The Indian family that has been living here for four generations

The Kisani Family

Dubai: In the early 1900s, Lalchand Kisani and Hiranand Virumal Kisani, two Sindhi brothers from Karachi in then undivided India, came to Ajman to trade in pearls. Years later, they went back to their homeland. But the four sons of Hiranand were destined to be in the UAE - each came on a separate calling after the Indo-Pakistan partition in 1947.

One of the four, Ladaram, started his own foodstuff business, but the other three took up jobs: Devkishan at the British Bank Middle East (now HSBC), Chunilal at the African + Eastern Company and Ram at Standard Chartered Bank.

Fast forward to 2011. The Kisanis have branched out so wide they could well be one of the largest expat families in the UAE today. And when XPRESS went scouting for people who had spent 40 or more years in the country, there was a pick of at least 11 names from among the 60-plus members in the Kisani household.

"Yes, we are quite a few of us here," says Damayanthi, 69, wife of the late Ram and eldest surviving family member.

Thursday thrills

"When I first came in 1965, we lived in Al Ain and it would take us six hours to reach Dubai by road. But the trip was a must every Thursday as my husband's brothers were here. Shopping and watching a movie at the Indian Association was part of the deal," she recalls. "Often, by the time we got back, it would be well over midnight which meant we could not get past the Al Ain checkpost. So we would sleep in the desert and reach home in the morning."

Damayanthi has three married children in Dubai, two of whom have crossed 40. The eldest, Manoj, runs a computer business besides other family concerns. He talks of how he was just four when the first National Day was celebrated in Al Ain. "I remember the lights on the streets and the main roundabout. There was so much gaiety. I have been part of it for so long I feel integrated with the local culture."

"We've been marking the UAE National Day in our own way for many years," says Manoj's sister Deepa, 42, holding up a pair of beaded wrist bands in the form of a UAE flag. There are hairbands and camels too. "Mum has been making these for us and now for our children every National Day."

Each of the veteran Kisanis has a tale to tell. Businessman Raju, 54, says, "I was among the first batch of students of the Indian High School which marked its golden jubilee last year."

He is the son of Devkishan. His sisters Mala, 53, and Sunita, 46, and brother Pravin, 44, have all been in Dubai for over four decades. "In fact Pravin was delivered by a midwife in Dubai and got his birth certificate from the British embassy," says Sunita.

The siblings say they will never go back to India. "There is nothing for us there. This is our home as we have our entire family and property investments here," adds Pravin.

"I wish people like us get citizenship," says Mala.

The sentiment is echoed by others as well. "It would be nice if we get something like a permanent residency card," says Ladaram's son Kamlesh, 45, who has a logistics business.

He and his sister Poonam, 54, recall how their father was in the infamous ship that sank off the coast of Dubai in 1973. "I was 16 then and we used to live in front of the sea. People were being brought to the shore in small boats and my father, thankfully, survived."

Kusum, 63, and Lata, 57, daughters of Chuni Lal, have been here longer. They cannot but compare the gold prices today to what they were at one time. "Sixty rupees for one tola [11.663gms] in the Sixties," says Kusum. "I remember paying 50 fils for a box of sweet water and 25 fils for ordinary water which the rafiqs [water boys] would carry from Jumeirah to Bur Dubai," says Lata.