It doesn't happen very often that you run into an aged teacher of a school in which none other than the Father of the Nation had studied for a brief period, and see tears trickling down her face. “Baita, they've ruined our education. Do something about it. There's so much poverty around. Children can't get a decent education. This wasn't the case when I started teaching. Nobody comes here. Look what's happened to the old portions of the building. It's in disuse for years now, leave alone discussing its architectural or historic significance.” Her name is Tahira.
A close look at the CMS (Church Mission School) on Nishtar Road will help you empathise with Tahira and may make you feel her anguish, perhaps not with the same intensity, for she's been coming to this place for many years, hence the emotional association with the institution. There is a so-called new building on the same premises where children study these days, but the stone structures that you can see in a U-shape just as you enter the school look utterly abandoned. In fact, the one section that is situated smack in front of the main gate appears like a building ravaged by some kind of a war.
“The ground that you see turns into a huge puddle during the monsoons. Children can't wade across the muddy waters, so they don't come to school when it's raining. The very ground is also used as a venue for certain ceremonies. Then there are people who keep their goats, sheep and cows here during Bakra Eid,” says Tahira. Her eyes are constantly welled-up.
Mohammad Younus Niazi is also worried about the situation, though he claims he's done his utmost to make things better than what they used to be before the Committee for Monitoring and Improvement of Schools (CMIS) that he works for started looking after the affairs of the CMS. As for the record related to the Quaid-i-Azam's time spent here, Niazi says a few years back people from Islamabad came to the school and took away all the relevant documents. He is hopeful that the three historical blocks, one of which he claims has been partially re-worked by putting new tiles, will soon be restored.
Let's stop here and visit a contrasting work of construction exactly opposite the CMS. It's the very inspiring Christ Church.
Situated on Mission Road that makes perpendicular intersection with Nishtar Road, Christ Church is a sight to behold. It's not as big a structure as a few other churches in Karachi, but impresses you with its lancet windows and triple-arched entrance. Those who look after the holy place, led by Rev Shahid Anwar, have kept it well preserved. There have been changes here and there, for example, as a gardener will tell you that the old wooden roof was damaged a little more than a decade ago, and was replaced by a new concrete one.
Rev Shahid Anwar says “We try and keep the church spick and span. Most of the things that you see ( Burma teak pews, stone-made Baptist Font, stained glass, etc) are as old as the place of worship itself. We don't tamper with them. Additions were made to the building in the 1930s to make it more spacious, resulting in the extended side wings which weren't originally part of the architectural plan.
“There are other interesting nuggets of information related to this building. One of which is that the open space on the left of the church boundary used to be a famous cricket field, and I think international cricketer Javed Miandad cut his teeth on this very ground,” says Rev Shahid Anwar.
In the 1840s construction work on Christ Church began, and both the Church Mission School and the church were once linked. In the first half of the 20th century, students belonging to Jewish, Christian, Parsi, Hindu and Muslim communities were enrolled in the CMS and found it to be pretty rewarding. But it was in 1971 that the government took charge of the school, and ever since it's on a downward spiral.
Architect Arif Hasan says “I'll talk about the holy place first. It's a Protestant church and was built in 1856. The Church Mission Society at the time had bought a plot from the municipality in 1852 and supervised the construction of this beautiful piece of stonework. Actually Colonel Henry Preedy, who was the first collector of Karachi after whom Preedy Road and Preedy Thana were named, founded the Church Mission School in 1846. He handed over the institution to the Church Mission Society. Christ Church is a nice looking building, and is a Gothic revivalist structure. It has three arches at the entrance. It's not very big in size, but is good to look at.”
“With respect to the CMS, it is the oldest living example of Karachi's architecture. It was made with a nice combination of stone, bamboos and delicate tile-work. Not anymore though. What I hear about it is that it's in a shambles. I still feel it can be restored, as it ought to be because it's a signpost to our history... but will require a major restoration job,” says Mr Hasan.
It's home-time. Children are stepping out of their classes to return home. Eight or nine of them have stayed back. They've taken out a bat and a tennis ball and started playing cricket in the ground where there is a pitch half of which is cemented. Just as the bowler is about to deliver the first ball, an auto-rickshaw makes its way into the school. It has caused a delay in the game, unlike the indefinite delay in the renovation of the stone buildings that surround the cricket-crazy boys. Play resumes.
mohammad.salman@dawn.com
