To be invited into someone’s home and to be trusted with their stories is always very meaningful. So we were very excited to visit this charming home in Karachi and to meet the residents who have seen Karachi evolve from a clean and peaceful city to the chaotic metropolis it is today.
The outer courtyard is filled with potted plants and we were led through a wooden door into the cool interior. The beautiful tiled floors are set off by antique furniture and bric a brac collected over the years.
The couple moved to their current dwelling in the eighties but are old Karachi residents, having attended school and college here. The lady of the house was born in Lahore but grew up in Karachi where she attended the Mama Parsi School and then later the Home Economics College. Her husband was born in the Goolbai Nusserwanji Maternity Home in Karachi, went to BVS school, DJ Science College and then later studied Pharmacy from Karachi University.
His original family home was in the Soldier Bazaar area of Karachi. “But it was sold and we moved here, he recalls. “The old home was torn down and replaced with a block of flats.”Most of the furniture in the house are antiques, many with very precious family associations.”
“This was a lovely area,” the lady of the house recalls. ” I grew up here. It was very clean, there was no such thing like fear. We could walk outside even at night. When someone died prayers were held in the library and, as late as 3 am, we could walk across to attend. We would leave our houses unlocked, the walls were low and everyone was very congenial.”
The atmosphere is very different today. Piles of garbage dot the streets and leisurely walks at night, or even during the day, are out of the question. The walls around the homes have been raised and gates are firmly locked.
“Many robberies have taken place in the area over the years,” sigh the homeowners. “Everything has changed. We used to feel like we were in jail but we had to get used to the walls and gates.”
“Hardly anyone uses the park and library anymore. There is no security, the area is open to vagrants.”
“But we have still never thought of moving, we like living here. The area is very central. I still enjoy going to Bohri Bazaar which is close by, even though most of the original Bohris have moved away.”
The lady of the house tells us that the erstwhile Mayor of Karachi, Jamshed Nusserwanji, the first non-white mayor of Karachi, was a father figure to her own father who had been orphaned early. “My grandmother made a living by doing exquisite embroidery which was sold as far afield as Europe. Jamshed Nusserwanji looked out for the family. He gifted my father his first cycle as a child.”
She shows us some embroidery samples, borders embroidered by her grandmother, which could grace any museum today.
Photos by Naeema Kapadia
