"Think of all the people from different communities and religions in Pakistan. Draw what your face might look like when you think of them.”

This was the top question on the questionnaire distributed among the students to be filled by them before boarding the Super Savari Express for the Diversity Tour. Without taking a look at the drawings, one got to see for oneself the curious, wide-eyed, thoughtful and brooding expressions on the children’s faces as the tour got under way.

“We came up with the idea of Diversity Tours a couple of years ago,” says Jehanzeb Salim, associate director, Super Savari Express who organises visits to historic churches, temples and mosques. “Since we were already doing cultural, historic and religious tours, we thought of doing it to spread awareness because ignorance and lack of knowledge, unfortunately, has led to the intolerance that we currently see in our society. We are looking at humanising communities for the betterment of the city through children and students,” he adds.

A local tour operator in Karachi organises tours for students to help spread awareness about different faiths and people of the city

Starting out with young school children last year, the Super Savari Express decided to offer Diversity Tours to college and university students, this time. “They are more set in their ways, with fixed opinions. Getting through to them can be a bit of a challenge but our intention is to open up their minds,” says Salim.

Donning white caps with a picture of the Super Savari bus and the clichéd but befitting message ‘Dekh magar pyar se’ embroidered in bright pink at the back, the students boarded the buses to visit the St Patrick’s Cathedral.

They were told about the big green Mission Cross in the parking area as soon as they got down from the buses — the monument made of Italian marble in memory of the missionaries — and the story of the priest and teacher at the St Patrick’s Boys High School Joseph Marie Anthony Cordeiro, who later rose to the rank of the first cardinal of Pakistan and who is buried there. They were also educated about how the global head of the Catholic Church, the Pope, is elected by the cardinals spread all over the world and also about the country’s current cardinal, the archbishop of Karachi, Joseph Cardinal Coutts.

“This is a place of worship so respect it like you respect your own place of worship and please move inside in a line,” the students were told and they complied.

Inside, they were told about the design of churches made specially to make the voice carry or echo as there was no sound system in place at the time of its construction so many years ago, the stained-glass windows depicting scriptures and the symbols on them and what they signify. The students had many questions about the big chair at the altar, the crucifix, the confessionals, the various concepts in Christianity, etc. All their questions were patiently answered as they were encouraged to ask more questions.

“Apart from the books and the internet that we have turned to for research, we have also spoken to various historians, architects and the people associated with these areas in order to be able to properly answer our tourists’ questions. It is our responsibility to pass on the correct knowledge and message,” says Salim, who explains things while relating examples from Islam to make it easier for the students to understand.

For example, answering a question about Christmas, he tells them that it is the birthday of Hazrat Issa or Jesus Christ and for the Christians it is how we celebrate Eid-i-Milad-un-Nabi, which is the birthday of the Prophet of Islam (Peace Be Upon Him).

As the buses leave the church, it was the Super Savari volunteers who noticed that some students had tossed out their disposable plastic water bottles out their windows. The volunteers quickly got down, collected the trash and took it with them for proper disposal later on without admonishing anyone. Still, the students responsible for littering the place noticed and felt embarrassed.

Next stop was the New Memon Masjid at Bolton Market on M.A. Jinnah Road. “The mosque was built in 1949 but is called the ‘New’ Memon Masjid,” smiles Salim as he shares a bit of history with the students. He tells them about the old graveyard there which was moved and flattened for the construction of the big mosque with 12-storey high minarets, which has a capacity for 10,000 people. He also shares information about the discovery, at that time, of two bodies that had not decayed and had fresh shrouds. “The two bodies were then reburied here,” he tells them. Some students also take the opportunity to do ablution in the mosque’s pond built for the purpose.

Finally, the buses head out to the Native Jetty Bridge where the Shri Laxmi Narayan Temple is located. The students take off their shoes before entering the Hindu temple, built at the edge of flowing waters.

Arjun Mahraj there is busy chopping vegetables in a corner. He gets up to greet the visitors and answer their queries.

They have questions about the Hindu gods, the soul, reincarnation, festivals, etc., which Arjun Maharaj answers. He explains that the aim of human beings is to spend life well in this world and spend it in harmony with all of God’s creations. “Do not think negatively of any faith as it is your faith that gives you the strength to live your life with respect and with your head held high,” he says.

At the conclusion of the tour, one student summed up all she had learnt in the following words: “We came together today to see the oneness of God. God is the master of harmony. When He is one, we should also be one.”

The writer is a member of staff
She tweets @HasanShazia

Published in Dawn, EOS, June 23rd, 2019