MALAIKA - Life in the Emirates

When everyone sang 'Malaika'

'Dubai Creek 1970'

Oil painting by Tony Fernandes

Size 3ft x 2ft

View of Bur Dubai across the Creek from Ras Deira
Dubai - United Arab Emirates

MALAIKA

Grand New Year’s Eve Ball, Intercon Dubai. Circa 1976. After a short break, the dance band on stage strikes up a few distinct initial bars of a familiar song. It is quite evident what the song choice has been. It is a slow piece. Couples rise and gently walk to the floor and begin dancing as the lights dim. The band’s crooner sings the song – none other than the famous Kenyan singer/composer Fadhili William’s  famous Swahili song ‘Malaika’ popularized by Miriam Makeba, Harry Belafonte, Boney M and Sal Davis. The couples on the dance floor appear to lip-sync “Malaika, nakupenda Malaika…Nashindwa na mali sina we…”.

Everybody seemed to know the lyrics even if they did not speak Swahili! Wow! All I knew was the meaning of the song 'Malaika' which means 'Angel'. I remember watching an English version sung by Sal Davis from Kenya on Dubai TV. He also sang "Back in Dubai' when he visited Dubai.

No dance gala was ever complete then, nor is complete even now without ‘Malaika’ at any Goan function held across the world. A great song indeed and a beautiful catchy tune.

Please click on the link below to listen to a beautiful rendition in a duet arrangement by Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba. Malaika is a Swahili song written by Tanzanian musician Adam Salim in 1945. This song is possibly the most famous of all Swahili love songs in Tanzania, Kenya and the entire East Africa, as well as being one of the most widely known of all Swahili songs in the world. 

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8jxALtWGVQ