One year ago on the eve of Eid, the only uncertainty at the Baniyas souq was whether the crescent moon would be sighted above Jebel Hafeet on Monday night or Tuesday.
Once the new moon was sighted and Eid Al Fitr had begun, everything else was a certainty, predetermined by tradition. Thousands gathered at the prayer grounds for the morning Eid prayers. Hundreds crossed the country and the Peninsula, from Oman and Yemen, to mark Eid celebrations with Abu Dhabi relatives. Cauldrons of halwa sweets and harees porridge simmered to feed guests and the gathering lasted days. In the three days before Eid Al Fitr, traders did a month’s worth of sales, or more. Every year it was the same.
Until now. The coronavirus pandemic had upended the Eid traditions as people stay at home to stem the deadly spread of the virus. For those at the Baniyas souq, this meant a struggle after an April lockdown and an Eid rush that never came.
Al Abeer Henna and Beauty Saloon reopened on Tuesday after a two month shutdown. Its beauticians waited from early morning until sunset for customers to appear. Not one graced the threshold.
“It’s sad,” said Shamim Abdul Qadr, a henna artist from Mumbai. “It’s not the same as before.”
The beauty parlour typically does three weeks worth of sales in the three days before the festival and stays open almost 24-hours a day to meet the demand of the Eid rush. The second day of business was little better than the first: five customers came.
Ms Abdul Qadr had been excited to work again. She spent the lockdown watching the Hindi-language crime series Crime Patrol on YouTube. Once a week, she went to Lulu Hypermarket for groceries.
“We want work,” said Ms Abdul Qadr. “It’s very difficult when we’re sitting in the house. When we’re in the house, the mind is going here and there.”
On the other side of the souq, the famed Omani sweet shop Abu Suroor had only a handful of customers before sunset. Usually, it is an essential Eid stop for the Baniyas shopper.
“We’ve prepared eight or 10 vats this Ramadan, each is 20 kilogrammes, and normally we do about 40 vats,” said Abdullah Najem, the owner. “But this Ramadan was as blessed as any other, for Ramadan is always blessing from God, praise be to God.”
His customer Refaa Al Mansoori, nodded her head. “This Ramadan was nice for one reason,” said Ms Al Mansoori, 40, a police officer from Baniyas. “Time. Usually in Ramadan I’m going here and there. This year, I had time to slow down.”
She bought two small bowls of saffron halwa for her immediate family. “We’re not able to do Eid, it’s social media only this year,” she said.
Mr Najem was resolute in his optimism. “I’ll do all the celebrations for Eid, we’ll give gifts, we’ll dress up, we’ll go to the sea.”
Only greengrocers and butchers were crowded, thanks to window displays of ripe watermelons and fresh camel meat.
Tailors and barbershops were closed by 6.30pm and shoppers carried a sober demeanour, for who wanted a new kandura or a shave for an Eid at home?
But two women were steadfast in their preparations. Sabreen Al Qorbi and her friend Liza could not wait to spend Eid at home.
The Yemeni human rights workers had spend two months in an Abu Dhabi hotel after flights were suspended in late March due to the pandemic. They had been en route to Yemen from a conference in Jordan when they got stuck in the UAE.
They had been well looked after but were ready to reunite with family. When they got news they would be repatriated by the Red Crescent before Eid, they taxied from downtown Abu Dhabi to the Baniyas souq to prepare.
Liza got her eyebrows done at a saloon. Then they bought matching thobes of bright orange and golden polka dots. “We will bake cookies and cakes and the children will ride camels,” said Liza. “It will be good to be home this Eid.”
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if you go
The flights
Emirates flies to Delhi with fares starting from around Dh760 return, while Etihad fares cost about Dh783 return. From Delhi, there are connecting flights to Lucknow.
Where to stay
It is advisable to stay in Lucknow and make a day trip to Kannauj. A stay at the Lebua Lucknow hotel, a traditional Lucknowi mansion, is recommended. Prices start from Dh300 per night (excluding taxes).
The specs: 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Price, base: Dh198,300
Engine: 2.0L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 280hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7L / 100km
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
THE SPECS – Honda CR-V Touring AWD
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder
Power: 184hp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 244Nm at 3,900rpm
Transmission: Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT)
0-100kmh in 9.4 seconds
Top speed: 202kmh
Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km
Price: From Dh122,900
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
About Seez
Company name/date started: Seez, set up in September 2015 and the app was released in August 2017
Founder/CEO name(s): Tarek Kabrit, co-founder and chief executive, and Andrew Kabrit, co-founder and chief operating officer
Based in: Dubai, with operations also in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon
Sector: Search engine for car buying, selling and leasing
Size: (employees/revenue): 11; undisclosed
Stage of funding: $1.8 million in seed funding; followed by another $1.5m bridge round - in the process of closing Series A
Investors: Wamda Capital, B&Y and Phoenician Funds
Three trading apps to try
Sharad Nair recommends three investment apps for UAE residents:
- For beginners or people who want to start investing with limited capital, Mr Nair suggests eToro. “The low fees and low minimum balance requirements make the platform more accessible,” he says. “The user interface is straightforward to understand and operate, while its social element may help ease beginners into the idea of investing money by looking to a virtual community.”
- If you’re an experienced investor, and have $10,000 or more to invest, consider Saxo Bank. “Saxo Bank offers a more comprehensive trading platform with advanced features and insight for more experienced users. It offers a more personalised approach to opening and operating an account on their platform,” he says.
- Finally, StashAway could work for those who want a hands-off approach to their investing. “It removes one of the biggest challenges for novice traders: picking the securities in their portfolio,” Mr Nair says. “A goal-based approach or view towards investing can help motivate residents who may usually shy away from investment platforms.”
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THE NEW BATCH'S FOCUS SECTORS
AiFlux – renewables, oil and gas
DevisionX – manufacturing
Event Gates – security and manufacturing
Farmdar – agriculture
Farmin – smart cities
Greener Crop – agriculture
Ipera.ai – space digitisation
Lune Technologies – fibre-optics
Monak – delivery
NutzenTech – environment
Nybl – machine learning
Occicor – shelf management
Olymon Solutions – smart automation
Pivony – user-generated data
PowerDev – energy big data
Sav – finance
Searover – renewables
Swftbox – delivery
Trade Capital Partners – FinTech
Valorafutbol – sports and entertainment
Workfam – employee engagement
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
