Friends help bring deceased expat's mom on Dubai holiday

A group of Indian expats have helped fulfil a deceased friend's wish to bring his mother on a trip to the UAE.

Vipin was working in Oman and was visiting his friends in Dubai when he died in a car crash in 2012.

His friends Tajudheen, Haseen, Thameem, Mujeeb, Subil, Sherin, Shajin, Anafi and Jauhar heard about Dubai-based Malayalam radio station Hit 96.7 FM’s annual campaign to bring mothers on holiday to the UAE. 

It invited nominations from residents and eventually chose 15 mothers for all an all-expense paid trip around the Emirates.

The nine friends decided to nominate Vipin's mother - Shantamma 

They say it was because Vipin had always spoken about his mother and his desire to bring her to the UAE on a holiday, where he had lived before moving to Oman.

Shantamma arrived in Dubai on Saturday with a group of 14 other mothers who were flown in from the Indian state of Kerala.

They have already visited many prominent locations, including Global Village, Garden Glow, and Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.

Shantamma says the visit is bittersweet and she is grateful to go around the country where her son lived during the final years of his life.

The group of mothers will be in the UAE until Thursday. For many of them, it's their first holiday abroad. Some of them even applied for a passport just so they could come on the trip.

The prize has particularly been beneficial for expats who don’t have the means to fly their family over.