Abu Dhabi 'Did someone say I was 94? They were lying, I am just 90,' says Jocelyn Henderson, with a twinkle in her eyes, promising a delightful walk down memory lane.
As wife of Edward Henderson, the country's last political agent (see box), her tryst with the UAE's destiny began in 1968.
And as she talks about her journey through the sands of time, her reflections become deeply symbolic.
Up to speed - as any other - with the rapid developments around her, the Grand Dame of Abu Dhabi refuses to suffer technological laggards.
'I am not in touch with anyone who doesn't have an e-mail address,' she says bluntly. 'I don't understand why people call me on the landline and not on my mobile phone. I do not like posting letters. I do all my work, and communicate with my family - a daughter and three grandchildren in the UK - through the computer.'
It's a telling adaptation to a country that's zipped past its bare origins.
When Henderson first came here from the UK, there were hardly any phones, let alone computers; there were no landing points along the coastline and she would keep her hands on a wet towel while commuting in a car so her coloured clothes wouldn't be stained with sweat.
But she vividly remembers the milestones. 'This was the first bridge being built between the mainland and Abu Dhabi in 1968,' she recalls, pointing to one of several old photographs she pulls out from her home at the Royal Stables in the capital.
She has lived here as a guest of the ruling family since 1975. 'Neither me nor my husband were horse-mad. But we just liked it here because it was quiet, yet in the heart of the city.'
There's another treasured picture of Henderson's Folly, a quaint home that her husband built aein the middle of nowhere'. It went on to house The Club and continues to be an expat hub. It even hosted a reception for the Duke of York recently.
She says her 'biggest regret' is the dwindling attention that expats get in the UAE today.
'We used to be very close to Emirati women in the early days. They were fascinated by our lifestyle. But that has changed as they travel widely. We are removed from them and are no longer figures of interest.'
She remembers a time when there was only one shop selling imported stuff - rosaries in tins - in Abu Dhabi. 'My husband used to carry smelly cheese along with newspapers and posts in his diplomatic bag. But when you look around today, everything is available here.'
While 'that's wonderful' she regrets the high cost of living. 'In those days, we could get a kilogram of fresh prawns from the trawlers for Dh3. Now, everything is so expensive and a lot of people say it is cheaper to live in the UK.'
She herself will never leave the UAE though. 'I can't imagine myself back in the UK where I would be amid old people. I like young people and that's a big advantage here.'
Henderson has many expat friends who visit her regularly. But she regrets not being invited out as much as she would like to because of her perceived age and her restricted mobility after a hip replacement five years ago. She is in good health otherwise and walks around with a walker that carries her glasses, mobile phone and purse.
Ask her about her diet and she shrugs it off. ' I eat very little and not having a good cook is not encouraging.'
She packs a punch even when she talks of playing tennis with other expats at the British Embassy tennis court in the past. 'I can't remember their names as they didn't make an indelible impression on me.'
On a more serious note, she says the one thing that has left a mark on her is the politics of the region which her husband was associated with.
She says there is plenty of politics even today which she keenly follows. And here again, she prefers the e-versions of newspapers. In fact, she spends considerable time on the computer to read the news and also work on her pet project, the Daly Community Library which she set up in 1978.
Housed in St Andrew's Compound, the subscription-only library has over 7,000 titles
'I work online to select and order books from the UK. I used to go to the library twice a week. Now I visit more often as we are short of volunteers.'
And has she thought of writing a book on herself?
'I did start an autobiography, but haven't finished it,' she replies. 'No time. I am a very busy person, goodness knows why!'
Intertwined with History
Edward Henderson is a name that's inscribed in the history of the UAE - and perhaps the entire Gulf.
When he died in 1995, The Independent wrote: 'He was one of the most prominent personalities in the Arabian Gulf, where he spent almost a lifetime nurturing Britain's relations with the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. He harmonised the aims of Britain with those of the Gulf with regard to oil exploration and the establishment of the oil industry in the lower Gulf.'
Fluent in Arabic, he came to the region in the 1940s. As The Independent noted, 'In those early years, he travelled tirelessly throughout the oases, mountains, deserts and gravel plains using RAF Dakotas or Chevrolet pick-ups equipped with jacks and tow-ropes.'
It was in his time that the British levy force was formed in 1950 which later came to be known as the Trucial Oman Scouts. Henderson, who is credited with resolving several regional political disputes, was seconded to the Foreign Service in 1956 and became a member of the Foreign Service in 1959 when he was appointed Political Officer in Abu Dhabi.
Subsequent posts took him to Occupied Jerusalem, Bahrain and Qatar, but he returned to Abu Dhabi to work for Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan who became Ruler in 1966 and President of the UAE when it was formed in 1971. He also helped build Abu Dhabi's Documentation Centre for Historical Research.
1820sIn the 1820s, Dubai was referred to as Al Wasl by British historians. The linguistic origins of the word Dubai are disputed; some believe it originated from Persian while some believe that Arabic is its linguistic root.
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