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Megha and Pradip Saha have only been in Dubai for 18 months, having moved from the US after 17 years in South Korea, but they’ve already settled into their own home.
They chose a Dh4.5 million, four-bedroom villa in Senses at the Field, a new development just outside the boundaries of Nad Al Sheba.
Megha, who spends a lot of her time travelling to the UK and US, where her sons are studying, loves the area and the space these new-builds afford, and says they'll probably stay for as long as they’re in the UAE.
The National takes a look around.
Please tell us about your home
It’s got four bedrooms and six bathrooms, although we made one toilet a laundry room. It’s pretty big for us, as our sons are studying abroad.
When did you buy it?
We bought it in February 2024. It’s the first property we’ve bought outside of India.
Why did you decide to buy?
My husband loves Dubai. It’s very different from the US, but it’s a convenient city to live in. We’re originally from Delhi. The UAE is very similar to India, although safer and more convenient.
Why did you choose this neighbourhood?
Not many people know about this area because it’s new. It’s like a little surprise for many. Everybody is amazed by how close it is to Downtown and the prices are not too bad. The value for money is great.
It’s 15 to 20 minutes to Downtown. The only thing my husband wanted was something close to his workplace in the Karama area, the dry docks.
We had friends in Meydan, so I started researching this area. This community didn’t start handover until this year, so from June we were tracking the handover.
My husband was very impressed because the roads are done ands it’s very convenient. It’s a boutique developer, the construction quality is good.
We looked into other newbuilds and for a similar amount of money, the area and construction quality … everything was a bit small compared to here.
In the US, we had very generous space, especially in Texas. Here, we get something similar and it’s very nicely done. It’s not cramped. there’s lots of light, the bedrooms are pretty big and everything from the living room to the backyard and garage area is spacious.
What renovations have you done?
We have done pretty much everything, starting from the tiling. We used tiling all over the house, we put marble on the staircase and the walls.
We have put in the swimming pool, with sunken seating for privacy and a barbecue station on the side. We also changed the exterior tiling.
We extended the bedrooms. The master bedroom was a little small for our taste. We had to put in a bathtub and separate shower area. We also changed the wall tiles in all the bathrooms. Most of the house is a warm white colour, but we chose to make the bathrooms and toilets a little bit more colourful.
It was a new house in a new community. We are first-time buyers, direct from the developer, but we still decided to update it according to our taste.
It took longer than anticipated to do the renovations. After living in South Korea for so long, we got used to a different pace of working. Everything there is super fast and on time. In the US they also follow timelines pretty well. But when we came here, we started our work in March and April, then it was Ramadan, and only now we’ve more or less finished the interior and exterior work. So we have settled in.
How much have you spent on the house?
We bought it for about Dh4.5 million after fees, then spent about Dh1.2 million on renovations. Now it’s worth maybe Dh5.8 or Dh5.9 million.
Do you own any other properties?
We have invested in two other apartments: a one-bedroom apartment last year in Emaar South and one in Ras Al Khaimah. These are off-plan and meant to be handed over in 2027.
What facilities do you have?
As it’s brand new, they’re building the swimming pool and the gym, which are supposed to be open by the end of the year or by January. There's a Spinneys right outside that’s still under construction.
There are a lot of properties and villa communities coming up in this area. We are still lacking a supermarket, so we have to go to Silicon Oasis or Nad Al Sheba Mall. We are looking forward to more amenities opening up in the area.
How would you describe your interior design style?
We have lived in so many countries: South Korea, Singapore, the US and a little bit in Europe, in Amsterdam. So the interior design is a blend of modern and Oriental. It’s not Indian, because we have a lot of Oriental, especially Korean, furniture.
I love Korea. We were there from when we were young. My children were born there, so I got influenced and impressed by the Korean culture, the people, everything about it. I even tried to bring up my children like a Korean mum.
I tell my friends I’m more Korean than I am Indian now. I only watch K dramas – and I’ve been watching them since 2000.
How long do you plan to stay in this property?
As long as my husband’s project is going on, so it depends on that. It’s going on until next year for now. We are hoping we’ll be here until at least next year.
We are very happy with the house and love decorating it. We never imagined we would buy a house in Dubai and we think we are very fortunate that we could.
