited to attend, and the bride happens to be our country, the UAE. It takes us at least a week to embellish our beautiful bride and to show her off to the world." And with a cheerful smile she added, "We Emiratis know how to celebrate a National Day."
And indeed, they do! On December 2 of every year, the UAE, a desert-tanned bride, emerges on her National wedding day in a dazzling gown woven with the national colours, and is carried on every young man's shoulder, sung on every child's tongue, and cited in every mother's prayer — a bride who dwells in a palace whose rooms are the hearts of a nation.
What one witnesses here in the UAE is different from any other national celebration — I am talking competitions for the best decorated cars, towers and palm trees illuminated with lights, bands marching in colleges and schools, windows of cars tinted with photos of Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan and his sons, and on and on.
Colours
And, I truly believe that if the Emiratis could have come up with a way to dye every golden grain of sand on their land with the colours of the flags, they would not have come short of it. Emirati or non-Emirati, one can't help but get into the mood and spirit of celebration.
I asked another Emirati woman, Saffia, about how she personally celebrates the day, and she nostalgically replied, "It brings back the fondest of memories. When we were young, I recall how my mother would wake us up on National Day and blow-dry her daughters' hair while we all complained of our scalps being burnt. But, she would insist on it because we had to look good for the occasion."
And another woman, Wadima, explained, "The one who celebrates most in my household today is my husband. It is like a competition between him and his friends on who can better decorate his car, down to every inch of it.
"The police often end up stopping him because of the excessive amount of decorations. But, between you and I, everything goes on National Day, even when it comes to our police."
And unique to this country, when asked about the UAE's National Day, an Emirati never fails to ask God to bestow mercy and bless the soul of the bride's father, the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who along with the late Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, materialised their dream of establishing one nation, and together they united the seven emirates of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain.
Birth of a nation
Today marks the 39th anniversary of the birth of a nation who is indeed worthy of admiration. The UAE is a nation that works for the best interests of her people, and in correlation this has given birth to a unique feeling of patriotism that is exceptional to those countries whose birth gave life to their people.
Yousuf Abdul Samad, a Lebanese-American poet once stopped in the UAE for a few days. His station was the city of Al Ain, which means "the spring" in Arabic. While on his visit, he was awestruck by the greenness he saw in the desert, and was inspired to write a poem which he titled, Al Ain.
I found it timely to ask the poet's permission to pick a few lines, translate them into English, and present them in a bouquet, with much admiration and respect to this nation and its people:
Abdul Samad wrote:
"I was enchanted by her [Al Ain's] green eyes like that of a gazelle,
And I was captivated by their glare.
I rested in their shade and laid aside my worries
For when I first arrived I was drained and weary.
But the memories of the desert brought back her celebrated past
And told a glorious history of a homeland.
How her charm is ceaselessly streaming in my arteries and veins
And the call to prayer at her dawn is eternally living in my ears."
Bless a country who is an earthly paradise for her people, and may God keep her glorious and free.
(Ghada Al Atrash Janbey holds a Master's degree in English and teaches at a college in Abu Dhabi.)
