UAE Flag Day: ‘We came here to make a living, but found a place to belong’

Dubai: Some arrived in search of better opportunities, others were born here, and many have spent decades building their lives in the UAE. But as the country marks Flag Day on November 3, residents from different nationalities and generations spoke to Emirates 24|7 about a common feeling: gratitude for a nation that has given them far more than what they came looking for. I still remain impressed Three years ago, Moroccan national Sayf Benzahri arrived in the UAE with his wife, looking for better opportunities. But in just three years, Benzahri says, he has found a country that not only feels like home but makes him feel grateful for the safety and security which, he believes, are the biggest requirement for anyone. “When I first came to Abu Dhabi, my initial impression was amazing. The culture, the architecture, and the hospitality were what I found the most beautiful,” he said. But what he is most grateful for is the security he sees everywhere – not just from the authorities but from the community – where everyone has each other’s back. “I like the way people respect rules here, as they apply to everyone. And the most important, of course, is security – it’s the main thing really for anyone and for their family. I know I have been here for three years, but even today, I still remain impressed by the country,” the 34-year-old, who works in the tourism industry, said. Growing up under Sheikh Zayed’s vision On the other end of the spectrum is Arjun Warrier Krishnan, a 39-year-old Indian expat, who was born in Abu Dhabi’s Corniche Hospital back in the1980s. Growing up in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, two cities that were undergoing rapid expansion, he says, had a massive impact on how he sees scale and ambition. But the one aspect of growing up in the UAE that he holds closest to his heart, is to have grown up in a country led by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. “I recollect reading in the newspapers back then, how Sheikh Zayed would be travelling across countries in one week and then in the subsequent week, he would be in the desert, sharing dates and tea with the leaders of the region, in a majlis setup ... His humility and love for his people was beyond measure and something I have carried with me while working with my fellow colleagues and teams,” Krishnan said. The Indian expat, who works as a business director in the emerging technology space, said that the vision he saw of nation-building, while growing up in the UAE, has helped him set his own ambitions higher. “Sheikh Zayed’s vision was inter-generational – the UAE I see today is an outcome of a long-term vision achieved through short-term execution. For example, I grew up consuming dairy products from Al Ain farm. Today, I find it difficult to believe that setting up a dairy farm in the middle of a desert is not an easy proposition,” the 39-year-old said. While his family moved back to India in the early 2000s, he says the impact the UAE and watching its leadership shape the nation, had on him remains to this day, with Krishnan now operating his company in India. While he is currently in India, he continues to fly to the UAE to maintain relationships with existing clientele, with plans to expand his company's operations to the UAE next year. “UAE is, and will always continue to remain, close to my heart,” he added. The only home my daughter knows For Vibha Thusu, a 44-year-old marketing and communications head at a multinational company in the UAE, the country taught her resilience from day one, as she landed in the UAE in October 2008, around the time that the world was beginning to experience a financial crisis. “What I’m most grateful for is that this is where I started my family. My daughter has grown up here. The UAE is the only home she knows, and she thinks of it the way I think of the small town I grew up in. That isn’t something I take lightly. It’s a privilege to have built our life here, in a place that gave us safety, opportunity, and a sense of belonging without ever asking us to be anyone other than who we are,” she said. Another aspect of living in the UAE that Thusu said she appreciates a lot is the opportunity to work with people from across the world, every day. An experience that she says changes you. “You listen more, you assume less, and you realise most of us want the same things,” she added. Over the past 18 years, the biggest moment that has stayed with her, though, is how the UAE handled the COVID-19 pandemic. “When everything was uncertain, the UAE made treatment and vaccines available to everyone. That included citizens, residents, and even tourists, with no discrimination. Nobody asked what passport you held. I remember thinking how rare that is anywhere in the world. That was when I knew the UAE wasn’t just where I lived. It genuinely looked after us, and it shaped how I think about leadership and care,” Thusu said. The recent regional conflict only cemented that belief further. “Residents and expats from every walk