December 20, 2008	Saturday	Zilhaj 21, 1429

KARACHI, Dec 19: Visitors to the ‘All About Lifestyles’ exhibition, which kicked off on Friday at the Expo Centre at Hasan Square, were treated to a magnificent, extensive collection of photographs tracking the evolution of Karachi from the ashes of the Raj to the modern megalopolis it has become. The photographs have been put up as part of the ‘60 years of Karachi – a photographic journey’ exhibit.

Despite the inclement weather, the citizens of Karachi came out in fair numbers to the Lifestyles exhibition – organised by the Dawn Media Group – which has become a popular yearly event on the city’s calendar.

Though the weather may have been miserable on the outside, inside Hall Six of the Expo Centre, one could see the past 60 years of Karachi’s life come alive through the stunning photographs, which captured the beautiful, intricate beauty of the city’s colonial heritage, the complex paradoxes that are found within its limits and the diversity of its citizenry.

Shots of glittering socialites, visiting heads of state and business magnates of the city were displayed next to images of countless nobodies – the resourceful everyman whose hard labour actually makes Karachi tick. There were sepia-tinged photographs of Raj-era monuments (slowly decaying into oblivion), along with a shot of an unrecognisable Elphinstone Street from 1980, sans the clutter, encroachments and monstrous traffic.

A cutting from Dawn announces the end of the celebrated Karachi tramway in April 1975, while a shot of political graffiti from the 1950s reminds able-bodied men that Kashmir needs mujahids. The shot of a push-cart vendor selling edibles is memorable as one of his customers is attired in a suit and a fez, something hardly seen nowadays.

A picture of the Quaid’s mausoleum being built is perhaps history in the making, while the shot of children playing with Madhubala, the resident elephant at Gandhi Gardens during the seventies, depicts a lighter moment. The shot of a man walking down McLeod Road – I.I. Chundrigar Road today – in a safari hat and shorts looks like something out of a Kipling novel.

A quaint picture is that of a BOAC bus parked on McLeod Rd, as the erstwhile British Overseas Airways Corporation was known more for its planes than its buses. The photograph of brown sahibs getting their shoes shined is also reminiscent of a bygone age.

Fast forward to the amorphously growing being Karachi has become today and one notices an amazing shot of Teen Talwar, taken in a very Times Square-like fashion. A single, towering minaret of the Memon Masjid can be seen through a jungle of wires in a narrow alleyway, while the Jinnah Bridge is alive with traffic during a panoramic night shot, the KPT building majestically aglow next to it.

The contradictions that make Karachi what it is are displayed by two very interesting pictures: revellers in skimpy western attire are seen partying the night away, while smack opposite is the portrait of an elderly gentleman with a flowing beard, attired in a white kurta pyjama, a webbed prayer cap atop his head.

The ‘Past and present’ section is very interesting, as some of Karachi’s landmarks are shown as they were decades ago and how they appear today. Similarly, in the ‘Bird’s eye view’ section, the metropolis’s landmarks have been photographed from the skies, resulting in breath-taking images.

However, perhaps the ‘Nostalgia’ section is the most interesting. Bell-bottomed musicians – Goan Christians presumably – pose with such confidence that they would give Lionel Ritchie and his Commodores a run for their money, while leaders of some of Karachi’s minority communities – Prince Karim Aga Khan and Syedna Taher Saifuddin, along with Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin, the former and current dais, respectively, of the Dawoodi Bohras – can be seen on visits to the metropolis.

A stamps show showcasing rare and historical stamps has also been organised as part of the ‘All About Lifestyles’ event.

‘60 years of Karachi’ will run till Dec 21, the last day of Lifestyles. Timings are from 11am till 10pm.