The Library Part 1

One thing to know about Dubai or the UAE in general is that there is a tendency to group things together geographically and call it a village (Global village, Knowledge Village), a city (Media City, Internet City) or a land (Kids land, Dubai Land). In Sharjah where I now reside all of the higher education facilities are gathered together in a place know as University City which I don’t think was intended as a clever homophonic play on words.

After driving around the “University City” for about 20 minutes in search of the library it dawned on me that this place was architecturally one of the most stunning places I had visited anywhere in the region. Countless huge domed edifices projected the idea of massive elevated heads, with gigantic intellects engaged in higher learning and enlightened thought. The various faculties and campuses that dotted the University highway were typically arranged by gender ‘Women’s College of Information Technology’; ‘Faculty of Arts for Men’; and each owned a subtle variation on the be-domed Islamically inspired architecture that gave the whole place the feel of a modern-day-medieval Cairo or Damascus.

The grounds were immaculate, evenly cut lawns and flowerbeds spread out in all directions with self indulgent water features punctuating the verdant landscape with desert defying displays of aquatics resulting in the most delightful man-made occasional-rainbows. As always there were armies of lean mean dark brown men from the subcontinent in overalls; orange for cleaners, blue for gardeners, and green for general maintenance, laboring with exaggerated integrity in the mid afternoon winter sun. One thing was missing from this scene of ‘academic utopia’, possibly the most important thing for any academic institution; Students! As we drove around this gargantuan meta-campus we caught only an occasional glance of what may or may not have been a student. Similarly the massive car parks were virtually empty suggesting: as it was with out; so it was within. The immediate assumption we arrived at was that it must be a holiday period; however on further enquiry this was found not to be the case. The simple fact was, this University City, was in reality a ghost town, especially when compared to the lively, arguably over-populated, academic institutions of my own land. The sheer size of the place, combined with the scarcity of inhabitants, left me feeling as though I could occupy any one of the palatial faculty buildings and live there rent free and unmolested for a decade.

Our mission had been to join the library and eventually we arrived at our destination, another be-domed monolith that would rank as landmark in any great city in the world. This building in several ways brought to mind the Allahu Din Mosque in central Konya. This mosque was built atop a hill for defensive reasons at a time when the Mongols were ravaging the region and earning the epithet, yellow peril. Similarly the present building was elegantly perched atop a gently sloping hill and surrounded on all sides by acres and acres of perfectly mowed lawn. Both the Allahu Din Mosque in Konya and the present building conjured up images of breathtakingly beautiful - but jilted brides: leaving the on looking stranger perplexed as to the reason for such wanton and foolish abandonment.

Needless to say finding a parking space in the car park was a non-issue, I counted only 4 other cars in all. Entering the library I felt like a trespasser, up to no good, as though I was stealing into the building through some forbidden entrance to perform unspeakable acts of depravity. It was only on entering the main hall that I was reassured to the contrary. Making eye contact with other human beings (library officials) confirmed that I was not in some poorly guarded restricted building, but was in fact as I intended, in the reception area of Sharjah public library.