Doha - The Veiled Lady

Doha- The Veiled Lady

Doha and I have met only recently but it’s been a whirlwind, tempestuous affair. Vacillating between love and hate, intrigue and contempt - I wonder if my curiosity will always be this captivated or whether time and proximity will breed familiarity and erase enticing ambiguity.

Maybe this city is like its veiled women. Regal in its exterior, yet uniformly so. I am left wondering what lies beneath the outside that is so masked. There is definite beauty but it struggles to be defined and like the veiled women I feel separated from her - barred.

Sometimes you catch a glimpse from her eyes in your direction as she unveils her beauty unwittingly. Then just as quickly it’s covered up again. The foreigner struggles to engage with her.Her femininity is masked. As the foreigner tries to smile, he can’t see it being reciprocated, so he isn’t sure whether he is well received. He retreats and is insecure, reluctant to engage fully again- he will observe from a distance and interact when necessary.

It seems as through local Qataris are flirting with 'western culture'. With a barrage of American fast-food franchises, I am left wondering what defines local cuisine. This search for an authentic Qatari experience extends beyond food and entertainment. It is apparent that locals are struggling with the concept of identity in a country where the pace of development has been ravenous. This is compounded by insatiable globalization. Not only have locals moved from being Bedouin to city dwellers in much less than half a century, but they also find themselves a minority in their own country.

It is cowardly to dismiss Qatar as being another plastic Gulf State. The brave thing to is to seek out Qatar's beauty. Knowing her more intimately reveals a softer side.
Her beauty for me, lies not in her made-up exterior but that elegant, natural beauty that she sometimes forgets she has. Sunsets are bold and captivating, turning the sky into a canvas of Nature's creativity. The Arabian nights viewed from silent rooftops outside the city are safe and enveloping.

Moving away from the city of Doha, one notices the striking contrast of mechanically modern gas refineries set against the desert dunes. These dunes are the stuff of romantic Arab stories. Many locals set up tents in the desert on weekends and during the holidays to relax, away from the city. Young people navigate the landscape on four-wheelers perhaps as confidently as their forefathers may have moved through the desert on camels and Arabian steeds.
The active mobile lifestyle of days gone by is juxtaposed with the present sedentary life marred by excessive comfort and convenience.

Doha's waterfront - the Corniche - is the perfect setting to reflect on the question of Qatar's identity. Sometimes there is a subtlety in the ocean . It plays with pastel shades : languishing in aqua-blues and baby-pinks. Most days the water appears still, but like this city, its undercurrent shouldn't be underestimated.