Little India

We took a brief hiatus from our India travels to visit Dubai and the UAE. We took advantage of cheap air tickets to satisfy our curiousities about this city that we have actually been hearing about since we arrived in India. Upwards of 60% of the guestworkers in the UAE are Indian (there are also many Bangladeshi, Sri Lankans, Pakistanis, etc). Supposedly only 10% of the population are native Emiratis. And as soon as we arrived, we recognized signs of India everywhere. A Hindu temple was lined with small shops selling flowers and other offerings. The marketplaces had sari and silk shops scattered about. Indian restaurants and food stands were a dime a dozen in the old town. On Friday, the Muslim holy day, and thus the weekend...all the guestworkers were hanging out in central locations in town. You could tell the groups were segregated by state, all speaking in their local language. Groups of young men all coming to Dubai to make higher wages to send back home to their families. Of course, the economy is taking its toll in Dubai also and many guestworkers are losing their jobs and heading back home. It was a strange experience to arrive in a place a world apart from India, yet with so much Indian influence everywhere we went.