'All my customers smile ... this is what I like best'

Starting his day at 11am and ending around 10.30pm, Sulal doesn't fix cars, he washes them.

Twenty two-year-old Mohammed Manan Sulal has a passion for cars. He doesn't own a car, nor does he have a licence, but that doesn't stop him from liking cars. Big, small, yellow or blue. He likes any kind of car.
Luckily for Sulal, he works with cars every day of the week.
To most people, a six-day working week is nothing short of a hassle, but Sulal says he doesn't mind it.
Dressed in matching blue tee shirt and pants, the smiling Bangladeshi may have 22 years behind him, but he doesn't look a day over 16.
Starting his day at 11am and ending around 10.30pm, Sulal doesn't fix cars, he washes them.
Today he has washed around six or seven cars - he can't quite remember. On a typically day he washes about double that.
For Sulal, talking to his customers is what he likes best. Seeing their smiles when he turns their dusty car exterior into a shiny new one is another perk.
"For me, this makes me happy."
Sulal's 'office' is an underground carpark below Mercato Mall. It's a place where he spends most of his day, but during summer, it can get difficult.
"It becomes very hot down here, but we take breaks and drink lots of water. You get used to it. I do prefer the winter, though."
Taking a short rest bite from the stifling humidity, Sulal talks to me inside my car. With the A/C cranked up, it's a stark contrast from the sticky air outside.
Sulal smiles and waves his hands over the A/C vents.
"This is nice."
Arriving in Dubai in 2010 aged just 17, Sulal left his mother, father and older sister behind to look for a job in the UAE. Many people from his area did the same.
"We come to make good money."
Leaving behind the predictable daily routine of running his father's shop, Sulal moved on to new unpredictable pastures.
When he first arrived he had nothing lined up. He just wanted a job, any job.
Not long after touching down in the desert city, cars became his money maker.
And now, they are his passion.
As we wrap up our chat so he can get back to work, I become Sulal's seventh or eighth (he can't quite remember) customer of the day. As he speedily wipes away the blanket of dust from my car, the shiny exterior is revealed.
As I smile, say thank you and hand him a Dh20 note for his efforts, he points at my face and laughs.
"See madam, all my customers smile. This is what I like best."
kelly@khaleejtimes.com
Interviewed by Kelly Clarke Street talk is a weekly column to get a glimpse of people's lives in uae

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