By Rida Nadeem

The 150-year-old Shri Lakhsmi Narayan mandir, located under the renowned Native Jetty bridge in Karachi is a place of great value for numerous Hindu citizens who come here each morning to pay respect to their deities.

A peculiar feature of this temple is an 85-year-old woman, Baarin Maasi who has been seeking refuge in this temple since she was 25 years old.

As she narrates her life story, she gets very emotional at the thought of her past hurdles but still builds up the courage and speaks, “About 22-years-ago, when the Babri Masjid's building was a matter of dispute between India's Hindus and Muslims, the area residents began attacking this space."

She says that the local Muslims in retaliation of the incident in India started pelting stones at the temple’s residents.

"I often found myself running to my relatives' homes to survive those difficult times,” she sobs softly.

Baarin is currently living in a two-room house with her daughter-in-law and her grandchildren.

The deities are placed in separate rooms with the arrangement set according to a hierarchy. The exterior room offers religious offerings such as libation, carried out by Baarin Maasi herself.

Baarin Maasi has developed a close and harmonious relationship with the visitors, over the years.

Despite Baarin Maasi’s health problems, she takes exceptional care of the exterior room exhibiting the statue of Hanuman.If she is ever forced to leave this place, she will have no place to go. This temple is her home.

This photoessay is done by SZABIST Karachi's Principles of Journalism students working on a project called "Covering Kolachi" which focuses on Karachi-based stories.