Bringing Dubai to Life on the Page with Tania Malik

Submitted: 20th February 2025

Bringing Dubai to Life on the Page – Tania Malik

Come to a Dubai that you have never seen before….

Discover Arabia is a tour guide company in the far-flung outpost of Dubai.

Hope You are Satisfied Tania Malik

Locations in Hope you are Satisfied

Desert safari and camel caravan (c) Tania Malik

Locations in Hope you are Satisfied

Dubai

This story is set in 1990s Dubai just after Iraq invades Kuwait. When I first sat down to write Hope You Are Satisfied, I found I was writing about a Dubai that had, for all intents and purposes, been wiped off the map.

In its place now is a metropolis that has morphed into a fantastical playground of man-made archipelagos, cloud-piercing skyscrapers, and over-the-top tourist attractions. It was through the eyes of Riya, the young woman protagonist of my story, that I had to recreate the city as it once was—a small, bustling port city filled with people from the world over and their differing languages, cultures, food, and music. Riya is among the many guest workers who move to the region to earn a living. She works for a local tour operator catering to tourists from Western Europe and the UK. As such, she also becomes a tour guide for the reader, interpreting, explaining, and chronicling the intrinsic nature of a city on the cusp of a major transformation.

Locations in Hope you are Satisfied

Dubai Creek

The natural saltwater creek piercing the city’s heart played a large role in its metamorphosis. Fishing and pearl diving flourished in the warm, shallow waters, offering a natural inlet for trading boats. Even now, old wooden dhows with long hulls and fluttering triangular sails line the creek’s banks loaded with commercial goods, and to this day, they still plow the trade routes to Africa and other Middle Eastern ports. As Riya and her friends often do, the quickest and cheapest way to cross the creek is to hop on an abra, a small wooden ferry boat. When Riya befriends two young American sailors, it’s an abra ride that allows them to simultaneously glimpse both the city’s modern and ancient side, its past and its present.

Desert safari and camel caravan (c) Tania Malik

Locations in Hope you are Satisfied

The Arabian desert

Beyond the city limits are the infinite sands of the desert. Caravans of nomadic Bedouin tribes once traveled from oasis to oasis and were some of the first settlers. Desert safaris offer a taste of Bedouin culture and traditions. After a four-wheel ride over undulating dunes, visitors can experience falconry, camel rides, belly dancing, and local cuisine served in tented camps. Riya’s job with a local tour operator brings her into contact with various tourists and their shenanigans. On one such desert safari, an inebriated guest has a skirmish with an indignant camel.

Locations in Hope you are Satisfied

Dubai Museum

Nestled within the coral and stone walls of the centuries-old Al Fahidi Fort, the museum’s exhibits trace the city’s history back before the discovery of oil. Tools and weapons are on display, as well as an exploration of the nomadic way of life and the unique architecture of the wind towers used to create cross ventilation in old homes.

Locations in Hope you are Satisfied

The Spice Souk

While modern malls abound, including one with a black diamond ski run, it is still possible to wind one’s way through the traditional markets. In the Gold Souk, jewelry and gemstones in every carat dazzle the eye in the shop windows, and the heady scent of oud wafts down the lanes of the Perfume Souk, but it is in the Spice Souk that the senses are overwhelmed. Sacks of every spice, herb, and grain spill out of storefronts and into the alleyways. Everything from saffron, cardamom, frankincense, and myrrh, to dried fruits, nuts, and shisha tobacco for hookahs. Haggling in the markets makes every purchase sweeter.

Hatta Fort Hotel 1980s (c) Tania Malik

Locations in Hope you are Satisfied

Hatta Fort Hotel

While writing this novel, I often wished I had taken more photographs, as I had very few pictures from that time. One photo that I did have is of the Hatta Fort Hotel. About a ninety-minute drive from the city and close to the Omani border, it was a restorative weekend getaway with access to the hiking trails into the rugged Hajar mountains. While it has been renovated since then, its rooms were chalet style, and there was mini golf and swimming. It is at the resort that Riya and her colleague must deal with the body of a Swiss guest who had died under unique circumstances.

Locations in Hope you are Satisfied

The Coastline

The long coastline of temperate waters, calm tides, and winds make the region’s snorkeling, scuba diving, and water sports a delight. Reefs and wrecks are profuse with marine life, from blacktip reef sharks to lionfish and color-changing cuttlefish. During one such trip, dramatic events unfold in the novel, and Riya realizes that because of her involvement with an international arms dealer, she is in over her head and will lose everything if she can’t find her way out of a complicated and dangerous situation.

This picture from the late eighties captures the lazy days spent on the beach when the first Gulf War and the ensuing fallout were unimaginable future events.

Dubai city scene (c) Tania Malik

Locations in Hope you are Satisfied

The City Itself

Dubai is a primary character in the novel. It was and still is a contradictory place — quirky, charming, hedonistic, yet tempered by strict Islamic laws. Driving through the city and coming upon sites such as the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, the exceptionally green golf courses, or the profusely blooming flower gardens, it is hard to believe that it was all once desert sand and that a mere thirty or so years ago, in the time when this novel is set, none of this existed. Much has changed since then. Thankfully, much still endures.

Tania Malik is published by VERVE Books. Thank you so much for appearing Tania!