From Afghanistan to the UAE via Pakistan: the journey of a gemstone National
Its an unremarkable day for Sami Ahmed. As on any other day, he woke up early, performed his morning prayers, ate his usual breakfast of eggs, toast and sweet milk tea before bathing and getting dressed, ready for another round of meetings with his clients. In other apartments lining the neatly trimmed streets of Dubais old city, similar routines are unfolding: buses are transporting office workers to their glittering, modern offices in Jumeirah, boatmen are gliding their dhows out on to the still waters of the Creek, smiling at the tourists with their bulging wallets heading out to the souks in Bur Dubai and Deira, on the hunt for bargains. Dubai is coming to life and along with it all, the hopes and dreams that a city premised on future promises.
For Sami Ahmed, those dreams are packaged in glittering gold and sparkling hues of red, green, blue, pink, purpleall the colours, in fact, of a crystal rainbow. His jewellery shop in Deiras gold souk is an adults fantasyland, its walls lined with treasures. The browsing shoppers try to maintain an air of casual indifference, like aristocrats whove come to buy a mere trinket.
But for all of them, there is one question begging to be asked: How much?
The first person to ask that question, a middle-aged Arab who has come into Ahmeds shop with his wife and daughter, seems nonplussed by the response: That necklace? Ahmed says, pointing to a ruby-encrusted gold chain. Just $2,500 (Dh9,100). Its small.
Indeed.
How much? Its a question we often ask without ever really thinking about what it might imply. Value is not an objective thing; it is an abstract concept, imbued with emotion and personal relevance.
