Memories of Dubai photo album on Facebook goes viral

Jumeirah hotel from MEMORIES OF DUBAI album on Marouf Baig's Facebook page. Courtesy Marouf Baig

Do you remember the Al Nasr Cinema in Oud Mehta that burnt down in 2008? Do you miss the excitement of finding you’ve got a freebie, scribbled on an ice-cream stick once you licked it all off? (Not all of us were lucky. I’d always end up with ‘Thank You – Try Again’).

Millennials who grew up in UAE know what I am talking about. A photo album making the rounds on Facebook has taken many of us down memory lane this week and sparked several pleasant conversations about the “good ol’ days”.

The Dubai-resident Marouf Baig has created the Memories of Dubai album, which has been shared by nearly 5,900 Facebook users on the social-networking site, in just a few days. Baig, in the description of the collection, says these pictures are from different sources to chronicle the past and phenomenal growth of the Dubai.

Images of almost every kids’ after-school snack essentials in the 90s, such as Aladin crisps, Kancho Choco biscuits, and the old Etisalat and Pizza Hut logos, are up there – a reminder of simpler times. The album has about 104 photographs.

“I thought this would be something that a few friends, family and neighbours would connect with,” says Baig, an events management professional. “But it goes to show how people who grew up here can relate to those times and hold on to it.”

“It’s not the big changes up there that have people reminiscing, but the small things that were part of life. These are childhood memories and each picture has a story behind it. That was the whole idea – to connect with likeminded people here.”

• Check out the album here on Marouf Baig's Facebook page