While working for a Swiss firm I had the opportunity to welcome several foreigners to Karachi and after taking care of company matters during the day would take them sightseeing in the evening or on holidays. You must be wondering what sightseeing is possible in Karachi.
We don’t exactly have the Louvre or Niagara Falls but we still have some sights and sounds that the visitors find interesting and attractive. Actually these do not even have to be promoted as their promotion is done by word of mouth earlier visitors telling those preparing for a journey to Karachi not to miss a certain sight that they found interesting and maybe even captivating depending upon their interest.
Well, everyone was escorted to the mausoleum of the father of the nation, which was always top of the list but there were other lesser attractions that were popular in their own right. Most of the visitors asked me to take them to that place where they beat stones with cloth.
I know you are a little lost here but this place is right in the center of the city and in the main section of the old city. Yes I am talking about the Dhobi Ghat in what was once known as ‘Garden Area’ that described its close proximity to the only rather at that time well stocked and well maintained Karachi zoo, which today is just a shadow of its former self.
About the Dhobi Ghat this still exists and is a reminder of the times when most of the city laundry was handled by what were popularly called Dhobis and whose mode of travel was donkey carts. The latest mode of washing clothes through machines had not yet made its appearance and each Dhobi washed clothes in their allotted cubicles and most popular method to beat out the dirt and spots was to twist clothes together than bang it against large stones.
Maybe the makers of laundry machines got their idea of the twisting and turning clothes in machines from the antics of Dhobis who also twisted and turned while beating the cloths against stones. Another Dhobi Ghat which covered a much larger area was in those days in Jacob Lines and I remember how during a wedding amongst the Dhobi clan the entire area would be occupied by donkey carts and sometimes the donkeys would bray in unison literally bringing down the rather frail roofs of the time.
This Dhobi Ghat is no more (a large number of Dhobis live nearby—in a long but narrow lane between Saddar Parking Plaza and Saint Patrick’s High School—where they do laundry through machines and many of them still possess donkeys and carts to ferry laundry) and instead like elsewhere in the city multi-storied apartment blocks loom over this entire area.
Another popular spot for visitors used to be the roadside dentist. The visitors would stare in amazement as they saw people sprawled in chairs right next to the bustling M.A. Jinnah Road near Radio Pakistan with their mouths wide open as what was supposed to be a dentist worked on their teeth with great intensity and passion.
Not too far would be the attraction of a parrot telling your fortune through picking up a card and people almost religiously believing what the cards said. Who needs to go to a circus when you could find one right in the heart of the city? Apart from the parrot if you were lucky you would find guys with monkeys and even bears who would put up a show right outside your car.
This really fascinated some visitors. Another popular activity which I believe still attracts foreign tourists was crabbing. This required an early morning trip to Keamari port where one would board a boat pre-arranged for the purpose. The names of the boats were quite fascinating.
Many were decorated with flags bearing the names of foreign airlines and were hired frequently by the foreign crew of many international airlines that in those days routinely landed in Karachi. Success at catching crabs though was not guaranteed but it was not a cause of worry as the boat crew brought enough crabs for a party and everyone enjoyed freshly cooked crabs in local spices accompanied by different drinks both kosher and non-kosher.
A lot has changed over the years. Karachi is no more the popular destination of foreign airlines it used to be. We allowed this to happen even though Karachi logically was the best route to Far East and beyond for travelers from many parts of the world. The city needs to regain its former popularity and attract more air traffic to boost its revenues and its image. Let us hope for the best.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
The writer is a well-known columnist
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