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When the British gave up the empire at midnight on August 14, 1947, they divided the land into two new nations: the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of India. The pacifist politician Mahatma Gandhi had dreamed of creating one free and united India for citizens of all religions but his vision didn’t come true. Pakistan was made for Muslims, and India was dominated by Hindus. People migrated by foot, ox cart, and train across the new border—to or from Pakistan depending on their religion—with millions suffering injury, rape, or death in the violent transition.
Arif’s father wasn’t a Sind Club member but he was still able to pay the Karachi Grammar School fees to make his children part of the English-speaking elite. For most people in Karachi the grammar school was unreachable. It was a price worth paying, parents reckoned, because in a country with a rigid class system, attending the exclusive school brought them closer to the orbit of prime ministers, judges, and the owners of industry.
In a burst of ambition, Dubai was striving to assert its dominance over Bahrain and Qatar to become the undisputed center of Middle East business and the vital hub connecting East and West. The motive was simple. Dubai lacked oil, the source of the region’s vast wealth. Its ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was determined to build a city of riches by creating a welcoming environment for people to work and play hard in. Western executives and their families were welcome. Alcoholic drinks—traditionally a strict taboo on the Arabian Peninsula, where the Prophet Muhammad lived—were
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