Deira’s Fish Roundabout is a tribute to a pivotal aspect in UAE history and trade: fishing.
The roundabout is so named for the sculpture at its centre, which features two fish with their tails intertwined. Water spouts from their gaping mouths and their eyes bulge at the bustle of surrounding traffic.
Fish Roundabout is one of three dozen historical buildings and sites recently selected for the second phase of Dubai’s heritage architecture preservation project.
As teenagers, when Fish Roundabout was mentioned, we rarely thought of marine life or the country’s history of fishing and pearl diving. Music was instead what came to mind.
Omar Bin Al Khattab Street – one of the rounds that meet at the roundabout – was flanked with music stores, and for a long time, this was one of the few places that sold instruments and offered rehearsal spaces. Granted the offerings were nowhere as high-shelf and diverse as they are now, with only a few select brands such as Ibanez and Cort being up for grabs. Yet, they were coveted all the same.
Fish Roundabout was where we’d go play guitars and try out effects pedals until shopkeepers would point out the exit, saying if we weren’t planning on buying anything, we couldn’t stick around. I couldn’t blame them, we probably had them strung on their last nerves as we blasted amps and played our best, not-so-musical, interpretations of System of a Down and Rage Against the Machine riffs. Once when we were kicked out from one shop, we simply went next door and repeated this chaos.
It got to a point where proprietors swooped on us as soon as we entered the shop, asking what it was we were looking for. We pretended we were weighing up our options over which guitar or drum kit to buy, despite the fact that no-name Stratocaster copies were all we could really afford. Our band’s drummer, meanwhile, had a tin-timbered tabletop kit his uncle had given him.
Fish Roundabout was where we could play on real instruments, on real amplifiers. Of course, getting there was an issue to begin with. While the band’s drummer lived in Karama and our vocalist in Riqqa, me and the other guitarist of the band lived in Sharjah. At 15, neither of us drove and we didn’t really have taxi money. We’d hail Dubai-bound cars on Etihad road and offer to chip in for fuel costs if they took us as close as they could to Fish Roundabout. It often took a number of hitchhikes to get there. But really none of us wanted to hang out in malls, Fish Roundabout was the cool place to be.
I’d like to think that it was because of us that one of the shops at Fish Roundabout saw fit to open a rehearsal space upstairs, which was really a storage room. They must’ve figured if we were loitering and making noise anyway, they might as well make some money from us.
This first rehearsal space we had access to transformed us from four people who’d get together in each other’s homes, plugging into mediocre stereo systems for amplification, into a semblance of a band. We huddled in that space, which featured a real drum set and two guitar amps, as our vocalist, bless him, sang at the top of his lungs so he’d be heard. The space was so small we could barely move. We played out of time, and often with guitars that we didn’t even know were out of tune.
But the experience was cathartic. It was in this small space where we’d exorcise our adolescent demons and woes.
Eventually, after a summer job as a shopkeeper, I managed to save up for my first proper guitar: an Ibanez. The band’s other guitarist, too, had managed to save up some money, and we went to that very same store that most staunchly kept us from trying out gear and insisted that this time, we were really going to buy a couple of guitars. It was our version of Julia Roberts as Vivian going shopping in Pretty Woman.
The band, over the years, split up. Most of us travelled to pursue education abroad and we fell out of touch. I’ve garnered several other close musical relationships since, but those times and antics at Fish Roundabout are some of the fondest and most formative memories I have related to the electric guitar.
Even now, as several other shops have opened around the city, from malls to more boutique outlets, Fish Roundabout continues its musical legacy with plenty of shops on both sides of Omar Bin Al Khattab Street.
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
How to help
Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.
Account name: Dar Al Ber Society
Account Number: 11 530 734
IBAN: AE 9805 000 000 000 11 530 734
Bank Name: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
To ensure that your contribution reaches these people, please send the copy of deposit/transfer receipt to: juhi.khan@daralber.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
%3Cp%3ECreator%3A%20Tima%20Shomali%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0Tara%20Abboud%2C%C2%A0Kira%20Yaghnam%2C%20Tara%20Atalla%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
The five pillars of Islam
Analysis
Maros Sefcovic is juggling multiple international trade agreement files, but his message was clear when he spoke to The National on Wednesday.
The EU-UAE bilateral trade deal will be finalised soon, he said. It is in everyone’s interests to do so. Both sides want to move quickly and are in alignment. He said the UAE is a very important partner for the EU. It’s full speed ahead - and with some lofty ambitions - on the road to a free trade agreement.
We also talked about US-EU tariffs. He answered that both sides need to talk more and more often, but he is prepared to defend Europe's position and said diplomacy should be a guiding principle through the current moment.
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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
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Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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