In a nostalgic journey, Pakistani expatriate Mohammed Farooq Tahir, who arrived in Dubai in 1958 at the age of four, reminisces about the evolution of Dubai since his childhood. Tahir recalls the pre-unification era when each emirate operated as a separate country, requiring passports and border crossings to travel between them.
Tahir vividly remembers his arrival in Dubai, a Trucial state then, aboard a ship with layovers in Muscat. The ship anchored away from the shore, and smaller boats ferried passengers to the “new land, which we call home.”
His childhood memories include living in a home constructed with mud and coral stones in Deira’s Sikkat Al Khair and attending schools, including an Arabic school and a Pakistani school built in 1965.
Tahir’s family was involved in the typewriter repair business, owning a workshop named American Expert Typewriter Repairing Works. He mastered the art of typewriter repair, witnessing the transformation of Dubai with iconic ruler Sheikh Rashid leaving a lasting impression on him.
In 1980, Tahir joined Dubai Defence as a mechanic for printers, and later, with the advent of computers, he transitioned to fixing electrical and electronic components in cars. Reflecting on Dubai’s growth, Tahir acknowledges the city’s remarkable transformation and development into a global metropolis.
Today, Tahir’s memories stand as a testament to the rich history of Dubai, and he takes pride in having witnessed and contributed to the city’s incredible journey over the decades.
