Anger gets a bad rep. It is often described as a shallow, one-dimensional feeling that lacks range. It is an emotion unlike its opposite, happiness, which instead benefits from a wide catalogue of adjectives to accompany it, words such as "beaming", "overjoyed" and, in the case of one of my annoying gym-fanatic friends, "exuberant".
Like an unwanted child shunted off to the basement, anger rarely gets a look in when it comes to descriptive terms – normally, you are just angry and that is that. Perhaps the thinking goes the more we talk about it, the more oxygen we give to the negativity behind it.
Paul's Zen strategy
“It is like a balloon that needs to be popped, my friend,” explains Paul, who has asked for his surname to be withheld. “I always feel much better after I talk about why I am angry. Popping a balloon is an ugly sound, but you feel relieved that you did it after.”
Paul knows what he is talking about. He pops his balloon about six times a day – he is a taxi driver in the capital. Every shift brings the white-knuckled combination of near accidents, inexplicable sudden turns from fellow drivers and, in one case, a full-blown picnic chair falling from the back of a car a few metres in front of him while cruising along Al Khaleej Al Arabi Street.
He has regularly ferried me all across the UAE during the past three years, so I have come accustomed to his brand of road rage – which is basically an existential monologue.
One time, a lime-green Hyundai Veloster zipped its way across four lanes of traffic to make its exit. It caused Paul to break hard and see red.
His rage normally begins with him being deathly quiet for about 20 seconds, then come the words: "Sometimes I don't know what I am doing here". Then: "What's the point of this existence?" and "I am very intelligent, you know" – before finally plateauing to mutterings of "stupid driver" or "yeah, we will see".
Paul is an example of anger's dramatic nature – I am going to urge him to enter that one-man production into next year's Short+Sweet theatre competition at NYU Abu Dhabi.
Intrigued, I have begun to pay more attention to the frustrations of my city's cab drivers in the past few weeks.
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Khalid's fierce stare
Khalid from Morocco doesn't subscribe to Paul's school of anger. He is more Clint Eastwood than George Costanza. We are on Airport Road near the Marks & Spencer building when a car suddenly swings in front of us from a side street, causing Khalid to brake sharply. Worried by Khalid's violent glare and his decision to get beside the offending driver at the next set of traffic lights, I advise him to let it go.
"Don't worry," he says, and slowly slips into the lane beside his nemesis. He rolls down his window and stares at him with such a fierceness for two minutes that even I, as his passenger, am spooked.
The unspoken message does the trick: the other driver raises his hand in apology and scurries off the second that the traffic lights change to green.
Abdul Hakim's charitable approach
Abdul Hakim has a more charitable approach to his rage. The proud Pashtun, who is in his late-50s, prays his way out of life’s hotspots. When someone cuts him off, he bellows: “May God bless you and your family.”
When a young man misjudges his walking speed across the road, Abdul Hakim wishes “eyes that see clearly and a tongue that mutters nothing but good speech”.
Beguiled by his good nature, I often call him if I need to go to Dubai or Sharjah for work. Filled with prayers, I emerge from each car trip in a more positive state of mind.
“Do you believe in what you are saying?” I once asked him.
“What do you mean?” he replied.
“When you make a duaa [prayer] for a driver, do you mean it or this is just a way to calm you down?”
He thought about it for a moment and replied: “It is both. I spend a lot of time driving and prayers make me calm. But sometimes I forget about the prayer. So the way to remember is when someone makes me angry.
“Every time someone does something wrong, I make a prayer. That way I feel blessed... and maybe that stupid driver will get some blessings, too.”
500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
Dolittle
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Michael Sheen
One-and-a-half out of five stars
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
The six points:
1. Ministers should be in the field, instead of always at conferences
2. Foreign diplomacy must be left to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation
3. Emiratisation is a top priority that will have a renewed push behind it
4. The UAE's economy must continue to thrive and grow
5. Complaints from the public must be addressed, not avoided
6. Have hope for the future, what is yet to come is bigger and better than before
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Romeo Akbar Walter
Rating: 2/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Robby Grewal
Cast: John Abraham, Mouni Roy, Jackie Shroff and Sikandar Kher
The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
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RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner: Raghida, Szczepan Mazur (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner: AF Alareeq, Connor Beasley, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
6pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-2 Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 2,200m
Winner: Basmah, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Liwa Oasis Group 2 (PA) Dh300,000 1,400m
Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Winner: SS Jalmod, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 1,600m
Winner: Trolius, Ryan Powell, Simon Crisford
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
What is cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying or online bullying could take many forms such as sending unkind or rude messages to someone, socially isolating people from groups, sharing embarrassing pictures of them, or spreading rumors about them.
Cyberbullying can take place on various platforms such as messages, on social media, on group chats, or games.
Parents should watch out for behavioural changes in their children.
When children are being bullied they they may be feel embarrassed and isolated, so parents should watch out for signs of signs of depression and anxiety
SPECS
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More on Quran memorisation:
Dubai Creek Open in numbers
- The Dubai Creek Open is the 10th tournament on this year's Mena Tour
- It is the first of five events before the season-concluding Mena Tour Championship
- This week's field comprises 120 players, 21 of which are amateurs
- 15 previous Mena Tour winners are competing at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club
