Dubai 2075 (01)

By 2075, Dubai has transformed into an environmental nightmare. Dr. Alia Al-Qasemi, a 55-year-old climate scientist, witnesses the city's daily struggle against extreme heat and humidity that makes human survival a relentless battle. The wet-bulb temperature regularly exceeds 36°C, a threshold fatal to the human body.

Alia, born to an Emirati father and a Bangladeshi mother, works at the Dubai Institute of Climate Research. Although her son, Hamza, lives in London and repeatedly begs her to relocate, she remains deeply committed to her city and her research. Meanwhile, as the Persian Gulf reaches unprecedented temperatures, desalination plants collapse, crippling the water supply. Frequent power outages trigger a vicious cycle that threatens the city's remaining infrastructure.

The city's migrant labor force-primarily workers from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Nepal, and the Philippines-bears the brunt of the crisis. Over 2,500 laborers died from heatstroke the previous year alone. Alia personally saves one such worker, Mohammad Idris from Comilla, Bangladesh, after finding him on the verge of death from extreme heat on a public street.

When Cyclone Harmattan strikes Dubai with unprecedented fury, it exposes the city's extreme vulnerability. Fueled by warming ocean waters, the devastating storm collapses critical infrastructure and utterly destroys the migrant laborer camps. In the grim aftermath, Alia realizes that while the wealthy elite have fled, the poor are left behind to pick up the pieces.

In response, Alia launches "Green Roots," a community garden project designed to provide displaced workers with food, training, and purpose. Idris steps up as its supervisor, finding personal renewal through working with the earth. The initiative quickly spreads across the city, teaching practical skills and sustainable agriculture techniques.

However, years of breathing Dubai's toxic air cause Alia to develop severe pulmonary fibrosis. Despite her deteriorating health, her doctors' warnings, and her son's heartfelt pleas, she refuses to abandon her post. Instead, she pours her thoughts into a notebook, a testament and warning to future generations about how human hubris attempted to conquer nature. She documents the city's fatal illusion: believing that money and technology could ever replace environmental balance.

In November 2075, Alia passes away, but her vision lives on. Hamza dedicates his life to continuing her work, expanding Green Roots across the UAE and eventually around the world. Idris's daughters receive an education and carry her legacy forward, while Alia's published notebook, titled The Last Letter of the Century, sparks a global environmental movement.

The story concludes at Alia Garden, a flourishing sanctuary in Deira that serves as a living testament that hope can bloom even in the desert. Ultimately, the narrative reinforces a powerful lesson: love, rather than technology, is humanity's greatest key to survival, and small, compassionate actions can seed lasting global change.

Rajuan Ahmed writes quietly. His stories don't shout. They build from small moments, the kind most people overlook. Ordinary lives supply his material; he turns their everyday struggles into lasting fiction.

He started in the early nineties. His first short story, "Abhagi" (The Unfortunate Woman), was written in 1991, during his college years. During university, he turned to the visual medium. Screenwriting pulled him in. "Marriage Station," his debut television drama, took off unexpectedly and made his name in television. More dramas followed across multiple channels, and audiences embraced them.

He finished his Master's in 1999 and joined a corporation. The day job did not kill his writing. Through those years, he continued publishing short stories, essays, and columns in national dailies, earning a steady readership.

He also writes songs. His lyrics carry a distinct rhythm, and they have found a wide audience. National awards have recognized his contributions to both literature and music.

His range spans short stories, novels, poetry, television dramas, songs, and essays. He works in all of them with a distinct voice, understated but sharp, leaning on small psychological turns rather than grand declarations. His notable books include Ek Mutho Golpo, Sondeher Chhaya, Mayabi Muhurto, Shonkher Shopoth, Shobde Tumi, Alokkchhaya, Shopner Chakri, Shesh Surjer Alo, The Days of Gaza, Love of the Forest Bird, Death Break, The Shadow of War, Opekkhhar Chhaya, and O-Jol Nirbashon.

He avoids publicity. Art, he believes, holds its own weight. So he writes in silence, tracking what people leave unsaid and how time presses on the human mind.