'I feel I am more Emirati than Indian'

Silvia Radan /Abu Dhabi

Divyes Kumar; Age: 37; Profession: Tourist Guide; Nationality: Indian.

Divyes Kumar, 37, is an Indian tourist guide based in Dubai. His story, though, goes far beyond his date of birth, linked to the history of the country.

"I belong to a traders family that set on a dhow - traditional wooden boat - journey from India to Dubai in the mid 1940s. This has been our home ever since.

Back then, there was no UAE, but the Trucial States. My father, Suresh Laxmichand Shaholia, being one of the eldest in the family, had to accompany my grandfather to Dubai for trading.

Life was challenging at that time. For example, to get water they had to ride on camels and donkeys for hours. At home, people lived with kerosene lamps, as there was no electricity.

Dubai Creek was small until they dredged it up the 1960s. Shaikh Rashid use to frequently meet traders and look after their demands. He made it very easy for us to reach him and gave traders at that time every possible support.

As we traded in silver and gold we set up our first jewellery store in Souq Al Kabeer, at that time known as Abra Market in Bur Dubai. Our family supplied jewellery to the Maktoum family at Zabeel Palace.

We were very successful and established traders and even afforded a Mercedes car at that time. My father still shows me his motorcycle license issued by British as it was then Trucial States.

My parents and grandparents have seen every single building come up in the desert. They lived near the Al Fahidi fort, now called Dubai Museum. Since I grew up with Emiratis and Iranians here and also did my studies here, I feel I am more Emirati than Indian; I connect with them very well and have many Emirati friends.

I did my further studies in tourism with Dnata, IATA and got my diploma in tourism. Then, in 2001 I joined a tour company and looked after calls from tourists inquiring for excursions. In the course of training, I was sent on various tours to all seven emirates, to deserts and mountains.

Most guides in our company were Europeans since that was where the company's main clientele came from. Most guides spoke German, Italian and French. While on tours, I realised that I have more stories to share with tourists then other guides. So I approached my boss and asked if I would be allowed to be a tour guide. He asked me a few questions and saw that I was serious for this and he said 'we will give you one chance once we have an English speaking tour'.

I did my first Dubai city tour in 2001 just 4 months after joining work. It was with a British couple who had a stopover in Dubai. After the tour my driver praised me for all the information I gave the tourists, only to realise later that the driver was a senior tour guide in our company. The guests also gave a good feedback and since then there was no looking back.

My company got me enrolled with Dubai Tourism to get my tourist guide licence. I still remember we were very few tour guides at that time, and now we are more then 2,800 for Dubai. I still escort cruise passengers, VIP delegates, celebrities, tour agents, media groups, university and school groups from other countries.

Through my work, I met people from all walks of life. I have toured and looked after people like James Murdoch, CEO of 21 Century Fox, James Baker, ex-US Secretary of Treasury, Naresh Goyal, chairman of Jet Airways and so on.

My dream is to get my father to meet His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, so he can share his story and say to him that we have been with you all the way.

He no longer lives with us in Dubai, though. He is like a Bedouin now, living in the mountains in Fujairah. He refuses to use a mobile phone and he doesn't reply to his landline phone, so if I really want to talk to him, I have to go see him."

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Interviewed by Silvia Radan. Street Talk is a weekly column to get a glimpse of people's lives in UAE.