“….kon ge eh tho? Alhugadu maaragalhakah nudhannamey”, asked my client - a businessman from an aristocratic Male’ family in his mid 40s. I instinctively knew what he was referring to – he was obviously not interested in my address of course – rather he wanted to know which island I was from. Am I going to say I’m from the House of Windsor, the House of Tsar or the House of Dhiyamighili?, I thought for a moment. On second thought I didn’t want to lose my client so I told him both my parents came from small impoverished islands in the north and I grew up as a street kid on the streets of Male.
I wonder what it would be like if Orchidmaage, Kaamineege, Love Nest and Broken Heart were all given street numbers. Would a lot of people lose their identity? M. Alivaage is a small part of the identity of Minister Ilyas Ibrahim, and Male Municipality Dhaftharu no. 11023 could be the only identity of another Ilyas Ibrahim who migrated to Male’ from G.Dh Fiyori some 23 years ago in search of a better life. Back then islanders were required to get a Visa to stay in Male and my friend Ilyas would have certainly had a tough time getting through the paperwork of kuda sitee office. Ilyas, must have gone into all that trouble to get himself identified by a mysterious Male Municipality Dhaftharu number some 23 years later!
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2 comments:
I recently befriend one of the cashiers at a famous cafe in Male' and guess what, the first question he asked me was which island was from? I didn't know what to make of it. Male' has a population of over 84,000 (according to Haveeru Daily) and I guess everybody should now know that the majority of the people living in the capital will not be originally from the capital. So this question is redundant. Perhaps there is an underlying psychological reason why we Maldivians are still concerned about our "roots."
Its very annoying the way ppl add you on msn and goes which island are u from.. I mean its like thats what defines you.. (apart from sex, age and your vital stats)
And the simple fact is my grandparents come frm 3 different islands so i dont know where i really belong.. or which island i am from..
So i say I am a mix..
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