Thirty-three years ago, he had arrived from India (via Hong Kong) with his wife, son, few belongings, and a head full of dreams. The Dubai International Airport wasn’t as grand then, but his heart leapt the same way it does for a young dreamer stepping into the unknown.
What struck him first wasn’t the grandeur, but the warmth. An Emirati security officer welcoming him in Hindi, a Pathan taxi driver offering him water from his flask, and the sight of Emirati police officers managing airport queues politely and efficiently, their smiles steady and sincere. It was as if the world had already gathered here, working in quiet harmony.
Several years later, he would joke to his friends that he walked into a working model of what the United Nations could someday become. Truly friendly, functional, inclusive, respectful, welcoming, and blissfully multicultural.
The First Office
His first job was heading a large privately held transnational Group operating across all continents, but headquartered in the jebel ali freezone, where the office buzzed with accents from different states and religions. The pantry was their own “General Assembly”, some debating football, Filipinos planning karaoke nights, Indians and Pakistanis sharing tiffin boxes along with verbal duels about cricket.
He learned early that in the UAE, respect was the true currency. The rules were clear, and if you followed them, life rewarded you. Through the years, he rose through industries such as electronics, mobiles, appliances, retail, fmcg and manufacturing, eventually leading an even larger conglomerate.
Each success felt less like personal triumph and more like the Creator’s and the Country’s invisible blessing.
He had only one brush with “lawlessness” in all these years. A double parking fine near the Dnata office in Deira in 1994. And when he reasoned it out with the Police Officer, that gentleman understood, tore off the written fine issued, shook hands and left.
It has been close to 20 years that he has been walking 5-6 kms, several times a week, at 4 30 am. Till date, the country offers him that sense of security to be able to do so.
Neighbours Without Borders
His Emirati and Egyptian-palestinian PRO ladies continue to send him homemade sweets during Ramadan and Eid. Emirati friends meet him often over traditional Arabic coffee. Indian and Pakistani muslim friends send him cookies and eatables which are famous in their home-towns. And on Diwali, his offices and the city’s neighbourhoods glow with lights and tiny diyas while the Filipino, Lebanese, British and other nationalities join in lighting sparklers, shouting “Happy Dewali!” with charming mispronunciation.
For him, community in the UAE is like jazz. Different instruments, one rhythm. There has never been any feeling of forced harmony. Only an effortless respect born from shared purpose. He often says, “Here, our accents and our passports differ, but our ambitions rhyme.”
The Leaders’ Example
He carries deep respect for the UAE’s leadership. No slogans, just daily practice. When His Highness once declared that the tallest towers mean little if not built on values, those words became a compass for his leadership style. In his companies he worked for, diversity was not a department policy. The company owners and the HR made it the air they breathe.
Roots and Wings
Whenever he visits India, relatives ask him when he’s returning “for good.” He smiles and says, “I already did, years ago.” And the beauty of this place is that any place in India is just 3-4 hours away from the UAE. The Indianness of UAE makes it feel like its just another city of India.
Home, for him, isn’t marked by birth but by belonging. His one son was born in India, and one was born in Dubai. Both studied in multicultural schools and know more about tolerance and coexistence than most global citizens twice their age.
He teaches them to say, with equal pride, “We are Indian by origin and Emirati by inspiration”. As is the case in the USA, where hyphenations are used on a daily basis, such as, African American, Spanish American, Indian American, in the same way he considers himself as “Indian Emirati”.
A Hope That Shines Forward
As the UAE looks ahead to its next fifty years, he sometimes stands on the Corniche, watching families from all continents stroll together. Africans, Asians, Arabs, Europeans, their laughter carried by the sea breeze. He thinks of the construction workers who built the skyline and the superb infrastructure, the teachers who shaped generations, the entrepreneurs who believed, and the visionaries who made it all possible.
His heart swells with a feeling that transcends nationality. A quiet gratitude to a nation that made coexistence its brand and opportunity its language. He sees the UAE as a breathing lesson to the world. Progress anchored in peace, diversity steered by discipline, prosperity shared across passports.
As twilight descends over the Burj Khalifa, he murmurs a wish. That this working United Nations of 11 million souls continues to thrive as a place where every nationality finds purpose and every dreamer finds dignity.
The UAE, he believes, doesn’t just host people. It harmonizes them.
And may this harmony, which is practical, peaceful, and profoundly human, continue to glow ever brighter, a guiding light for nations still learning, or maybe, unwilling to learn, how to live together.
For Indians, the UAE allows us to consider this place as India’s smartest city outside India.
In the words of the Ruler, His Highness
السعادة في الإمارات ليست حلمًا نطارده، بل واقعًا نعيشه ونصنعه معًا، مواطنين ومقيمين.”
“Happiness in the UAE is not a dream we chase; it is a reality we live and build together, citizens and residents alike.”
A HAPPY AND BLESSED NEW YEAR TO THIS NATION, ITS RULERS, AND THOSE WHO CONTINUE TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LIVE HERE.
