How do we make ends meet with one dirham?

Fully packed abra passing over the Dubai creek on the Public transport day, getting free ride to the passengers.

One Dirham in Dubai can take you only so far. In the 'historical neighbourhood' of Al Fahidi, Bur Dubai, it can get you either shot of tea, a pink lotus bud (from behind the Hindu temple), or a ride in a ferry, known as abras (ferries). But abra drivers say they are struggling to make ends meet and wish for a hike in abra fare.
These abras have been around so long that some abra drivers remember when the Gulf Rupee was the currency.
An Iranian driver, Mohammad Ali, has been in Dubai for 50 years. Back then he says there were only 20 abras (now there are 149). He speaks a dialect of Persian, Hindi, and the pidgin English picked up from interacting with tourists.
There's a lifetime of sorrow in his stories. His wife was young. He wasted her youth, destroyed her life, staying away. His life has been a struggle, to earn enough to send home. But it's never enough. And now he's angry about having to pay Dh40-50 every day for diesel to run the abra.
The air around the creek is not thick with smoke. But you can smell the diesel, as you can smell the water, and take a certain pleasure in the sea gulls swirling overhead.
The weather's nice now, said another abra driver Mahapuz Alam.
He's hopeful that some tourists will come to the Bur Dubai Old Souk Station, too (till the Al Sabkha Station), instead of favouring the other route - Bur Dubai to Deira Old Souk, the more popular one. Each abra has two drivers. So they're about 300 in all.
Alam is from Bangladesh. He's been here for the last 10 years.
He does 11-12 round trips everyday - up and down, up and down. From Al Sabkha to Bur Dubai Old Souk and back. The ride is only a few minutes long.
He spoke of the fine they have to pay if they take more than 20 passengers per abra. Alam spends Dh20 everyday on food. He has to give Dh120 everyday to the boss. Then there's the rent. His take home every day is Dh60. He laughs, calls his earnings a joke.
Another driver, Aziz Al Haq, from Bangladesh has been here for 32 years. His two sons also drive abras, one at Marina, one at Burj Khalifa, but the Burj Khalifa one went back home.
"Some issue with a girl."
The Iranian Mohammad Ali chimes in that he's seen neither Burj Khalifa nor Marina (Burj Khalifa nahi dekha, Marina nahi dekha) and he's been here for 50 years.
His fellow abra drivers are from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Iran. "Sab bhai bhai (brothers)," he stressed.
Masood Ahmed from Lahore, 22 years in Dubai, answers a question about what he wants improved in his working conditions.
He said it would be nice if the "imbalance" in abra distribution is addressed.
According to Ahmed, the trips between Bank of Baroda to Gold souk abras are 46, and from Sabhka to Old soulk are 104.
He said that there should be 75-75 abras at each destination, because then they too might earn more from the increased tourist rush.
Another Iranian Abdul Latif, driving abras since 1990, asked: "Why shouldn't abra rides cost Dh2 from the Dh1, which it now is. After all, even a cup of tea has gone up from 50 fils to Dh1 and more. When will be our turn?
nivriti@khaleejtimes.com 

• UAE