Doha Days

The pearl hunt continues ...

A couple of hundred years ago a yawning clam like this would render a milky pink jewel. Its value, at the original souk here, being bartered for spice and silk from across the Indian Ocean. In those days the Gulf coastal dwellers were the very poor relations when compared to the rich Indian traders across the sea. Today, the natural pearls are all but gone. Their cultured cousins rule the waves. And as for the Indians who once dominated these trade routes they now peddle their labouring, laundering and automotive skills as part of the largest migrant workforce here in Qatar. Not sure how many of them managed postal votes in the mould breaking Indian general election result announced in India earlier today.