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neighbourhood comment The
way we were karachicharacter neighbourhood watch The salt of life This week Kolachi visits
Kharadar, one of the oldest neighbourhoods of the city renown for beautiful
buildings that should rightfully be preserved as heritage sites. The salty
sea may have receded, but walking through bustling Kharadar you can still
taste the salt of life By
Sumaira Jajja In the city by the sea
lies Kharadar, the Salty Gate. An old city neighbourhood of Karachi, falling
under From the Native Jetty
Bridge one can easily see the impressively grandeur Karachi Port Trust
building built with sandstone and the pinkish brown hued, stoic looking
Qamar House. Then there is the 1837 built Katrak Mansion at the cross
section. A few hundred yards away stands the iconic Mereweather Tower, an
imposing gothic structure that has put on a brave face to the battering of
time. From the illustrious Wazir Mansion that was the residence of
Quaid-e-Azam to the Ismaili Jamaat Khana, the Kutiyana Memon Hospital with
its old tower that now houses the reception, are just some of the landmarks
that pepper the streets of this locality. With Mithadar, Sarafa
Bazaar (the famed gold market), Kasara Bazaar and Lyari in close proximity,
Kharadar acts as a hub to this burgeoning zone.
In a one bedroom flat, I
meet Bahauddin Khan, one of the oldest residents of this area. A retired
employee of the KPT, Bahauddin moved to this locality way back in 1947. The
Hotchand Jamandas Building, where he resides, is dated 1910 while the bricks
have 1897 engraved on them. In the daadhiya room (the one room flat with a
small kitchenette and a bathroom), he reminisces about the days that are no
more. "Over the years, this area has undergone considerable change.
Before Talking about the old
days, he says that very often the residents would lay there charpai out on
the road to beat the sweltering summer heat and there were no safety issues,
"but now one would have to think twice before doing that so as not to
be crushed by a truck or tanker," he says referring to the heavy
traffic that is found in the area now. Right next to the Hotchand
Jamandas Building is the Gandhi Building, dating back to 1927. The wear and
tear has taken its toll but what attracts the eye are the filigreed
balconies. Made out of wrought iron,
the safety grills are no less than a work of art and are often taken out and
sold at heavy prices to 'designers'. Just a few days days before, the floor
of a balcony on the first floor gave way, indicating the crumbling condition
of the building. Land grabbers and
encroachers however do not give up. Allah Rakha Park is being eyed by the
builder The Michi Miani Market is a low priced market where you can
find everything, from vegetables and fruits to household items right under
one roof. One interesting aspect of this market is that you will quite a few
women shopkeepers who have been selling goods for more than 50 years now.
The most famous ones are the two elderly Ismaili ladies who have spice shops
in the same market and their fierce rivalry is well known. Kharadar also has the
reputation of having some of the most delicious food spots that could give
Burns Road and Boat Basin a run for their money. The Baa'kra hotels lining
the streets are an example. Long before open air dining was a fashion, these
Baa'kra hotels were frequented by port workers who could find food at any
hour. One of the most interesting features of this locality is the
way people belonging to the various Muslim sects live in peace and harmony.
Eid Milad ul Nabi, celebrations of the birth of the Holy Prophet is just
around the corner and this time like every year this religious festival will
be celebrated with much fan fare. The entire area is ready to take on a
green hue thanks to the green tube lights that are placed on every nook and
corner, every year along side fairy lights and banners with Ahadis as Hamd
and Naats are heard from speakers. Similarly in Muharram, while the other
areas of the city are gripped in tension, here things are pretty calm. With
lots of sabeel set up to serve drinks to the crowds attending the majlis,
Sunnis participate in this task with equal zeal as the Shias. In Ramadan, the area is
converted into a gastronomic paradise. With stalls overflowing with
mouth-watering goodies, it's food heaven. Many a times a stranger would
thrust a parcel filled with iftar On Eid ul Azha, people
here outshine each other when it comes to buying animals for sacrifice. Not
only do they buy the best animals, they also give away the proper shares to
the poor and needy along with cash and other goods. There is a lot of
community based charity as well with Bantwa, Okhai, Kuttiyana, Kathiyawari
Memon and Ismaili communities as the most active ones having set up a number
of schools, providing scholarships to the deserving students, setting up
clinics and hospitals and even providing dowry and homes to young girls. The
charity just doesn't end here. Kharadar has the honour of
having one of the oldest facilities of Edhi Foundation along with its other
station in Mithdar. Renowned world over for its operations, this endeavour
of Abdul Sattar Edhi, a resident of Kharadar just goes on to show how one
small step can change the lives of many. While Kharadar is
generally seen as a low-income area, there are many well to do families
residing here as well. One such person is Mohammad Ali, a stockbroker cum
estate agent by profession. Living in a shanty building, his three-bed room
flat is a wonder of wonders. While the exterior has
peeling paint, falling bricks and a wooden stair case that wobbles, his home
is a haven of sorts with central air conditioning and other such amenities.
When posed with the question of why he still lives here, Ali replies,
"I have grown up in this area and cannot think of moving out. I have
three flats on Tariq Road which I have rented out. If I move out, I would
become an outsider. So the best option for me is to provide my family with
all the good things I can here but it's up to my children if they want to
stay here or move out when they grow up." While many like Mohammad
Ali and Bahauddin Khan have no problems living in Kharadar, there are other
who want to make a move if given a chance due to the security issues.
"Mobile thefts have also increased in this area but we are helpless.
The culprits roam this area freely and in case of any complaints, the
victims face dire consequences," says Fahim, a fork lift driver at a
godown facing the KPT Sports Complex. "Hit and run style of killings
are common here, while the menace of heroine is fast spreading too,"
asserting that the last thing he wants to see is to have his son or brother
addicted or be caught in a cross fire. Walking out of the maze
that is Kharadar, one is both amazed and appalled at the sights. From
beautiful old buildings crumbling away to the ugly concrete structures that
are replacing them by the minute, this salty site is in a time zone of its
own. Bustling with activity, broken streets and crammed roads, a cacophony
of sounds and a multitude of human beings, Kharadar just adds salt to the
boiling cauldron that is Karachi. –
Photos by Zahid Rahman
Despite the World Cup
matches, Karachi sat riveted as television
channels aired the pandemonium that ensued after the suspension of the Chief
Justice. The city's intelligentsia hasn't stopped thinking By Shahid
Husain The suspension of the
Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Choudhry on March 9
after a It's true that the protest
movement at the moment is in its embryonic form since it's confined to
lawyers but given the fact that a great majority of the people are suffering
immensely due to rampant inflation, unemployment The lawyers despite their
limitations have always played a vital role in Pakistan's democratic
movements. For instance in the 1968-69 democratic upsurge against military
dictator General Ayub Khan, lawyers, doctors, students, teachers and of
course, the trade union workers played a vital role and forced the tyrant to
quit the government. In 1977, when the right-wing Pakistan National Alliance
spearheaded a movement against Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, lawyers
again made an important contribution. During the long spell of dictatorial
rule of General Ziaul Haq spanning over 11 years, lawyers protested time and
again. Little wonder that the goons of Pakistan Muslim League (N) during the
second tenure of Nawaz Sharif government stormed the Supreme Court of
Pakistan making a mockery of fair play and justice. In retrospective, one
could recall that Pakistan came into being by the tireless efforts of an
eminent lawyer Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah who conceived Pakistan as a
secular, democratic welfare state but sadly enough the teachings and ideals
of the Founder of the Nation were flouted by successive governments. The greatest sin of the
suspended Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Choudhry appears to be his
decision to reverse the selling out of Pakistan's strategic asset namely
Pakistan Steel Mills at throwaway price and But the valour of lawyers
will go in vain if the intelligentsia comprising doctors, engineers,
teachers, intellectuals and journalists fail to show their solidarity and
students and trade union workers do not become a part of the protest. Sadly
enough, political parties, especially the mainstream political parties, too
have not acted as promptly as they should given the fact that they will be
the worst sufferers if the voice of dissent is throttled. With a glorious tradition
of protest movement since early 1950s for which Karachi has often been
dubbed as the "City of the Opposition," it's high time that the
people of the megalopolis play their vital role for defending human rights
and the sanctity of judiciary failing which they are destined to suffer
more.
By
Kaleem Omar Old
homilies are usually the best because they have stood the test of time. If
they hadn't stood the test, they would have disappeared long ago into the
maws of time that devoirs us all in the end. "Thank
God, it's Friday" has become a widely known homily only in recent
years, though the expression itself has been around for a long time. It owes
its current status to the fact that TGIF is the name of a popular restaurant
chain. But the
five-day business week - from which the expression is derived - presupposes
that you've cleared your desk by Friday. In fact, the only one who got
everything done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe. That's why it is said that a
man's work is never done. An old
advertising axiom says: Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and
advertise. Another old axiom holds that it's the early bird that gets the
worm. But what about the early worm? It's the one that gets got, that's
what. The moral of the story is that if you must be the early worm, make
sure there are no early birds around. This
vale of tears that we inhabit is a world that is full of problems. If it's
not one thing, it's another. To help you avoid such problems, including the
problem of trying to get everything done by Friday, here, then, are some old
homilies for the unwary. Field's
First Law of Success: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then
quit. No use being a damn fool about it. Sheetz's
Ruminations: (1) It's not whether you win or lose, but how you place the
blame. (2) A friend in need is a friend to avoid. (3) To err is human; to
forgive is against company policy. (4) When it comes to giving, some people
stop at nothing. (5) The way some people find fault with others, you'd think
there was a reward. Zymurgy's
Law on the Availability of Volunteer Labour: People are always available for
work in the past tense. I, for one, have nothing against work; I can watch
other people doing it for hours. A sign above the main bar in the Delhi
Gymkhana Club dating back to the days of the British Raj says: "Work is
the enemy of the drinking classes." Zymurgy's
First Law of Evolving-System Dynamics: Once you open a can of worms, the
only way to re-can them is to use a longer can. These days, everything comes
out of a can. There are people who believe that even happiness comes out of
a can. On the subject of happiness, another old homily has it that while
money may not buy happiness, it sure makes misery easier to bear. Mesikimen's
Law: There's never time to do it right, but always time to do it over. Some
people have been doing the same thing over and over again for years. It's
one way of avoiding doing anything new. But imagine working in a factory
counting toasters coming off the assembly line. After the millionth toaster,
you'd be a candidate for the loony bin. Davidson's
Law of Inquiry: People ask stupid questions for a reason. Some people,
however, are so dumb they'd be stuck for an answer if you said hello.
Canada's first poet laureate, George Bowering, 68, who has won the Governor
General's award twice and has written 50 books, one famously remarked,
"The best thing about Canada is that it is not this. It is this and
that." Life's a bit like that. It's a bit of this and a bit of that. Thurber's
Law: There's no safety in numbers, or anything else. There are numbers and
numbers, however. The late American billionaire J. Paul Getty was once asked
what was the secret of his business success. "Buy cheap, sell
expensive," he replied - encapsulating in those four words what four
years at the Harvard Business School won't teach you. Robbins
Rules of Marketing: (1) Your share of the market is really lower than you
think. (2) The combined market position goals of all competitors always
equals at least 150 per cent. (3) The existence of a market does not ensure
the existence of a customer. This is something that our Trade Development
Authority (formerly the Export Promotion Bureau) needs to remember when it
talks of new markets for Pakistani goods. (4) Beware of alleged needs that
have no market. (5) If you can't get the whole job, settle for part of it.
(6) The number of competitors never declines. (7) Secret negotiations are
usually neither. (8) If the customer wants vanilla, give him vanilla. (9) If
the customer buys lunch, you've lost the order. (10) Unless constantly
nurtured, nothing is as short-lived as a good customer. (11) No matter how
good the deal, the customer is always skeptical. (12) The worth of a thing
is what it will bring. Look at it this way: If you owned a diamond that was
so expensive nobody could afford to buy it, it would, in effect, be worth
nothing. White's
Observation of Committee Operation: People very rarely think in groups; they
talk together, they exchange information, they adjudicate, they make
compromises. But they do not think; they do not create. A committee can make
a decision that is dumber than any of its members. Hence, the old adage: A
camel is a horse designed by a committee. Martin-Berthelot's
Principle: Of all possible committee reactions to any given agenda item, the
action that will occur is the one which will liberate the greatest amount of
hot air. Sometimes, there's so much hot generated you could hold a
hot-air-balloon race with it. On the subject of balloons, though, I am
reminded of the time during the Zia years when Malcolm Forbes, the founder
of America's Forbes business magazine, came to this country with a hot air
balloon in the shape of the Minar-e-Pakistan. With much fanfare, he had the
balloon inflated at the Jinnah Bagh grounds in Karachi. But no sooner was
the balloon up than it collapsed. That was the era of press advices, and the
government promptly issued a press advice saying that newspapers were not to
print any pictures of the collapsed balloon. Yes, those were the days. Steiner's
Postulates: (1) In business, as well as in chess, the winner is the one who
makes the next to last mistake. (2) At business meetings, the one unmatched
asset is the ability to yawn with your mouth closed. Some people have yawned
their way to the top. (3) Consistency is the last refuge of the
unimaginative. (4) Trivial matters take up more time because we know more
about them than important matters. (5) The effort expended by a bureaucracy
in defending any error is in direct proportion to the size of the error.
Dalgish's
Law: Good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from bad
judgment. That's why it's better to be lucky than smart. "Give me a
general who's lucky," said Napoleon. Stovall's
Law of Negative Inaction: The only thing wrong with doing nothing is that
you never know when you've finished. So do something, even if it's nothing
much. Linton's
Laws: (1) Growth is directly proportionate to promises made; profit is
inversely proportionate to promises kept. (2) An accurate determination of
the depth of the well cannot be made by measuring the pump handle. (3) A
picture is worth a thousand words; a slide show is both. That's why people
making business presentations these days are very big on slide shows,
especially when they really haven't got anything of substance to say. Beware
of slide shows. Cannon's
Cogent Comment: If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had
a flat tyre, the next morning you will have a flat tyre. A corollary to this
law says: If you come up with a lemon, make lemonade. Gresham's
Law: Trivial matters are handled promptly; important matters are never
solved. If you think this isn't true, ask any bureaucrat. If he's frank
about it, he will tell you he's made a whole career out of handling trivial
matters and shelving important matters. That's why the pile of unsolved
important matters is now reaching the roof in the corridors of power in
Islamabad. Couvier's
Law: There's nothing more frightening than ignorance in action. A case in
point is the actions of US President George W. Bush, aka Dubya, aka Bomber
Bush. Someone should tell him to make sure the brain is engaged before
putting the mouth in gear. This last statement is not an old homily; it's a
new homily that has spread around the world in the six years since Dubya
stumbled on to the international scene.
By
Lubna Khalid When
Pham Van Dung came from Vietnam to Karachi, he was just a child. But
settling down in a totally new atmosphere proved to be a tad bit difficult.
In fact, were it not for the gracious help of people like Father Todd and
Bishop Lobo, stalwarts of Karachi's Christian community renowned for their
services in the field of education, his family might have found it tough
here. Now in
his forties, Pham, soft-spoken and pleasant, teaches in St. Patrick's High
School and also runs a Kolachi:
Tell us a little about yourself. Pham:
My paternal grandfather was a Pakistani, who migrated to Vietnam, and my
grandmother was pure Vietnamese and so is my mother. I was born in Saigon,
Vietnam. Kolachi:
When and why did your family move to Pakistan? Pham:
Our family came to Pakistan in 1976 after the Vietnam War. Actually, the
political situation had changed and the Communists didn't want foreigners in
Vietnam anymore. So they asked us to leave the country. About 500 families
came to Pakistan in Bhutto's reign. Kolachi:
Where did you settle down in Karachi? Pham:
We settled in Shah Faisal Colony. I stayed there until I married. Then I
moved to Saddar. Kolachi:
How was it settling down here? Pham:
Initially, it was very difficult. The language problem was not easy to
overcome. When we came to Kolachi:
Where did you go for school? Pham:
St. Patrick's. When we came here, we were poor and had to struggle a lot. We
received free education. The people who helped me were Father Todd, Bishop
Anthony Lobo, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. De Lima. I did my matriculation from St.
Patrick's School and B.Com from St. Patrick's College. And it was lovely. My
teachers were excellent and Father Todd was always concerned about his
students. Kolachi:
How do you earn your living? Pham: I
teach in St. Patrick's High School. I started teaching after my father's
untimely death. I enjoy teaching there because this school has given me a
lot. I also run a salon with my wife, Fami. Kolachi:
How did you meet her? Pham:
She is from our Vietnamese community. I met her at a wedding. In fact, I did
her make-up. She is a strong-minded individual and is very passionate about
issues like women's rights. She is a trained beautician from Saima's Salon. Kolachi:
Teaching and the beauty business are poles apart. How did you enter the
beauty business? Pham: I
was always interested in fashion. It so happened that my cousin went to
Colours at Zamzama for training, and I used to pick and drop her. There, I
saw people transformed, and I was fascinated. In 1990, I went to Paris to
attend a family wedding and got my training from there. While I was there, I
became interested in hair cutting and colouring. Make up can change your
face, but hairstyling is more challenging; it can change your personality. Kolachi:
Anything about Karachi you want changed? Pham:
It's a beautiful city, and the only problem here is that there is a lot of
pollution; I just hope that it turns into a clean city. I also hope to see
it as the most prosperous and progressive city in Pakistan. Kolachi:
How well do you know the city? Pham:
Let's see, I used to live in Shah Faisal Colony, so I know that area quite
well. I have seen North Nazimabad, as I had school friends there. Then I
have seen Defence, Clifton and Korangi. Kolachi:
Do you like living in Karachi? Pham: I
love Karachi. Life here is very stress free. Believe me when I say that,
because I have lived in Europe and seen the life style there. Karachi has
given me a lot. Kolachi:
Do you still maintain your ties with Vietnam? Pham:
We haven't lost our traditions and still celebrate all the Vietnamese
festivals. We recently celebrated Chinese New Year. We still celebrate the
way we used to over there. We still cook 'rice with banana' in banana
leaves. It's a dish that is cooked for 18-20 hours a day or two before the
New Year. We use
Vietnamese green tea. In fact, I take green tea the first thing every
morning, along with ginger. All those people who wish to shed those extra
pounds must do the same! Kolachi:
Ever thought about going back? Pham:
No, never! I will go for a visit, but that's that. People here take me for a
Chinese, but I have Pakistani blood. I had a chance to settle down abroad,
but I love it here. Why should I go anywhere when I can serve my own
country? I love this city and am proud to be a Pakistani!' Karachi
is like no other city of Pakistan. It provides sanctuary and livelihood to
immigrants regardless of their colour or creed. It gives them something even
more important - a sense of belonging. This is the reason why people like
Pham proudly claim her as their own! Accepting and giving - such is
Karachi's character. –
Photos by Naqeeb ur Rehman
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the jurisdiction of the Saddar Town, Kharadar took its name from its
close proximity to the Arabian Sea. Salt water, salty gate - the reference
is a bit dated now because the sea has receded. Once a beautiful suburb,
Kharadar now is a busy thoroughfare with its fair share of ups and down. 
As you walk on the KPT
building road, the white high rise of Custom House is there amidst the chaos
created by the tankers and trucks. The first thing that hits you (your nose
to be precise) is a foul stench. Next is the swarm of hurried men. If you
can make through this mess and can take a left turn from the Custom House,
you will be on the Young Husband Road which houses some of the oldest
structures of this area, some of them dating back to the late 1800s. 
partition, Kharadar housed middle class Hindu families. After
Partition, most of the new residents were migrants from India and a sizeable
population was that of Urdu speaking people," says Bahauddin Khan.
According to Bahauddin, over the years things have changed considerably.
"Property prices have gone up while the sort of people now inhabiting
this area are a whole lot different. While it housed many middle class
families before, now labourers from the Northern Areas and other far off
places have found housing here." 
mafia and as a resident puts it, "If this park goes, we would
be out of the little space that our kids have to play in." Right on the
side of this park stands a decent looking apartment block which is built on
a space reserved for a KMC toilet. 
in your hands near Maghrib time and there
you have it, a goodie bag with no price to pay. 
meeting with President General Pervez Musharraf has triggered a
protest movement across the country, including Karachi, that could culminate
in great upsurge provided different segments of the civil society play their
due role. 
and poverty while the
ruling elite is unabashedly indifferent to their woes, the protest can
gather momentum very quickly. More so because the media, especially the
electronic media is very courageously monitoring political developments. The
very fact that GEO TV in Islamabad was attacked by the police on Friday is
an indicator of this desperation.
his courageous stance to lend a
helping hand to thousands of people who have gone "missing" in
Pakistan. In other words, on the one hand, he thwarted attempts to sell
national assets, on the other, he tried his level best to provide solace to
common man, something rare when the ruling elite is bent upon succumbing to
the pressures of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. 
salon with his wife, Fami, in Saddar. In his forties,
Pham is married and has two children. He talks to Kolachi about his life in
Karachi and the love he feels for this city of cities...
Karachi, I knew only French. I was bugged a lot
because of that and I felt like a 'duck in a poultry farm'. There were many
other problems. We had a different lifestyle in Vietnam - it was more like
the European people. My mother and aunts used to wear Western clothes, and
they had to start wearing shalwar kameez. Wherever you go, you should adapt
to that place's environment. I am not saying that people gave us any
problem. In those days things were different and people didn't stare or
tease. My mother and aunts were able to go about their business without any
harassment, now it is different.