Dubai, in the olden days...
I remember being 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, running through the mall, looking at the grown-ups, wondering what world they were living in. I wondered how bored they must be, sitting down in one spot.
Back then, mobiles weren't out. The only people I saw were walking round and round the mall. Lovely local ladies in golden burkhas and plain black abayas; middle-class families roaming each corner of the mall, and local men pretending to eat croissants at Gerrard (were they actually talking, I wondered?)
What has become of this place? Where are the beautiful golden burkhas gone? Why are we attached to our mobiles?
The middle-class families that used to roam *the* mall in the 80s are now upper-class - we now have labourers and lower-class in Dubai, banned from entering Ibn Battuta Mall. Oh how changing times invite other classes into a previously clear class system.
Oh, Gerrard coffee sippers, where have you gone? Do you sip your coffee as I type? Or are you forever gone in your dashing dish-dash'as?
5 comments:
good idea...this blog.
Answers to your comments:
Sitges is a beautiful town near Barcelona (Google: Sitges)
Ping is a techie term for a soft query "are you still there?"
4WD is a privilege and allows one to fully appreciate all of the UAE.
>>The middle-class families that used to roam *the* mall in the 80s are now upper-class - we now have labourers and lower-class in Dubai, banned from entering Ibn Battuta Mall.
i dont know that in dubai there are discrimination against low-income people.. Discrimination is wrong, it is contrary to the ideal of Humanity. Discrimination in a way is racism. I find it sad this can happen.
I'm not sure whether Harrods practice the same policy...
I love this post. I share the sentiments. I miss the old happy Dubai. When things were simpler, closer and warmer (to the heart).
Ah.. remember the old days of Laban Up and Puffak cheese chips? Or the slightly more spicy Oman chips? yum
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