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Lahore, Lahore nahi raha (A tale of two cities – Dawn)

April 12th, 2010 Arsalaan 1 comment

By Moazzam Husain

Shalimar Gardens

Shalimar Gardens

As two lovely looking girls riding bicycles overtook us, I saw one of them turn to us, then say something to the other. They both giggled as they rode away. Having travelled more than my fair share, the novelty of visiting exciting places had diminished with each successive destination — until I arrived here.

I had never envisioned a place like this. Last week I visited Lahore. On the Mall road people courteously gave way to each other and smiled frequently. I saw nobody talk on a mobile phone nor heard any ring tones. There were bookshops and newspaper stalls but no hawkers nor any beggars. People waited patiently in lines at the theatres. There were far fewer people too and elegantly dressed, as if a dress code went into force in the evenings. There were many neatly managed wide open spaces with art deco. This was a fashionable and cosmopolitan city that had acquired the title of ‘the Paris of India’. Last week I visited Lahore, as it was on the eve of the breakout of the Second World War.
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20 Wonderful Mosques in the World

December 27th, 2009 Yousuf Rafi 2 comments

I found the following information on internet with all these amazing pictures of Mosques around the world and would like to share with you guys:

1-Mosque-in-Akhaltsikhe---Georgia

Mosque in Akhaltsikhe – Georgia

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History housed: The Flagstaff House

November 16th, 2009 Arsalaan 1 comment

By Peerzada Salman

Flagstaff 1An old man, holding his little grandson’s hand, has just arrived at the Quaid-i-Azam House and Museum. He says the child has come all the way from a remote area in Punjab to see the place the Father of the Nation once lived in. They return disappointed. Reason: it is 1pm, lunch time for those working at the museum.

Avoiding desultory discussion let’s establish one thing at the outset: apart from being an exceedingly intelligent individual, Mohammad Ali Jinnah had a sharp aesthetic sense. The elegant dresses that he wore, the classy hats that he put on, and the linguistic panache with which he communicated with friends and colleagues endorse this observation. It also mirrors in the buildings he chose as his abode.

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Sultan Qutub-uddin Aibak: Subcontinent’s first Muslim Ruler

October 16th, 2009 Arsalaan No comments

pic_qutbuddinaibakWhile Shalimar Gardens are famous partially for being the final resting place of their founder, the late Mughal King, Jehangir; Anarkali Bazaar, the other famous landmark of Lahore, plays host to another great muslim ruler- Sultan Qutub-uddin Aibak.

Born into a Turk family in Central Asia, Aibak was sold into slavery to a local chieftain as a young boy. The chief treated Aibak like his own son and taught him the fine art of military maneuvers and horsemanship. After the chief’s death, his sons, jealous of Aibak’s special treatment, sold him to Mohd Khan Ghauri.

As Ghauri started conquering parts of India, he appointed Aibak, who had rapidly risen through the ranks to become Ghauri’s most trusted general, as his Governor to oversee the new territory.

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Max Denso Hall: Signposts to history

October 13th, 2009 Arsalaan No comments

By Peerzada Salman

HERE’S a little story: The rosy-fingered goddess Eos falls in love with Tithonus, a Trojan. She asks Zeus, the ruler of Mount Olympus, to grant immortality to the love of her life. Zeus obliges. It makes Tithonus exceedingly happy. But with the passage of time, he realizes that it’s eternal life that he’s been bestowed with, not youth. So Tithonus grows older and older, feebler and feebler, lying helplessly under a tree.

Denso Hall

No different seems to be the fate of the Max Denso Hall & Library, the Mercantile Cooperative Bank Building, the Mandi Wala Building and the Jehangir Kothari Building on Bunder Road. They’re growing aged by the minute, and the thoroughfare flanked by these oldies is getting smoggier, dirtier and cloggier. Sadly, Eos can’t do anything about it, or so it seems.

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Transcendent beauty: St Andrew’s Church – Karachi

September 3rd, 2009 Arsalaan No comments
By Peerzada Salman
Munawwar Maseeh is an unassuming, taciturn kind of a man. He is the gardener /gatekeeper at St Andrew’s Church in Saddar, Karachi. He’s been serving this place of worship for several years. He is even fond of the pigeons that often merrily perch themselves on the church gables like star-crossed lovers and the squirrels that scurry across the semi-verdant lawns to evade prying eyes. st-anthonys-church4.jpg
Munawwar Maseeh has a 19-year-old son, Andrew Munawwar, who is a second-year commerce student at a local college. Unlike his father, he likes to converse in a relatively buoyant manner. If you happen to visit the building and bump into Andrew, he’ll gladly help you get acquainted with the church premises.

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On the waterfront: Karachi Port Trust Building

July 4th, 2009 Arsalaan No comments
By Peerzada Salman
It’s almost like a film sequence. The gate to the mega building opens and camera shows a flock of pigeons fluttering about. Some have grains in their beaks and some are ready to take off, if they haven’t already. Others are just happy cooing away. It’s a vast space, a kind of a front yard that you have to cross before stepping into the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) building – a magnificent one at that. 
When you’re making your way to the relatively newly-built reception (inaugurated in 2005), you look at the reasonably well-kept façade. You keep moving along getting impressed by the eye-catching designs and patterns on the exterior of the edifice and pretty-looking green, rectangular windows. The woodwork is impressive too. However, what can’t be missed are the ground floor’s clean-as-a-whistle windowpanes, but those on the second and third floors have gathered specks of dust. On the whole, the KPT offices are nicely maintained.  kpt-1.jpg
You enter the reception hall and find out that the security is tight. Understandable. Then you move ahead and witness a flurry of activity. On the left side there’s a section referred to as the annexe, not initially a part of the KPT structure, whereas on its right side is the original portion, most of which appears to be in the pinkish-yellow colour whereas a chunk of it is painted white. You would have ideally liked the entire piece of architecture in one colour. But if wishes were horses… 

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Hindu Gymkhana: A jewel of a building

June 2nd, 2009 Arsalaan No comments
By Peerzada Salman:
An understatement: the Hindu Gymkhana is a special building. But what is it that makes it special? Answer: its timeless charm. No matter what stratum of society you come from or what school of thought you’re a proponent of, once you walk into the Hindu Gymkhana, you can’t help but imbibe the ambience that juxtaposes two worlds – the first quarter of the 20th century with its astounding architecture and modern-day Karachi – and makes you stay at the place for a while. The former dazzles you with cupolas and domed kiosks and the latter with the hustle and bustle that typifies Karachi life. 
This amazing piece of construction has had its share of uncalled-for problems. In the mid 1980s the then regime wanted to demolish it to make room for a multi-storey structure to fit into it its (government) offices. But our profuse thanks should go to Heritage Foundation which came forward and stopped the disaster, nay catastrophe, from taking place.  hindu-gymkhana-1.jpg
At present, the Hindu Gymkhana is the workplace of the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa).
You step into its rather airy compound and see young girls and boys (some not so young), with bags slung over their shoulders or hefty notepads tightly pressed against their chests, chattering about what they’ve recently learned or what they’re about to study, inexplicably reminding this writer of an oft-quoted line from T.S. Eliot’s Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock … “women come and go, talking of Michelangelo…” But let’s avoid desultory thoughts, and get back to the Hindu Gymkhana. 

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Bagh-e-Ibnne Qasim: Gateway to the Sea

May 27th, 2009 Arsalaan No comments
Bagh-e-Ibne Qasim and Jehangir Kothari Parade
If you are a park lover with a slight fascination for historical monuments, and do not mind the salty balmy breeze hitting you on the face then Bagh-e-Ibne Qasim, facing the Arabian Sea is definitely for you.
One of the recent constructions and the largest one of that, Bagh-e-Ibne Qasim (Bin Qasim Park) is a truly a sight to behold. Spread over an area of 130 acres, it was created over a huge area facing the Arabian Sea so that anyone who wishes to enjoy a calm and quite evening with loved ones and at the same time, enjoy the sound and smell of sea can do by casually strolling on the extensive pathways in this park.
While visiting the beautiful and well-maintained park provides one with a sense of ease and tranquility; it is the historical monuments in foreground that gives it a greater degree of significance. After all, what would Clifton be like, without the Jehangir Kothari Parade? jkp-1.jpg
As every town and or area is defined by a unique monument, which in time becomes its main identity or even in certain cases a central point of assembly – like a town square- so too, Jehangir Kothari Parade serves the same purpose.
It was, from its time of construction and to the present time, remains a unique symbol and identity of the Clifton Coastal Sea-front.

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Turn back the clock (By Peerzada Salman)

May 18th, 2009 Arsalaan No comments

A sad, but stark reality of our collective apathy towards preserving our historical, or cultural monuments.

Surrounded by sparse patches of grass, The Merewether Memorial Clock Tower stands tall but cuts a sorry picture. The blaring horns or public transport buses at the busy traffic intersection, accompanied by the incessant cacophony of vendors selling a wide variety of foodstuffs on pushcarts, almost drown out the majestic buzz once associated with the grand structure.  merewethertower5.jpg
If you move around the tower, you’ll feel the tyranny of time. You move closer to one of the sides through the iron fencing to get an up-close look, and discover that there’s a padlock adorning the narrow entrance whose grilles have been getting rustier by the day and gathering clumps of dust, making it hard to appreciate the delicate patterns on the metalwork. There’s a staircase leading to the top of the building, and is just as dusty. You press your face against the locked grille to shout ‘hello’ to know if your voice reverberates through the hollow space, but nothing happens. 
Apparently there’s a maali (gardener) looking after the so-called lawn. He doesn’t seem to have visitors. So it’s understandable that he gets flustered when you put the question to him, ‘who takes care of the tower?’ “I don’t know saab, I only look after the garden. It’s those guys who take care of the tower…” he gestures towards the right side across the road where the good offices of the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) are located. 

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