April 20, 2023 | Awake & Dreaming

What are your plans for the weekend ahead?

Well one of the biggest bummers happened to me this week in that I had to leave my current training batch, who were at day 15 of their 20 day training period, and hand it over to one of the SME’s and then take over a new batch that was starting on Tuesday. This new batch was in the Chennai office, so I would be running the training remotely, conducting the sessions online via Webex. But this meant a spanner in my plans.

It was to be a long 3 day weekend due to Eid being tomorrow and us getting the day holiday here in Kerala. However it was declared to be on Saturday in Tamil Nadu and hence me and another colleague have to work on Friday as we are conducting the training for the Chennai office. So I miss out on a 3 day weekend and I actually was looking forward to it. So I have changed my plans and I most probably will stay in.

I plan to watch or atleast start to watch 1 or 2 of the Marvel streaming shows that I have yet to watch. Those being Ms Marvel * She-Hulk. I can’t believe that I have yet to watch them and that actually shows me how much I am superheroed out. Way too many shows and movies. When it was just the movies it was fine but none of the tv shows have really excited me. I will give them a run this weekend. If I do feel like doing it, I might go out on Saturday and get a haircut and drink a couple of beers. Let’s see!

Prompt from 30 Social Media Prompts for April at SophieCallahanblog.com

According to the locals, the history of this perplexing ghost town near Dubai is not known. All we know is that the village of Al Madam also called “Buried Village” was constructed sometime around 1970. According to some locals who participated in the 2018 Sharjah Art Foundation public survey conducted to trace the history of the village, this mysterious place was once inhabited by the Al Kutbii tribe.

One theory is that the village could have been a part of the Sha’bi housing project by the UAE government which endeavoured to provide the Bedouin population with well-constructed settlements. But considering the current state of the village, it seems like things didn’t go to plan. Some locals attribute the abandonment to the lack of infrastructure and electricity.

A widely held belief behind the abandonment of the village is that place is haunted by a notorious group of “djinns” – the supernatural beings that are said to possess places and people. Locals also believe that there is something mysterious in the sand that caused it to invade the houses, leading the locals to flee the village. Other tales place the blame squarely on Umm Al Duwais, a female jinn said to have cat eyes and machetes for hands, whose story is integral to Emirati folklore.

Be ready to walk a lot if ever you decide to explore the ‘abandoned village’ of Al Madam. As you’ll walk closer to the village (inside), you’ll find well-built houses in well shape, half covered in sand. It’s a sad sight, agreed, but slowly the sight will start to creep you out by the presence of some unseen negative vibes. Part of the appeal is that the village is so open for exploration and contains hidden treasures for explorers to find. There are no plans to develop Al Madam as a tourist attraction at present though tourists are welcome to visit.