UAE woman sees her lost mother after 37 years

DUBAI: Tears of joy trickled down the cheeks of both women as they hugged each other at the Dubai airport. It was an emotional reunion of a daughter with her mother after almost four decades, foreign media reported.

Mariam Abdulrahman Saleh Al Shehi, now 37, got separated from her Indian mother due to her parent's divorce back in 1983 when she was a little over a year old.

During her growing up years, Mariam, who stays in Shaam area, always wondered what happened to her mother and how she was. “I used to ask my father about my mother,” she said reflectively and after a long pause added: “I tried all possible ways to reach her but in vain.” A young Mariam had to accept the rude fact that her parents had marital discord and their less than two-year marriage ended in divorce.

Her mother, who was then pregnant with her second daughter Fatima, left Mariam with a shattered heart and went back to her native place in Hyderabad, India.

With time, the growing void that Mariam felt within prompted her to frantically search for her mother. “It was not an easy job,” she said. “I and my father kept searching for years, but everything proved futile.” Mariam even sought the help of the social media and posted her mother's photo. Her post read: “This is my mother from Hyderabad. Please, help me find her.”

Moved by her zeal and mission, Emirati national Ahmed Al Muhairi chipped in. He voluntarily put out an advertisement in one of the Indian newspapers and it worked out, this time. It was just within a few hours of the ad that Ahmed received a call from Fatima who approached him with all the documents to prove their relationship.”

When Mariam heard about it, she could not believe that her dream could soon come true and that she may at last see her mother. “My heart was longing to kiss and embrace my mother after all these years of separation,” Mariam said trying to hold back her sobs.

Finally, the moment arrived when Mariam saw her mother and sister in front of her eyes at the Dubai International Airport. It was a meeting that would have melted the most stoic heart. Mariam said she also speaks Urdu fluently. “I have composed so many Nabati local poems about love for my mother who I yearned to see.”