Everyone has a version of Dubai they’ve heard. The one with glittering towers, fast jobs, weekend brunches, and relatives who land with perfumes and leave with gold. What this book offers is what came after the arrival.
When two people moved from India with a few suitcases and a modest reserve, they didn’t find ease. They found a beginning. No shock value, no drama, just the slow, unglamorous process of learning how to live in a city where nothing was familiar and everything cost more than expected.
This book will be a companion for the early months that no one prepares you for. It brings together everyday questions: how do you stretch 4000 dirhams, what happens when you don’t recognise a single brand at the grocery store, with the quieter emotional weight of starting over. What do you say when friends ask if you’ve settled in, and you haven’t? How do you carry ambition when your first job looks nothing like your last?
This book offers answers through experience, not advice. It doesn’t wrap hardship in inspiration. It shows what survival looks like when the photos stop and the planning app closes. It’s proof that things do change even if they start with uncertainty, rented cutlery, and a single shelf in a shared fridge.
If you’re thinking of moving, or already here and feeling unsure, this story will meet you where you are and walk with you from there.
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Dr. Aparna Arora
Dr. Aparna Arora is an HR professional, and operations leader based in Dubai, with over nine years of experience across human resources, training, payroll, compliance, and administration. She holds a PhD in Human Resources and an MBA in HR, graduating as a gold medalist. Over the years, she has built teams, set up systems, and handled the fine print that keeps businesses running smoothly, from hiring and onboarding to short-term rental contracts, and guest logistics. Her professional strengths lie in bringing order to chaos, solving people's problems without noise, and setting up processes that don’t fall apart when things get busy.
This book reflects her practical, no-frills approach to life and work. It distills what she learned from moving countries, starting over, and building structures where there was none.
She currently manages HR and operations in Dubai’s hospitality, balancing spreadsheets with soft skills, and ensuring things get done on time, while also pursuing her passion for writing more books. In a city of brunches and Birkin bags, she still thinks nothing beats a good matar paneer and a quiet evening with people who feel a little like home.
