Living in Dubai: Why expats love to live in Deira

Gulf News

While Dubai continues to spread out, studded with skyscrapers and gated communities, many residents have made Deira, the heart of the city, their home for generations.  A number of these long-time residents of the district spoke to Gulf News about what has kept them nestled there for decades.  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/uae/people/video-home-for-decades---why-these-expats-in-uae-love-dubais-deira-district-1.97359852  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #Dubai #Deira

Transcript

00:00Hi, my name is Farida Ahmed. Sitting next to me is my nani, my maternal grandmother, and

00:25her name is Maryam Dargawala. We both, along with my family, have been long-time DARA residents.

00:31My grandmom has been living in this building for the past 23 years, and for me it's been

00:36approximately 34 years. The apartment we're sitting in right now, incidentally, is my

00:42parents' apartment. They have been in this apartment since 1989. This is the apartment

00:46that I grew up in. Interestingly, my sister and my four-year-old niece, Yara, are their

00:51next-door neighbors. Two of my maternal uncles also live in this building. They've got apartments

00:58in the same building, and I have an apartment here as well. So, the entire maternal side

01:04of my family, we've been based in DARA for a very, very long time.

01:12I was born here in DARA, Dubai, on 21st February 1982. I've lived for 41 years in DARA, Dubai.

01:18I really enjoy staying in DARA, Dubai, since my university work is all based in DARA. DARA

01:25is the most convenient place in Dubai. It's the central hub of Dubai. We call it as the

01:29mainland of Dubai. I think one of the main reasons that we love

01:35living in DARA is accessibility. There is easy access to the metro. I can literally

01:41dive into the Riga metro from my balcony. Malls are everywhere, supermarkets, the airport

01:48is not too far away. But most importantly, I think it is the food that anchors us here.

01:55We've got these amazing restaurants, great food at pocket-friendly prices. So, I don't

02:00think my family and I are going to be moving out of here anytime soon.

02:04The choice of food, my God! As many countries are there, the food stalls are there. In fact,

02:11it is a mini market area. Everywhere you get food as delicious as your home-made food.

02:18Or in case you prefer something better than that, yes, you have snacks of all the varieties.

02:24I enjoy going to places like DARA city centre for shopping. I also stay nearby Holland's

02:29which has a lot of activities nearby. Supermarkets, restaurants and shops are open till late hours.

02:36And there's lots to see and do in DARA. There's a nice waterfront, creek area in DARA which

02:42has got a nice view of the sea. It's a great place to jog and watch. In the good old days,

02:48if you did not have a watch in your hand and you wanted to see the time, you would always

02:51have to look up to clock tower because that was the only building in those days, around

02:5740 years back. And that had the time. And till today, this building still stands strong

03:01and persistent.

03:02So in all my time living here in DARA, of course, I have witnessed a myriad of changes.

03:08I remember when the Dubai Shopping Festival was first launched, I think I was in 10th

03:12grade, and Rigga Road was the street, was the road to be. Rigga Road and Muraqabah,

03:18this is where the Harley Davidson Club would have their parade, the vintage cars. I remember

03:22the roads being expanded, the pavements being expanded, just to accommodate all the kiosks

03:29for the Shopping Festival. I was also around when the Metro was under construction. That

03:34was a big change. I remember when we moved here in the summer of 1989, this building

03:39was one of the few buildings on Rigga Road. The only other older building was Al Gorer

03:45Centre. Throughout the years, we just saw buildings popping up, just like mushrooming

03:51up and DARA or Rigga is what it is today. While of course, I have a lot of memories

03:58and milestone achievements to do with my entire family being in DARA, I think for me

04:04personally, my most favourite moment is the time that's happening now, the present,

04:07because my four-year-old niece actually gets to grow up and play in the same apartment

04:13that my sister and I did. She's surrounded by three generations of women, well actually

04:19four generations of women living in this building.

04:28For more UN videos visit www.un.org

Category

Transcript

Recommended