Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar

Sleep

Addar Hotel, Al Wakra Main St, ☎ +974 4464 7775, fax: +974 4464 1119, e-mail: reservation@addarhotel.com.qa. Serviced apart-ments with free wi-fi and breakfast, 24-hr coffee shop, onsite restaurant and gym, rental cars avail-able. QR 450-700/day.

Al Siraaj Wakra Inn Apartments, Mesaieed Rd, ☎ +974 4463 3737, fax: +974 4463 3802, e-mail: wakrainn@alsiraaj-group.com. Serviced apartments with free wi-fi and breakfast and onsite coffee shop.
Once little more than a minuscule pearl fishing village, Doha, Qatar’s capital and largest city, has emerged to be-come one of the pearls of the Middle East. It is one of the most rapidly-developing cities in the Persian Gulf, akin to the development seen in nearby Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and is destined to become a centre of international trade and travel.

Understand

the same as it was just a couple of years ago, and will be very different again in a few years time.

 Read
Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar, From Dunes to Dior. Written by a resident Indian-American, this is a collection of insightful essays about life as an expatriate in Doha.

Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar, Love Comes Later. Set in Doha and London, this novel examines Qatari culture and how young Qataris are now challenging the status quo. The book is not available in Qatar as it has been banned by the Qatari

Dhows on the Doha Bay

For most of its history Doha was a poor fishing village dependent on pearl diving, and was regarded as a sleepy backwater until as recently as the early 1990s. Following the accession of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani as Emir in 1995, however, Qatar quickly began to modern-ize, and Doha is now taking huge strides to catch up with other nearby Gulf cities, especially in preparation for its hosting of the FIFA World Cup in 2022. The city is very much a work-in-progress, with a rapidly growing skyline and new buildings sprouting up almost like mushrooms.

For most visitors, Doha is synonymous with Qatar, as the vast majority of the country’s population resides in the capital city. Doha has an astonishingly diverse popula-tion – just 13% of residents are native Qataris. Although Arabic is Qatar’s official language, English is by default the lingua franca, as the majority of the city’s expats do not speak Arabic, including most shopkeepers and service providers. Doha is also now one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, as workers continue to pour in to help build the developing economy.

If you've visited before, be assured that Doha today is not