Doha, 21 Dec. 2022 (QT)

By Ashraf Siddiqui

The just concluded FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 was not only a show of world-class superb performances by the world’s top 32 national teams but also a historical get-together for millions people, including the football fans who visited Qatar from across the world to interact with the local population.

The get-together helped people to learn about one another’s culture, behaviour, understanding and beliefs. Adding to the glamour of the celebration, a large number of passionate Qataris took the unique and historical occasion as an opportunity to display their skills and showcase their passion promoting local heritage, culture, cuisines and sports before the millions of football fans visiting Qatar.

Various local institutions, including the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara), Darb Al Saaii, Qatar Foundation, supported these members of the society to play their part in projecting the local traditions, heritage and culture to the world during FIFA World Cup tournament.

Katara alone offered 50 pavilions to exhibit maritime heritage collections, handicrafts, clay cookware utensils, local majlis meetings, local hospitality serving Arabic coffee and dates, falconry, girls and boys traditional sports, among others.

Qatar Tribune met Engineer Khaled Al Bader, a man in his mid-60’s, who displayed his rich collection of Qatari marine heritage and narrating to the visitors living conditions and lifestyle of local Qataris before the discovery of oil and gas.

Bader, a highly educated personality is among the first batch of aeronautical engineers of Qatar. He is a graduate of aviation school in Scotland, the UK, and Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) Melbourne, Florida, USA. He has served in both airline and marine industries.

He hails from a pearling family as his grandfather was a dhow captain leading group of around 100 sailing boats leaving for long pearling voyage in deep waters.
He said it was mandatory for all the young male members of the area to go along with pearling group in the sea in various capacities as young person staying back was not seen with respect in society.

He pointed out that due to conflicts and invention of artificial pearls by the Japanese, local  pearling industry got affected and source of income for large local population was badly hit. “However, the living condition of the region started reshaping towards betterment soon after discovery of oil and gas during 1940’s and end of the Second World War,” Bader said.

Talking about the football tournament in Qatar, Bader said, “The World Cup was a unique opportunity for us to let the world know that Qataris and Arabs are civilised, educated, and can easily communicate with the world. We, the Arabs, enjoy the best available world’s facilities in a hygienic, safe and secure  environment.

Look at the iconic designs of each and every stadium used for the World Cup tournament and Qatari culture displayed through these amazing structures.

We, the Qataris and Arabs, respect our guests and always traditionally take care of their safety and health” , he added.