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The Water of Life

No, it was not the all-too-familiar sight of consumerism — the shopping till you drop kind of stuff. It was just the sight of illuminated water dancing to great music.

I’d never been a big fan of Dubai Mall, probably because I had once been there when most of the shops had not opened: the size: content ratio didn’t seem quite right and the place gave the impression of being, well, long-windedly gloomy. Subsequently, I avoided the mall, opting to hang out at the more full-of-life Mall of the Emirates or the more matter-of-fact BurJuman.

Then, a few months ago, a friend dragged me there because she wanted to pick up something from Marks & Spencer. Dubai Mall had changed completely, I noticed, it was now bustling and lively. After she bought a host of products from the Dh10 shelf at M&S (obviously I was giving her enthusiastic company), she said we should stroll along the patio, right next to the water body. Outside, I noticed a lot of hangers-on; they seemed all agog, waiting for something to happen.

“What’s going on here?” I asked my friend. “Oh, didn’t you know? It’s for the water show they are here for.”

I’d heard about it — but never really seen it. (I’d once caught a partial glimpse of spraying water from a restaurant in Souk al Bahar, and had unkindly dismissed it as a gimmick.)

Let’s watch it, my friend suggested. “It’s free—and it’s awesome!”

It was. I gaped open-mouthed at the waterworks that swayed, trotted, tangoed, flitted and waltzed to a different musical beat each time. The crowd lapped it up: gasps, sighs and smiles erupted all around; there were people filming the spectacle, while many others posed for photographs. “Will you take a picture of ours against the backdrop?” a Japanese family of four requested us excitedly. “This is incredible.”

“You know what?” I turned to my friend. “I’m so happy I’m in Dubai.” She laughed. I spent the rest of the evening with a decided spring in my step.

Last week, I met an Italian restaurateur at the Souk al Bahar over dinner. His restaurant is strategically located: not only does it face the Dubai Mall head-on, one part of it overhangs the water body where the fountains display spurts out every evening—with the aesthetically lit-up Burj strutting out and reaching out for the clouds right behind it. While I was chatting with him about his business plan in the city, the water sprang into life at least four times (the display happens every 15-20 minutes). “I have been all over the world, and seen all the sights,” the gentleman, originally from Milan and now settled in Miami, sighed. “This (he waved expansively) would qualify as being one of the greatest sights I’ve witnessed.”

That night, sitting al fresco in front of the majestic waterworks, underneath the towering Burj, I suddenly felt I was in the best place in the world.

Sushmita Bose is editor of Wknd. Write to her at: sushmita@khaleejtimes.com. 
This column appears fortnightly