One reads with interest books or articles on what life was like in the UAE prior to the discovery of oil and the consequent boom. or hears accounts from veteran expats who have been here for decades and seen the transition first-hand.
We have all seen ‘before’ and ‘after’ photographs and have marvelled at the massive changes in the landscape. We have listened in rapt attention as old-time residents go down memory lane. Most of their sentences start with “There was a time” or “I remember when”.
I have just realised that I have now lived here long enough to join the bandwagon of self-appointed historians. Soon it will be two decades since I first set foot in the UAE.
When I mention this to newbies, their immediate reaction is one of shock. They can’t imagine anyone living anywhere that long. But haven’t you and I spoken, over the years, of the swift passage of time — how the hours turn into days, the days into months and the months into years?
I know the years have sped past here, coalescing into a spectrum of colours as in a kaleidoscope. I arrived here with trepidation. It was a step taken to show my family that I could survive alone. A mollycoddled youngest child, I wanted to traverse the seas and find adventure.
My parents were sceptical of my ability to fend for myself and made dark prognostications which I laughed away. However, when I came here, I was almost overwhelmed by the tsunami of homesickness that swept over me.
Adjusting quickly
Determined to prove my point, I learnt to adjust to an environment very different from what I was accustomed to. As the years went by, I found that my longing for home and all things familiar had dissipated and soon I was no longer counting the hours and days to my next holiday.
What I remember vividly was the long barren stretch of highway between Sharjah and Dubai. Catching a glimpse of the Al Mulla building was heartening as it reassured me that I was going to re-enter ‘civilisation’.
There were only a few buildings on either side of the highway and the KFC outlet was one of these. Now the area is unrecognisable as shops and residential buildings have sprung up like mushrooms after rain.
What strikes me about the growth in this country, especially the emirate of Dubai, is the complete transformation of roads and the installation of complex interchanges with exit roads snaking through the city, connecting every nook and corner. I remember visiting a well-known building where a friend lived. It had a tiny park outside.
Then the inevitable happened. New multi-lane roads were planned and the park disappeared. But what upset me was that I could no longer recognise the place after the makeover. The plastic surgery was a complete success.
Shaikh Zayed Road itself has changed so much and what is now new Dubai was just sandy area off the road leading to Abu Dhabi. What is bewildering is how quickly transformation takes place and how the configuration of roads changes almost overnight.
The sudden transition has left me bewildered many times while negotiating my way home. When I came in to work one day, the road I drove on was a familiar route, but at night it seemed to have disappeared and, instead of turning left, I now had to turn right.
I’m sure you think this is exaggeration but believe me, I have been left bemused by these unexpected twists and turns, rather like life!
In Sharjah, the floral ‘Smile you are in Sharjah’ has always provided visual pleasure and a feeling of homecoming. What’s reassuring is that this hasn’t changed over the years. A smile still breaks out when I drive past.
