Best of Both worlds AhmAreen contrActor | 44 | home-mAker duBAi
“If I need to get vegetables in India, I need to go “In Dubai, the sheikh makes sure you are well to a bazaar. Here I can get it in a supermarket, but there I need to struggle in small alleyways and small bazaars. Here I get it in a better environment.
taken care of. In India life is a struggle. Life is luxurious here, life in Dubai is easy.
“[in the community center] It’s a sense of
world…we learn a bit of their culture and they learn a bit of yours.
”
belonging... it’s a sense of community that I get. I don’t feel attached to Dubai in the community, I feel attached to my religion.
”
Chair of Planning Theory and Urban Development | Chair of Visual Arts | Faculty of architecture RWTH Aachen
”
“I have never seen a more diverse city in the ”
“My neighborhood is beautiful, it’s a pleasure
being here, I can’t thank God enough, its serene, what more can I ask for.
”
Home | The Mirage
Master Thesis | Aysha Farooq | Summer Semester 2016
my wAy And the high wAy fAhAd, 26, pArtner service mAnAger BAngAlore
“I am nothing without the family.” “India is a place to be missed.” “I’ll be happy to miss the pot holes, I’m sure Dubai
“You see pictures, and although you’re not talking
“It will only happen when I love myself, I take care
to anyone, its like a conversation, but you are conversing with yourself looking at the picture. You say okay on this date, this had happened, we did this, we did that, and you get a smile on your face, so you are not alone anymore. Yes, physically you are alone, but virtually you are not. In the picture there are people, and you feel like you are with them.
”
place … you make it yours, a place you want to go to, not run away from.
doesn’t have pot holes.
”
of myself, I fulfill my dreams and I make sure I’m doing what I want to do. If I do all these things, then I will feel at home.
Chair of Planning Theory and Urban Development | Chair of Visual Arts | Faculty of architecture RWTH Aachen
”
“A house is a concrete wall or place, a home is a ”
Home | The Mirage
Master Thesis | Aysha Farooq | Summer Semester 2016
strong winds, strong roots tAz rAjABAli | 43 | hr mAnAger duBAi
“No place in Dubai reminds me of India, because
India is so unique and Dubai doesn’t replicate that. Even if you have areas in Dubai that are predominantly Indian, it’s not India.
”
“It is not a community, it’s a group of people living together. I don’t know my neighbors.
”
“I always grew up in Europe, I had always been a minority but when I went to India for the first time I felt local.
”
Chair of Planning Theory and Urban Development | Chair of Visual Arts | Faculty of architecture RWTH Aachen
“Being Indian is so varied. For me, it stems from
value systems, culture and language. More than anything else though… value systems.
”
“Home means comfort in yourself, not on the sofa or the bed…inside, peace.
”
“When I’m sad Indian music helps. It’s connection
right? It’s connected to home, connected to mum, connection to childhood and growing up and having memories. It’s my comfort blanket... but not modern stuff! The stuff I used to hear while growing up, from the 70’s.
”
Home | The Mirage
Master Thesis | Aysha Farooq | Summer Semester 2016
indiAnized integrAtion noor-ul-Ain | 36 | home- mAker shArjAh, uAe
“…the best place to live in India is Dubai.” “We feel connected and related, but I wouldn’t “The whole atmosphere is indianized.” use the words sense of belonging. ” “…all the places we go to, it feels like a big home, “…because we don’t get the status of a citizen, it feels like my country.
”
“We don’t celebrate it the “Dubai style”, we brought our style to Dubai, within our indian community.
”
we are still Indians, even if we are born here or buried in a grave here.
”
“Home is where you feel nested, comfortable. You can just make any place your home.
”
“We celebrate the Emirati national day like its “If my husband, my parents and my children are our own countries national day.
”
Chair of Planning Theory and Urban Development | Chair of Visual Arts | Faculty of architecture RWTH Aachen
there, any place can become home.
Home | The Mirage
”
Master Thesis | Aysha Farooq | Summer Semester 2016
duBAi - where eAst meets west sArfArAAz, 36, cAr gArAge owner shArjAh, uAe
“When there is a mall in India, when I see cars, “In India, religion [Islam] was only in the mosque when I see some facilities then I feel at home, because it reminds me of Dubai.
”
“Any place in Dubai is all home for me, India is a vacation for me.
”
“When it comes to making a career, the more
west you go, the more your hard work pays off. In the east hard work is not the only thing that matters. You need luck, you need influence, you need a lot of other stuff. That’s the biggest difference between Dubai and India.
”
Chair of Planning Theory and Urban Development | Chair of Visual Arts | Faculty of architecture RWTH Aachen
and in your heart, but in Dubai its in the heart, in the mosque and everywhere around you… I enjoy that.
”
“I would want two homes. One where I knew everybody, and one where I didn’t know anybody.
”
“I feel most at home right here. I spent all my
life here. The most number of people I know are here; most number of memories are from here. I got everything I want here.
”
Home | The Mirage
Master Thesis | Aysha Farooq | Summer Semester 2016
second chAnce Anthony | 52 | mechAnic duBAi industriAl AreA
“My name is Anthony. I am a Christian. I pray to God everyday.
”
“I don’t talk to people much, I am here to do my duty.
”
“I want a simple home, in Bangalore.”
Chair of Planning Theory and Urban Development | Chair of Visual Arts | Faculty of architecture RWTH Aachen
Home | The Mirage
Master Thesis | Aysha Farooq | Summer Semester 2016
long vAcAtion BojindAr mAllu | 28 | teA-Boy ABu dhABi, uAe
“In Bur Dubai I don’t feel like I am abroad, I feel “[In Hyderabad] I want to stay with and pass time like I am in India.
”
“My mother and father taught me about the
with the children, my brothers children, and the children of the neighborhood. We play together in the evening time.
”
Hindu gods and Slokas, when we grow up, so we continue it.
”
“...at the farms in Hyderabad, every four months,
we harvest rice. Who ever has water can take the rice, two times a year. When I am working in that place, I feel at home.
”
Chair of Planning Theory and Urban Development | Chair of Visual Arts | Faculty of architecture RWTH Aachen
Home | The Mirage
Master Thesis | Aysha Farooq | Summer Semester 2016
Bitter-sweet return jAnet ArAnhA | 54 | restAurAnt mAnAger mAngAlore, indiA
“Living abroad in gulf has changed lot of things “I don’t feel at home there [Muscat, Oman] in me, we have grown more than how much India has grown, our thinking has changed.” “There was no spirit of festivities… people are there for work, so they work.
”
“I am told you can’t have this and can’t have that. Why? Because I am an Indian.
”
“The church was quite diverse, the gulf is mixed [multi cultural] anyway.
because I don’t get the food that I love. I tried Indian restaurants but it didn’t match the food in India. So I never felt at home.
”
“Employers [in the Gulf] need to know how to treat their employees.
“A home should be peaceful, protected and meet all your needs.
”
Chair of Planning Theory and Urban Development | Chair of Visual Arts | Faculty of architecture RWTH Aachen
”
Home | The Mirage
” Master Thesis | Aysha Farooq | Summer Semester 2016