Locals say it has never rained like this here before and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al Thani, regularly prays to the rain gods to give some succour to his scorched land.

Nobody knows whether or not the Emir's prayers were answered on Friday evening, but the way it rained all evening, everyone would have wanted the downpour to stop -- just for a couple of hours.

Undoubtedly, this is the biggest sporting spectacle the country has ever seen. And being at the mercy of nature after immaculate preparation and hard work was hard to stomach. There was the Tanoura dance in traditional Egyptian style, and the raising of the national Flag.

And as the host country athletes entered with the Qatari Flag, the giant electronic screen exploded with life. Yet, it could not raise the spirits of those drenched and sitting inside the stadium.

A beautifully choreographed sequence where the seeker prepares to set sail with the pearl divers to hunt for "The tears of the moon" enthralled one and all.

The entire scene was so emotionally displayed -- the mother, sister and the Seekers' betrothed, Nura bidding the Seeker farewell -- that it brought tears to all those watching it live and around Asia on their televisions.

In a beautiful aerial under-water bal let, 18 pearl divers descended on ropes to collect glowing pearls from the ocean bed and returned to their boats.

Another sequence depicted a storm threatening to engulf the divers' tiny boats. Clouds rolled in, thunder struck and the waves started to build.

Nets were lowered to create huge projection screens on which strange bioluminescent sea creatures moved around.

Finally, the saga ended with the Golden Falcon from the Seekers' boyhood dreams remembering his old friend and sweeping down to rescue him from the churning sea.

The Wonders of Asia attempted to evoke the vast and hybrid continent through music, with dancers from Kazakhstan, India (Kathakali), Thailand and Bali (Indonesia) putting up an extravagant show.

Yet another sequence brought the spectators back to the modern age with flames from oil rigs, lapping up in the sky, and a blueprint of the futuristic city skyline being displayed on gigantic monitors.

For India, women's hockey captain hockey Jyoti Sunita Kullu carried the tricolour after some controversy when the Doha Games officials wanted the Indians to prune down their contingent for the opening ceremony .