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| Sunday Heritage Walk around Old Karachi |
Continuingfrom the last two months,
we did another Morning Walk around Karachi’s old town; from Frere Hall to
National Museum. This time we saw beautiful yellow-stone structures around Zaibunnisa Street, although not in much detail, before having the roadside
Chai-paratha breakfast near Burns Road. At the end of the walk, we explored
some sections of the National Museum as well.
It was a
smaller group as compared to the last walk; 7 people plus one kid. Faizan and
wife joined with their 1 year old son. They finally made it on the special
request of Nasreen Ghori, who has been kindly co-organizing these walks with
me. Other walkers were from the Couchsurfing community; Faizan (2) – who is an experienced
CS friend and an accomplished chef recently done with the recording of his
cooking show at Masala TV and
Yasir – also a CSer and a University mate whom I traveled with before also to
Astola Island.
Most notable
was the presence of Ravi Nandwani, a CSer, who belongs to Belize, a little known
but exotic country neighboring Mexico and the Carribean! He had been visiting
Pakistan far from his homeland situated in the Central America; the exact
opposite side of the Globe.
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| Belize - where Ravi Belongs - Neighbors Mexico and other Exotic Central American Countries |
What made
his presence more extraordinary is the fact that his grandparents (Hindus) migrated
from this very land, the present day Pakistan, during the 1947 partition. Ravi
revealed that they originally belonged to Ranipur, Sindh and chose to relocate due
to the influx of Muslim immigrants from India which was intimidating for them. Conversely,
my grandparents and some of their relatives (Muslims) moved to Pakistan
perceiving that they would not be able to practice their religion freely in the
Hindu dominated India. Like most of the Muslim immigrants from India, they
settled in Karachi, causing and helping the city to grow astonishingly rapidly!
Karachi's Population:
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| Karachi became a Metropolitan only post 1947 Partition |
The friendly
and inquisitive Ravi quickly connected to all of us, had insightful conversations,
and enjoyed the chai-paratha! He had a stack of interesting stories to tell –
especially about traveling around Pakistan, which he explored extensively all
the way from Gilgit, in the North, to Sindh, in the South.
He got
overwhelmed by the traditional hospitality shown by his hosts in Sindh, who
were extra caring after knowing his local roots. Sindh’s hospitality is
unparalleled and documented as well. After all, they embraced the migrating
Muslims, locally called Muhajir, in the mid of last century with wide arms and
warm hearts. What happened afterwards, particularly in the recent past, is
better not to be mentioned. After visiting Sindh in detail, Ravi already had a
clue or two about PPP and MQM!
Courtesy
grandparents, he is conversant in Sindhi which was helpful while visiting his
native land. Add that to his local looks, and it will be difficult to digest
that you are talking to a person from another part of the world. He told me
that people he met, especially policemen at the check-posts, got shocked and
were not able to make sense when he showed his Belizean passport rather than
the “NIC” (the National Identity Card which has now turned into CNIC after
getting Computerized). He showed that rare book to me as well which he was
carrying in case Police, etc. asks, especially due to his unique background!
Ravi was
curious why Indian Muslim immigrants mostly made it to Karachi which is not
very conveniently connected to India compared to Punjab. I explained that there
are “Mohajirs” in other parts of the country as well but they chose Karachi due
to the Government’s policy and Karachi’s better infrastructure. While writing this
I want to throwback a counter question; why his grandparents chose to relocate
thousands of miles away instead of the next-door India? I will ask him when we
will meet again – hopefully in Belize, inshallah!
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| Fazal Manzil - A Heritage Buidling in Karachi |
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| Fazal Manzil was Built in 1929 |
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| Balconies - Trademark of Karachi's Heritage Buildings |
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| A Closer Look of the Dilapidated Balcony |
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| Muhamedali Building on Zaibunnisa Street |
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| Yellow Stone Facade of Muhamedali Building |
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| An Old Building Near Pakistan Chowk - Rehabilitation Visible |
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| Another Building near Pakistan Chowk - Rehabilitated |
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| Burns Road's Food Street Starts from Here |
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| Another Unique Structure around Old Karachi - being Occupied by a Religio-Political Party |
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| The Old Campus of NED University |
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| Our Omelette-Parthas in the Making |
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| A Fruit Cart near Burns Road |
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| Laborers mostly from KPK - the Hands Who Developed Karachi into a Mega-city |
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| "Akas Bail" |
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| Moenjodaro's King Priest at Karachi's National Museum |
Below is the video detail of the walk - courtesy Faizan:
