The Central Market starts coming to life at about 9.30am with a plate of paratha and keema (mince) curry at Al Baraiem Cafeteria. It’s not to everyone’s taste.
“They use too much chili powder,” said Farooq Dar, 38, a Kashmiri textile merchant who works at Al Hatim Novelties. “It’s bad for the stomach but we have no family here, so what can we do?”
It is telling that the cook, Yahyeh, prefers a breakfast of two eggs, sunny side up. A cup of hastily downed sugary tea will be the first of many, most of them served as a goodwill gesture before serious and occasionally bitter negotiations begin at Sharjah’s famous Blue Souq.
His tea finished, Mr Dar scurried to his shop past merchants who open their shutters to haggle with tourists over silver toe rings, peacock plumes and strings of turquoise and pearls.
In his cubbyhole of a shop, Mr Dar presents customers with shawls embroidered with six months’ worth of needlework, theirs for Dh1,000.
Preferences and prices vary according to nationality. Beaded velvet tissue boxes are popular with all, but many customers have vanished since the recession, particularly tourists and expatriates.
“Before we had too much business at Christmas, now not so much,” said Mr Dar. “We don’t know where the European customers are.”
The dwindling number of European customers has been offset by more buyers from Asia and Russia in recent years as they select replicas of everything from pashmina shawls to Khanjar swords.
“In Sharjah now they are mostly selling Chinese items,” said Mr Mahesh, 48, the Indian manager of Al Dalal Trading, as he took stock of his antiques and Hard Rock Cafe T-shirts. “Before tourists were rich. They bought handmade items. Now tourists are poor. Before they never asked the price. Every day we have too many fights.”
Vinod Shivani, Mr Mahesh’s assistant, quickly corrects him.
“Not fighting. Arguments,” said the 28-year-old from Kolkata. “These we have every day.”
Merchants blame malls for luring tourists away. Profits have dropped by more than two-thirds since the recession while rents have held steady for four years.
Still, there are many trinkets you won’t find at an typical mall and the souq’s merchandise is often a starting point for history lessons and old legends.
In an Afghanistan curio shop a bearded figurine sits on a shelf beneath a ceramic tree, surrounded by lapis lazuli stamps and hooked rabab guitars. He is a depiction of a 13th century funny man from Turkey whose wisdom is related across Asia and Europe.
“This Mullah Nasreddin,” explained Abdul Basir, 19, the owner’s son. “This is a joking man. He is like Mr Bean.”
Shops named for other legendary figures such as Sheba and Sinbad are crammed with wooden images of the Belgian cartoon adventurer Tintin and what are advertised as “antique” coffee pots. Carpet shop merchants will fill you with tea and politics as they pile Afghani kilims and heavy wool Pakistani bukhara rugs at your feet.
Products change with politics. A Yemeni-run store has autographed photos of navy warships. One snapshot shows three men in fatigues on an air strip, balancing on what appears to be a flying carpet.
"This one is from the Iraq War, the first one, and this one is from the Afghanistan war, the Taliban war,” said Mohammed Sowkathoosain, a 30-year-old from Bangladesh, going through each photo. On the opposite wall is another battle scene of Persian hunters woven in silk into an Isfahan carpet on a deep blue background.
Then there is the battle for customers. Merchants post sentries along the overhead walkway to watch for former clients. Once inside, customers are treated like family by men like Zahar Uddin, a sales executive at Al Mashi Carpet.
Mr Uddin produces camel bags and Iranian pouffes and, equally important, photographs of his children. This begins the inevitable discussion about how choosing a carpet is like choosing a wife.
Twenty years ago the souq was full of carpets from Afghanistan emblazoned with Soviet tanks. During the Gulf War in the early 1990s, many of the souq’s Persian rugs were smuggled here by dhow. Captains would dump them into the sea if they were in danger of capture. With the recent embargo, traders are wary once again, while displaying a certain amount of confidence at the same time.
“We have ways,” one said.
azacharias@thenational.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
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Company profile
Name: Fruitful Day
Founders: Marie-Christine Luijckx, Lyla Dalal AlRawi, Lindsey Fournie
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2015
Number of employees: 30
Sector: F&B
Funding so far: Dh3 million
Future funding plans: None at present
Future markets: Saudi Arabia, potentially Kuwait and other GCC countries
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
EXPATS
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
