Dubai: Expat group feeds 500 workers to mark Diwali

While Indian expatriates across the emirate marked their biggest festival Diwali by meeting and greeting their near and dear ones, one group of Indians decided to light up the mood of those who are unable to celebrate the festival with their families – the blue-collar community.

A team of Indian volunteers - registered with the Community Development Authority (CDA) under the name Magical Smiles - distributed special Diwali dinner boxes to around 500 workers at their camp in Al Quoz.

The five-member team - Tara Shah Khan, Tanveer Khan, Lokesh Mishra, Rakesh Kaul and Noorulain Sulemani – got together on the eve of Diwali at a labour accommodation dressed in traditional attire and brought with them a truck loaded with 500 freshly packed meals for the workers. The meal packs included chicken biryani, yogurt (raita), pickle and gulab jabun (sweet dish).

As soon as the team arrived with the meal packs, celebrations began at the workers' accommodation with some of the workers cheering and thanking the group from their balconies, while some others gathered in the open courtyard of the accommodation.

The food distribution began as the Magical Smiles team welcomed Dubai government officials Ahmed Salem Al Zaabi, representative of the CDA; and Mohammed Mohsen Ali from the Dubai Police; who both lighted a lamp to mark the spirit of Diwali before beginning the distribution. Present on the occassion were also other volunteers from CDA - Khaled Nawab, CEO at Nabdha Elemarat Volunteering Team and Shaheen Al Blooshi, Deputy CEO of the Elemarat team.

Tara Shah Khan, who is the founding member of the Magical Smiles group, said the aim of the initiative was to show gratitude to the hardworking community of blue-collar workers and to help them feel the festive spirit even if they are away from their home.

“In line with the name of our group, we wanted to bring smiles on the faces of the blue collar workers, especially on the occasion of Diwali, the festival of lights that is one of the biggest festival back in India. They work so hard all year round and have literally built the city we are living in, so this just a small gesture of saying ‘thank you’ to them. Celebrating with them brought us immense happiness,” Khan said.

Tara, a mother, and a resident of Al Nahda in Dubai said she and her group started providing food for the needy when the Covid pandemic struck and many lost their jobs and source of income.

The Magical Smiles group comprises of her friends and family members including her husband Tanveer, who she said has been very supportive from the very beginning.

Lokesh Mishra another member of Magical Smiles and owner of Bhojpuriya Restaurant, Sonapur from where all the meals were arranged, said, “One of the core objectives of opening my restaurant in Sonapur, Dubai was to serve the blue-collar community and provide for them healthy and nutritious meal. Feeding people with good, clean and nutritious food, I believe, is the best way of serving the community and keeping them healthy and happy.”

Thanking the group for the Diwali gesture, a blue-collar worker Umesh Chavan said, “ A big thank you to this group for celebrating Diwali with us and treating us like a family member. We feel blessed and our grateful to them and to this country where there are so many initiatives to take care of the blue collar community.”

Another worker Rakesh Patti echoed the same sentiments as he said, “This Diwali we felt we were at our home away from home as although our family wasn’t there but this group of CDA volunteers ensured we had a celebration at our camp and that is overwhelming. This gesture itself is enough to make us happy.”

The Magical Smiles group regularly hosts special food distributions across various labour accommodations across the country.

saman@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai