No, no, no… don’t feel alarmed by the headline. It is not a lame prediction that US forces are leaving the region soon nor is it a warning to America to get its act together or its time is over as the sole superpower. Not at all.

The headline refers to a programme, a variety show to be precise, titled Curtain Time USA, presented on April 2, 1965 at Hotel Metropole by a 25-member team of students belonging to the Brigham Young University.

The university was established as far back as 1875, owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The show held in Karachi was one of the many events organised by the Student Programme Bureau that began in 1919 in the US. It was part of the Public Service Bureau formed to meet student body officers’ demand to coordinate student performances. They showcased their talent in various parts of the world with the aim of providing recreation for students and audiences across the globe.

Curtain Time USA was one of the major tour performances since 1960. The one at Hotel Metropole on April 2 attracted a decent number of people. One critic called it “a fun-filled spectacle of singing and dancing”. It basically contained America’s regional songs and dances. Come to think of it, it wouldn’t be a bad idea if today American students visited Pakistan and shared their talent and thoughts with their Pakistani counterparts.

From art to public service and animal rights: these days, ambulances passing with their sirens blaring have become a regular feature of Karachi’s everyday life. Some of us think that the sudden increase in the number of ambulances is a result of the volatile sociopolitical situation in the city. Well, yes and no. Yes, because you would never have imagined that there would be three to four ambulance services functioning simultaneously in the city. No, because even half a century back, there were people who thought that the metropolis needed such a service.

On April 1, the Karachi Tehsil Council decided to launch a fund-raising campaign for the purchase of an ambulance costing Rs50,000. Hold on. The campaign was not being planned for the entire city, but only for residents of the Landhi area to cope with emergency situations.

Imagine the thoughtfulness of the authorities concerned. They used to think about each and every locality … and about animals too. On April 5, this newspaper reported that the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals had undertaken construction of the first veterinary hospital in the city on Country Club Road. Spread over three acres, the facility would require Rs200,000 to build and would have modern equipment to treat sick animals. Now Country Club Road is the old name for University Road. You wonder, what happened to that hospital, because there is no such hospital on University Road. Perhaps it’s there and seldom gets noticed.

To be honest, a great many things remain unexplained about old Karachi. Not the communication system though. On April 3, telephone users felt elated to know that a subscriber-to-subscriber trunk dialing system between Karachi and Rawalpindi and Karachi and Lahore was expected to begin operating in September (1965).

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2015

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