Camels Love Dubai

Mohan Adikaram, a young boy living in Sri Lanka, lost his family, his friends and his home in the tsunami of December 2004. He has frequent nightmares about the death of his best friend Bimal, whom he believes he could have saved from drowning. Whilst staying at a shelter run by the Red Cross, Mohan manages to charm a wealthy man from Dubai into fostering him, and he soon finds himself living in the man's home with his seven other children. Mohan's story is told in two parts: first, as a ten-year-old living in Sri Lanka, and then as a seventeen-year-old just starting his first year at university in Dubai. Mohan finds it impossible not to enjoy his life in Dubai and yet he frequently finds himself questioning whether God has forgiven him for what he had allowed to happen to Bimal or whether God is continuing to test and punish him. Camels Love Dubai gives a wonderful insight into the realities of teen life in contemporary Dubai. The city provides an exotic backdrop for exploring various social and cultural issues that currently exist in the region. The novel also examines from a child's point of view what it can be like being adopted or fostered by someone from a foreign country.