What Abu Dhabi means to those who call it home

At 6 am, before the heat has a chance to settle, the Corniche belongs to the early risers. It is an ordinary day in Abu Dhabi, and it says a lot about the city. ‘I was born here. It's where my story starts,’ said Mohamed Munawwar, Software Developer & Researcher and an Abu Dhabi-born resident.

The newly joined crews and the OGs who build their life here are finding themselves woven into the same community. Abu Dhabi is home to people from well over a hundred countries, and each of them has a version of the city they'd want you to see.

For Advait Bal, a Solutions Consultant, and a resident for two years now, Abu Dhabi is a peaceful and safe city. He said it began to feel like home, through small changes in his routine.

But Abu Dhabi, from the eye of a dreamer like Vartanian is poetic. ‘Abu Dhabi is nothing like you imagine if you've never visited,’ she said, emphasising the generic idea a second-hand observer has about Abu Dhabi being a place of desert and skyscrapers.