So I always wondered, why don't we have locally authored novels that have plots revolving around Dubai or other emirates in the UAE in some way? This thought occurred to me on my last trip to the UK when one time I was taking the tube somewhere in London and I spotted a guy who was discretely eyeing passengers and taking notes of what he is seeing. I wondered: is this guy an author? Is he on a site reconnaissance to develop characters? Is he creating scenes for his story? how cool would it be if someone did that in the UAE?
The UAE has great locations, and has an amazing diversity in people living in it. Each one of us has a story; an interesting one if told right. Many people here come from different parts of the world and no matter how long or short their stay is, they all develop a commonality in thinking: they love it and want to live here for as much as they can.
One ingenious person who has taken the lead to contribute towards Emirati literacy is Ameera Al Hakawati. Al Hakawati is obviously a pseudonym as it is Arabic for "story-teller", and story-teller she is! Ameera Al Hakawati recently published a book called Desperate in Dubai that follows the lives of four women who cross paths while living in the UAE. Those four women are of different backgrounds, lives and nationalities; all with one thing in mind: they want to make it in the city of opportunities!
What I loved about the book is the essence of the story; of how people in Dubai can have it all and loose it all because of decisions they make on a day-to-day basis. That is soo true! The city of opportunities requires tough sacrifices! Dubai surely teaches you that! One day you may be dining at the most expensive restaurants and driving the most luxurious cars and the next day, it is all gone! But what is happiness? Is it being able to acquire and do everything you want? You can indeed have it all; but if you have nobody to share it with then its all for nothing!
The author is very descriptive in her writing, sometimes to an extent that I think the book could have been shortened by at least 100 pages if she skipped on a few details but then again, not everyone knows Dubai the same way some of us do! All in all, it is a good read...scratch that! It is a MUST read because we all need to support local talent in all its forms and help in inspiring more of it!
Desperate in Dubai can be bought at most (if not all) large book stores (bought my copy from Virgin Megastores) and you can also read it on the author's blog which actually was the start of it all: http://desperateindubai.blogspot.com/
Good luck Ameera and I do hope that your book will turn in to a TV series and I look forward to reading more of your material: STAY CALM AND KEEP WRITING :)
At this point, I leave you all with a nice song performed by Mo Mansour featuring Emma Hayes called Dubai State of Mind which I think should be the intro song to my fictional TV series Desperate in Dubai -- who knows, maybe one day it will not be too fictional at all? :)
 |
| Image source: http://desperateindubai.blogspot.com/ |
One ingenious person who has taken the lead to contribute towards Emirati literacy is Ameera Al Hakawati. Al Hakawati is obviously a pseudonym as it is Arabic for "story-teller", and story-teller she is! Ameera Al Hakawati recently published a book called Desperate in Dubai that follows the lives of four women who cross paths while living in the UAE. Those four women are of different backgrounds, lives and nationalities; all with one thing in mind: they want to make it in the city of opportunities!
What I loved about the book is the essence of the story; of how people in Dubai can have it all and loose it all because of decisions they make on a day-to-day basis. That is soo true! The city of opportunities requires tough sacrifices! Dubai surely teaches you that! One day you may be dining at the most expensive restaurants and driving the most luxurious cars and the next day, it is all gone! But what is happiness? Is it being able to acquire and do everything you want? You can indeed have it all; but if you have nobody to share it with then its all for nothing!
 |
| Sign Board at Dubai International Festival City |
Desperate in Dubai can be bought at most (if not all) large book stores (bought my copy from Virgin Megastores) and you can also read it on the author's blog which actually was the start of it all: http://desperateindubai.blogspot.com/
Good luck Ameera and I do hope that your book will turn in to a TV series and I look forward to reading more of your material: STAY CALM AND KEEP WRITING :)
At this point, I leave you all with a nice song performed by Mo Mansour featuring Emma Hayes called Dubai State of Mind which I think should be the intro song to my fictional TV series Desperate in Dubai -- who knows, maybe one day it will not be too fictional at all? :)
No comments:
Post a Comment