(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Amid fast-changing lifestyle whose hallmark is money and modernism, home is losing its importance in the lives of Qatari men and women, rue community members.
Home was the place where nearly every event, including marriages, was held and where relatives, friends and neighbours gathered for celebrations.
That is history now and even condolence meetings for dead family members dead are organised in modern tents, not homes, reports local Arabic daily Al Arab.
The daily spoke to a cross-section of Qataris and found that opinion was divided on the issue as some said that due to the demands of modern living it was almost impossible to hold family functions like weddings at home.
Hotels and halls are preferred for marriages and other family events because it is convenient to host and entertain guests, argue some.
Homes can't compete with professional hotels and halls in cleanliness, hosting large numbers of guests and providing services like catering. Then, there is the question of parking space for guests. Hotels and halls have ample facilities.
However, for Saeed Hamad, one of the casualties of modern living has been the disappearance of home as a centre of family activities like marriage and other celebrations. "In the days gone by all of our relatives gathered at home for a family event and we shared meals three times a day and we enjoyed, "Then, neighbours used to drop in and join us in celebrations. That is all history."
The situation today is such that even condolence meetings on the death of a family member is held in a modern tent outside the home, rued Hamad.
For members of the younger generation, home is where one only sleeps after getting tired after a day's work and wandering, he said. Home is not where most younger people eat. They eat in restaurants. So late at night people only come home and get into their rooms to rest, he said.
They get up in the morning, get ready, take their cars and leave for work or go to school and college. "Homes have become like graveyards," said Hamad.
Mohamed Al Azmi, agreeing with Hamad, said one could save money by holding events at home.
He was of the opinion that marriages should be held in homes and only relatives and neighbours should be invited.
But Hussain Abdullah didn't agree with Hamad and Al Azmi and said he was of the opinion that due to the changing situation, the home cannot be the place where family events like weddings can be held. Earlier, there were fewer people so they could gather in a home. Now, the numbers have gone up massively so these functions can be held only in professionally managed places like halls and hotels. "Home is where family members should meet and share food and their sorrow and happiness," said yet another Qatari, Ahmed Al Nehari. "It is not logical today to organise functions as big as a wedding at home. The home cannot compete with the hotel and halls in this regard."
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