Be Grateful.

I had just landed in Dubai after a 7-hour flight on Emirates. Tired. Slightly jet-lagged. Already thinking about emails before even leaving the airport.

Then I got into the car.

For 40 minutes on the way to Marina, I put my phone down and listened.

Mr. S.,  I’ll keep his name anonymous, has been in Dubai for eight years. He arrived at 20 years old from Lahore, Pakistan, chasing what so many come here for: dignity, opportunity, a better life.

His first job? A Talabat bike driver.

He knew every street in Dubai. Every traffic light. Every shortcut. As we drove, he pointed at one signal and said, “I used to stop here.” He remembered exactly where he would wait under the scorching sun, temperatures pushing over 50 degrees in the summer, helmet on, engine humming, racing against delivery timers and exhaustion.

He never told his mother what he really did. She was always worried about him. He didn’t want her imagining her son navigating Sheikh Zayed Road in that heat, surrounded by cars, carrying food orders on a bike.

A few accidents later, he took it as a sign. It was time for something safer. Something more stable.

Today, he works as a driver at Emirates. Ten-hour shifts. Six days a week.

And as he gently adjusted the AC, he smiled and said, “Now I am proud to be behind an air-conditioned BMW.”

That sentence stayed with me.

Not because of the car.
But because of the journey.

From 50-degree heat at a traffic light…
To climate control and stability.

From risk…
To resilience rewarded.

He spoke with pride, not about the long hours, but about progress. About growth. About passing his UAE driving test from the first attempt (and if you live here, you know that’s no small achievement).

And this April, after five years, he is finally going home. To see his mother. To get married. To hug the family he has been working for and sacrificing for.

Five years.

While many of us measure time in revenue, targets, and board meetings — he measured it in patience and purpose.

Dubai is built on stories like Mr. S.’s. Quiet ambition. Silent sacrifices. Relentless gratitude.

It is these stories that make you put your phone down.
Listen.
Reflect.
Be grateful.

Grateful for safety.
For opportunity.
For air conditioning.
For the privilege of growth.

Thank you, Mr. S., for making my 40-minute drive worthwhile.

Bless you.

#RamadanKareem