Abu Dhabi Nomads

The whole world in my hands...

Anna Seaman

Superstitions, where do they come from? This weekend I picked up a friend’s bag from the table and went to put it on the floor when she shrieked. Apparently if you put a bag on the ground you become poor. Similarly, when I lived in the UK, every time I walked out with my flat mate she spent the majority of the time looking at the pavement because she didn’t like stepping on cracks or drains. Imagine if she lived in Abu Dhabi!

Whilst I’ve always tried to be tolerant of others beliefs I’ve never really had much time for superstitions of my own. I believe in treating others as you want to be treated and that hard work pays off.

However there is a part of me drawn to the mystical art of astrology and clairvoyance. I am interested in people’s star signs and have personally noted many correlations. Also, I have always wanted to see a fortune teller. Recently I fulfilled this desire. Sitting in the lobby of a hotel was an Indian man smiling serenely. He was offering a palm reading service. He certainly looked the part, he was dressed in red silk with a red and gold hat, a white scarf and small reading glasses.

The drudgery of single living

Suryatapa Bhattacharya

There seems to a general bias against bachelorettes in this city, especially when it comes to housing.

The idea that a one-bedroom apartment will actually be inhabited by a single girl is likely more frowned upon than a mere inquiry about its existence.

For Abu Dhabi is a city of two and three-bedroom apartments, and lavish villas (or hotel apartments). And to demand anything less not only means to pay more, but face prejudices about being single.

Or so I found when accompanying my friend on one of the most frustrating apartment-searches in this city.

Faking wedded bliss (aka a case for buying diamonds)

Ketan Soni displays gold necklaces in the Gold Centre, Madinat Zayed, Abu Dhabi, last February. Ryan Carter/The National

Suryatapa Bhattacharya

In recent years, diamond companies have fallen over themselves in trying to capture the elusive niche of women who buy diamonds. For themselves. With their own money.

If you’ve recently moved to the UAE, like me and most of the women in the newsroom, the temptation of that market is immense. And inevitable.

From showing visiting family around to outings with friends, a chance of, “oops, I did it (again)” has occurred frequently. And the justifications for the purchase of the precious baubles are equally varied.

Case in point:
Within a week of my arrival in Abu Dhabi, I made my first ever diamond purchase at the local gold souk called Madinat Zayed, which looks like any supermarket except tons of gold and diamond jewellery dangle from like they were fruits and vegetables.

A few days in the city teaches you a precious lesson. Giving men who inquire about your wedded status, an honest answer, is asking for trouble. From unwanted to paid amore, it translates to all kinds of trouble.

For example, I was dumbfounded when three men approached me within five minutes of each other at a five-star hotel’s lobby and Mr. A asked to be my “friend”, Mr B stood grinning and Mr C pulled out a wad of cash. I ran from the lobby. Didn’t walk, didn’t hurry, just picked up and ran.

The steeliest women here have taught me their intimidating ways, including my favourite, from my friend at the business desk who gives men in Dubai and Abu Dhabi a piece of her New York mind in a B&T accent (For those who grew up on the outskirts of New York and used a bridge or tunnel to get to the city). Since I couldn’t master her rate of speed of speech delivery, instead I bought a wedding ring and faked my marital status.

A type away

Suryatapa Bhattacharya

If you really think about it, there is little difference in the way North Americans and Indians search for love. Online, that is. Except one looks to virtually date and the other seek to marry. The explosion of websites on both sides of the world says it all. In the US and Canada, my friends casually date through sites like Lavalife. For wedded bliss, they may answer a painstaking list of questions on eharmony.

Not much differs across the Atlantic. In India, sites like shaadi.com are enjoying unprecedented growth (in advertising sales and site traffic). That is not to say love is abound.