The Hindu Business Line : Arab no more?

An accelerated pace of economic development over the last few decades is taking a heavy toll on the identity of Dubai, considered the most expensive place in West Asia. Everywhere, one could see construction in progress at breakneck speed. Locals say they are often lost if they visit the same area after a few months as new roads, buildings and other structures seem to appear suddenly in places where only desert was seen earlier. As part of beautification, the Dubai authori ties have demolished some old landmarks of the spice city of yore.

Its age-old spice markets (souks), although as fragrant as ever, look rather unreal amidst spanking new buildings. Is Dubai is losing its soul? More vehicles are seen on its concrete roads than the number of people within the racing four-wheelers; few pedestrians are visible. Limousines speed past at 60 to 80 miles an hour on highways. With petrol priced at 6.25 Dirham (AED) per gallon , fuel is five times less expensive than in India. Even parked vehicles can be seen keeping their engines and air-conditioners on for hours together!

A town’s soul is manifested in its culture; Dubai’s soul can now be seen only in its famous Museum. There are few Arabs born in Dubai, and different set of numbers are given on expats. My driver-cum-guide Sabri Salim Abeid says traditional Arabs now constitute only 2.5 per cent of Dubai’s 1.4 million population; of the remaining, nearly 40 per cent are of Indian origin. He himself is a native of Zanzibar, Tanzania, and came to Dubai 28 years ago. A devout Muslim, he prays five times a day; once he did so at sunset in the middle of the desert. His wife is a die-hard fan of Bollywood movies.

Another guide, a German woman, came as a tourist two decades ago, found herself guiding other tourists, and stayed on. With few Arabs around — although they are in key positions — and so many non-Arabs, particularly from the Indian sub-continent, Hindi and Urdu are spoken almost everywhere. On Fridays, the weekly holidays, certain areas in Dubai resemble Delhi or Mumbai with the intermingling of people from the sub-continent. The identity crisis of Dubai is best explained by some Pakistanis. They have, in fact, evolved a ‘legend’ in this regard. They claim the word “Dubai” has no meaning in Arabic, and has been derived from the Hindi/Urdu words Do Bhai (Two Brothers).

So who are these “brothers”?

The Pakistanis point to the twin towns, one being Dubai and the other the fast-emerging town of Deira! The word “Arab” actually means “desert”. With such a furious economic activity going on, not only are the Arabs increasingly missing from the Dubai story but the desert also is now an ‘endangered’ geographical entity, and Abeid mourned its disappearance. Perhaps realising this, the Dubai Municipality has set up a desert conservation project, something unheard of anywhere else!

Together with the Emirates Group, it has set up the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR) in an attempt to preserve this simple Arab heritage, particularly the Bedouin lifestyle. Even the contemporary Bedouins are different from their forefathers. They no longer migrate like their sand-dunes or live in tents; they have now settled down in modern “villages” around Dubai in state-of-the-art, air-conditioned housing complexes. DDCR, some 50 miles from Dubai, is the largest land area under protected areas management in the United Arab Emirates covering 225 sq km. It is managed by the Dubai Conservation Board. Even here Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are seen going around as “Arabs”, complete with their headgear and white robes. That they are not Arabs was revealed when, at a camel park, I tried to speak to them in English and one of them replied in Hindi, “Sir, yahan aiye” (Please come here, sir). When queried, they said they were Pakistani employees of the company. Even in the famous Desert Safari, organised daily by the Emirates, most workers and attendants talked in Indian languages.

But even DDCR does not seem to be a perfect manifestation of Arab culture and tradition, which is closely linked with the desert. For, its tourism-related market forces dictate what it offers — liquor, smoking, music, belly-dancing are all considered taboo in Islam, but it is these ‘good things’ of life that attract foreigners to this land. Interestingly, similarity of culture may not have brought Indians and Pakistanis together in their homelands but they do gel perfectly well in Dubai, as do bhais. They have come to dominate the services sector in the city and the remittances they send back home are a huge help to their respective economies. In Dubai, they are friends. When I introduced myself as an Indian, the Pakistani camel tender at Desert Safari, whose family lives in Multan, Sindh, said matter-of-factly: “Kya fark padta hai!” (Makes no difference!)

Unlike other Muslim countries in West Asia, Dubai has been traditionally tolerant towards non-Muslims. If there are decades-old Hindu and Sikh shrines, there are also churches in Dubai. Many Muslims have shops around these temples and churches where they sell religious material related to non-Muslim faiths. It is this secular spirit that has attracted thousands of non-Muslims to Dubai to work out its economic miracle and, ironically, change its Arab character.

Dubai has seen 8 per cent growth over the last 10 years. European, particularly Spanish, lifestyle is being virtually transplanted for the Europeans and the Arab nouveau riches in the new housing complexes in Dubai as well as Deira.

But, the question is: Can the Arab identity of Dubai survive its modernity?

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