I'm not a fan of clutter and yet I am myself a lifelong clutterer. I admit it.
All my life I have yearned for that effortless, organised existence that seemed to come so easily to my peers whether at school or at home.
My sisters kept their books and stuff in orderly conduct while my things were all over the place.
I missed countless appointments, forgot to study for important exams and failed to turn in assignments on their due dates. I misplaced the valuable and the inane, and angered so many so much that they thought I was a hopeless case.
I still walk into a room and forget what it was I wanted there. I often mime to myself the thing that I wish to do or the item that I seek so as to enforce the idea in my head.
It's therefore a dream of mine that everything I own can fit into a suitcase or, better yet, a leather satchel. This is my idea of romance - to be so simple and clearheaded so that the sun's beams would fall without objection upon a plain, clean floor.
Today we are always pushed to acquire so many things. How many make-up kits or perfumes does a woman need, anyway? Or how about the variety of tops, skirts and trousers? Does it really matter if an item is from "last season" or from a certain designer?
Will I carry my self-worth in a watch or a bracelet or a phone? What if my earthly belongings were destroyed in a fire? Would I lose my sense of self-worth?
I used to have a friend at university who told how she browsed through a furniture catalogue and admired a certain item. Her relative peered at it and sniffed that she liked it only because it was "cheap".
Conversely, a friend of my sister said her relatives pressured her into wasting thousands of dirhams on designer handbags because they found it embarrassing to be seen with anything less.
Then there's the girl who would interrogate a potential friend about her designer items to figure out if they were fake or original; only if they were genuine would she be deemed worthy of her companionship.
This is the sort of thinking that gets our younger generation deeply in debt at the start of their 20s. It's not a miracle to live life free of pressure or worry. One doesn't need a new Bentley or Range Rover to go from Point A to Point B in Abu Dhabi.
Or how about the newest Apple product? Whoever said the iPad was just a bigger iPhone wasn't kidding. And yet people will still go out to acquire it. Throughout the year newer editions will be released - a different colour of the same product or a slightly upgraded version that can hardly be distinguished from its forerunner.
Given society's focus on materialism, there will always be pressure to get the newer, better, faster version of what we might already own.
I'd like to dream that I can live with the basic necessities of life. I'd like to think that the most precious things I own will be with me wherever I go - that my love for God, my country, my family and humanity at large will always keep me grounded and satisfied with my lot in life.
I've given birth to another baby boy this month and I don't need an advertisement to tell me what it is my life lacks or might be heightened by.
All I desire is already right here, right now and I could not be any happier.
Iman Ali is an Emirati graduate in English Literature from Zayed University. Raised in Scotland, she is living once more in Abu Dhabi, where she is writing The Great Emirati Novel.
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
SM Town Live is on Friday, April 6 at Autism Rocks Arena, Dubai. Tickets are Dh375 at www.platinumlist.net
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder
Transmission: 7-speed auto
0-100kmh 2.3 seconds
0-200kmh 5.5 seconds
0-300kmh 11.6 seconds
Power: 1500hp
Torque: 1600Nm
Price: Dh13,400,000
On sale: now
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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'Joker'
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix
Rating: Five out of five stars
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Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
Most wanted allegations
- Benjamin Macann, 32: involvement in cocaine smuggling gang.
- Jack Mayle, 30: sold drugs from a phone line called the Flavour Quest.
- Callum Halpin, 27: over the 2018 murder of a rival drug dealer.
- Asim Naveed, 29: accused of being the leader of a gang that imported cocaine.
- Calvin Parris, 32: accused of buying cocaine from Naveed and selling it on.
- John James Jones, 31: allegedly stabbed two people causing serious injuries.
- Callum Michael Allan, 23: alleged drug dealing and assaulting an emergency worker.
- Dean Garforth, 29: part of a crime gang that sold drugs and guns.
- Joshua Dillon Hendry, 30: accused of trafficking heroin and crack cocain.
- Mark Francis Roberts, 28: grievous bodily harm after a bungled attempt to steal a £60,000 watch.
- James ‘Jamie’ Stevenson, 56: for arson and over the seizure of a tonne of cocaine.
- Nana Oppong, 41: shot a man eight times in a suspected gangland reprisal attack.
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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Bugatti Chiron Super Sport - the specs:
Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto
Power: 1,600hp
Torque: 1,600Nm
0-100kph in 2.4seconds
0-200kph in 5.8 seconds
0-300kph in 12.1 seconds
Top speed: 440kph
Price: Dh13,200,000
Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport - the specs:
Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto
Power: 1,500hp
Torque: 1,600Nm
0-100kph in 2.3 seconds
0-200kph in 5.5 seconds
0-300kph in 11.8 seconds
Top speed: 350kph
Price: Dh13,600,000
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000