He was six-foot-tall and bulky and had a voice that could go for miles. His name was Azeem Khan Pathan and he was a contractor living in a lane right next to where we now have the Tae Kawando club on main M A Jinnah road near what is called the Purani Numaish. I have no idea from where did this bus stop get the name. As far as I remember there were never any exhibitions (Numaish) held in the area.

Anyway, this six-foot-tall creature was a red-blooded Pathan, hailing from the NWFP and settled in Karachi. Coming from an Urdu speaking family who had migrated from India in 1947 why do I still remember this guy from as far back as 1950? The reason is that he was a good friend of my father and always arrived with loads of dry fruits from his native area. He would just descend on our house with his big arms full of packages of walnuts, pistachios, almonds, figs and cashew nuts.

Those were really simple days when not many could afford the luxury of buying dry fruits and his gifts that mostly arrived a little before the winter season were more than welcomed. This is just one example but in those early days of Karachi there were no ethnic tensions and people lived in complete harmony. It was not just ethnic but also religious harmony in those days.

I wonder how many people today remember the large Christian and Parsi communities that lived side by side with the Muslims in Karachi and enjoyed each others` festivals and company. Among the famous compounds where Muslim and Christian children played and grew up together was the Supariwala block opposite the CIA centre in Saddar. Famous personalities like Aisha Riasat and her sister Khalida Riasat grew up in that block together with young Christian girls and boys like Shella Mehta and Tony Cutino. Math wizard and famous tutor Domello also lived in the same block. There was never any hint of tension except of course rivalries of the heart where suitors used religion to prove they had better claim to a girls hand and the rival should stay off their turf.

Both Muslim and Christian boys used this ploy to decrease competition. Sometimes even duals through fist fights took place between suitors and the fight would be the talk of the town with the girl involved fuming over the undue publicity this contest between her suitors had generated hoping that the news does not reach her parents. In those days both Muslims and Christians were very conservative by modern standards and the wild swinging parties that are a norm now amongst teenagers were practically unheard off in the early days of Karachi.

Karachi owes a debt of gratitude to the Christian community for putting up some of the finest schools in the city. It was schools like St Joseph, St Patricks, St Paul, St Lawrence and Jufelhurst that set the standards of education in this city in its early days. These were not money making machines but were established with the missionary zeal of imparting education to the children of this city. Muslims and Christians studied and played together and long lasting friendships were established between the two communities. If it was not for these institutions, some of which were ruined by privatisation, Karachi would not have been the centre of excellence it was in those days.

Karachi boys and girls topped the list of candidates in the civil service examination and Karachi was considered a breeding ground for intellectuals and academics, not terrorists. Even today the surviving schools are doing their bit and maintaining the same standards of education at one third the price charged by commercial educational institutions, run mostly as businesses not with any mission to provide high class education to the children of this city.  

Do you know that Karachi had an elaborate Tram system run by Mohammad Ali Tramway Company that ran right up to Kemari? The entire Saddar area was covered by this system and very well maintained. This area also harboured a very large Christian and Parsi community and during their festivals you would find the whole area glittering with lights, stars and what not. Muslims and Christians would visit each other on their religious holidays and eat cakes, shami kebabs, puddings and chocolates. This was the Pakistan envisioned by the Founder of the nation where all communities will live together in harmony and peace and progress together for the collective advancement of the country.

The early residential areas of Karachi were Jacob Lines, Jutland Lines, Abyssinia lines, PIB Colony, Jail Road, and Frere Road, Burns Road, Kharadar etc. People from all ethic origins and speaking different languages lived together. In the Jacob Lines ,army barracks were turned into houses to accommodate those migrating from India. These barracks had as many as twelve houses and as little as two or three in a barrack.

A complete sense of comradeship prevailed between the different households no matter what their ethnic origin. Everyone knew each other and if there was any problem in one household the entire barrack would pitch in to provide a solution. This was the closeness and understanding with which the early settlers of Karachi lived and enjoyed this serene and beautiful city.

In times when forty people die of gunfire in a week it is hard to imagine that Karachi was once a peaceful city by the sea but it was and those that have seen its early days cannot forget the sights and sounds of early Karachi. An incident in the early-`60s will demonstrate the difference.

One evening after sunset there was a great hue and cry in Jacob Lines and Para military personnel flooded the entire area. Later it was known that someone had seen a person with a pistol in hand. Imagine just one person with a pistol caused such havoc and concern! Today there is hardly any locality at any time of the day or night when the air is not ringing with gun fire of sub-machine guns and even heavier firearms.

Young school girls in those days would travel by foot through a maze of hutment surrounding Jacob Lines to their Saddar schools like St Joseph and no one would dare to even pass a remark or look them in the eye. The law was so strict that even small violations by cyclists resulted in immediate punishment and it was unthinkable that vehicles would go the wrong way on a one way street and the policeman would just look the other way. Karachi was a law abiding decent city that could compare with the best in the world.

PECHS was among the first modern housing societies of the city. Todays bustling Tariq road was just a deserted scratch of road with few shops. The only exciting thing that really ever happened here was the road show by this show off Jehangir who would drive up and down the road screeching his tires. He usually did it in the evening to impress the young ladies standing in the balconies in the few buildings that adorned this road at that time. He might be a show off but he was the centre of admiration of young men who would religiously arrive every evening to watch this dare devil spin his tires.

It was a big thing in those days to do something daring like that and attract the attention of the law. I know it sounds kind of lame today where it is more fashionable to empty the barrel of a gun in air as you drive around.

Cinema houses were the rage of Karachi and it had some of the finest in the country. There was Capitol and Paradise in Saddar and than Rio just before the Trinity Church and of course Palace where the who is who of Karachi met during film shows.

Going to the cinema was a big deal and some of the more memorable films like Gone with the wind, Mutiny on the bounty and Summer place attracted so many viewers that even the high and mighty could be seen in less prestigious rows like the ones priced Rs1.50 and even the infamous nine annas, the cheapest seats in the hall.

The present phenomena of hotel hopping nearly every evening was unheard of in those days. Hotels were few and it was not considered appropriate to eat in hotels in those days and certainly not with your family. Chinese hotels were very famous but they too were not frequented as much as they are these days. The first really classy hotels were Bistro at Metropole and The Three Aces which was opposite Central Hotel. Prices were extremely reasonable too; once when after a dinner of nearly ten people in The Three Aces, the host paid a little over Rs300, it was the talk of our circle for many days.

With all its simplicity, Karachi celebrated New Year in style. Metropole hosted the biggest ball and was followed by clubs like Karachi Gymkhana and Sind Club. The Airport hotel was another venue for New Year parties and on New Years Eve there was a constant stream of traffic between Metropole and Airport as New Year night revealers travelled to and fro between the two locations. How I miss that partying atmosphere as I look at the gloom and doom that is our lot on New Years Eve these days with armed to the teeth police and rangers facing hooligans bent on rampage.

Even as far back as the early 80s there were New Year night dinners in all hotels and restaurants and people flocked to them without being harassed by young men riding motorcycles without silencers. The law and order situation in Karachi has robbed us of so many simple joys of life that made living in Karachi such a pleasure.

Weddings in Karachi were not so elaborate in the early days. Those were times of simplicity before TV dramas had invaded our drawing rooms personifying the virtues of Mehndi and Dholki. Weddings were more of a personal affair and were restricted to the localities of the bride and groom. There would be all kinds of activities going on in these neighbourhoods. Tents would be pitched in the available space in the lanes and by lanes and the big pots on fires of woods and coal would send out the odour of Korma, Pulao and Zarda or Kheer drifting throughout the locality announcing the sumptuous feast awaiting those lucky enough to be invited to the nights festivities. Biryani that has now invaded our life with a vengeance had not been introduced till than and Pulao was the order of the day.

Guests were well looked after and were seated for dinner with the host family members looking after them. It was only when guests were gone that the family members sat down to enjoy their own meal. Not the impersonal weddings these days where people hardly know each other and are invited to dinner not by the host or any member of his family but by the waiters who draw their attention by banging the pot covers announcing that dinner is served.

When buffet style dinner was first introduced in Karachi many refused to visit events where this style was adopted as they thought it was uncultured to eat standing up or show eagerness by self service. It took some time for Karachiites to adjust to this kind of arrangement.

There were hardly any cars in Karachi in the early days and if one pulled up outside your door the neighbours would out of curiosity peep out to see who has arrived in such style.
In short Karachi was a lazy, sleepy town by the sea where doors closed at sunset and the family after having an early dinner retired to bed to wake up early and go about their business.

Radio Pakistan provided all the entertainment and the more ambitious tuned in to Binaka Geetmala to hear the latest Indian filmi music.

Let us just say that the spirit of Pakistan was alive and well in the Karachi of yesteryears, demonstrated in those early days by the spirit of brotherhood amongst all communities and religions. Those that grew up in those days can never forget the Karachi that it once was and regret the fact that they could not preserve it in its pristine glory for their children.