Jebel Ali construction workers build bridges of friendship during Ramadan

Dubai: It is half-past five and the only supermarket located at the Jebel Ali labour accommodation is full of workers wanting to catch up on some last- minute shopping for their iftar.

They do not believe in bulk shopping, but prefer paying a visit to the supermarket every day. Majority of them are seen making a dash to the fruit counters, the milk and beverage shelves and the crisp and savouries counter.

At the cash counter, a few impatient ones lose their cool and shout at the cashier for being slow. The scene becomes more chaotic inside the shop as iftar time draws near and nearly ends in a stampede, prompting the shopkeeper to pull the shutters half way down to avoid customers trying to make a quick exit without paying for their purchase. Maqbool, a worker, picked up an apple, an orange and a small bottle of milk in a blue plastic bag. He looked visibly upset. There were six people ahead of him in the queue.

A small argument breaks out ahead and an angry Maqbool dumps his bag of fruits and walks out of the shop angrily.

"I will go and have my iftar at the accommodation next to us. They had invited me a couple of times. My company does not provide iftar. We either buy fruit to break our fast or prepare something in the kitchen provided by our company," he said.

Only a few companies provide free iftar to workers in their accommodation. It is mainly a large helping of biryani, lentil soup, vegetables and fruit salad, laban, dates, samosas, onion pakoras and a variety of sweets.

Hussain Mohammad, a Pakistani worker does not need to stand in long serpentine queues at the supermarket. His company provides free iftar.

"We have a good spread. It is shared with non-Muslims. There have been occasions when I had carried some food to fellow workers in another accommodation who were too tired to cook anything," he said.

Recreation

After having their iftar the workers venture out and play cricket, cards or watch television. Some of them sit outside and share interesting anecdotes from back home.

Its also business time for vegetable vendors, pirated DVD sellers and salesmen from local garment stores who sell their stuff at street corners. A pirated DVD which is sold at Dh10 or Dh20 elsewhere can be bought for as low as Dh3 here.

"A worker buys a DVD and then passes it around to the rest of the workers in the accommodation who have a television set. At the end we all get to see the movie," said Kasim, an Indian worker.

Before heading off to bed, the kitchen once again gets busy with preparation of sohour to eat early in the morning before the start of the day-long fast.