Lakshmi building – Stands tall amid falling historic structures

By Hasan Mansoor
Lakshmi Building, once an enchanting five-storey edifice every Karachian was proud to behold and now a smoke-ridden facade on MA Jinnah Road (Bunder Road), was the tallest structure of the city till partition. It was in the mid-fifties when it lost its stature to Qamar House. It stands tall, nonetheless, at times when most historic structures are succumbing to the builders’ ruthless greed.
Then the city saw many high-rises built and got each other replaced. Qamar House succumbed to the height of Mohammadi House for a while until Habib Bank Plaza’s 311-feet high building literally concluded the race in 1963. The Plaza reigned for around four decades as the largest manmade structure in the country until 27-storey MCB Towers finally eclipsed its height, but, undoubtedly, the white and round building is still the most beautiful post-1947 structure of Karachi.

Lakshmi Building, one of Lakshmi Insurance Company’s properties, was huge news for the inhabitants of a small and beautiful town called Karachi over eight decades ago. Its red bricks were not the big deal for the people because the city’s every second or third building was made of that stuff mostly coming from Jaipur. But, what Karachians admired the most was its height, its state-of-the art clock-tower, its location (then) in the middle of the city and, of course, its iron elevator, which was the rare facility then offered by the city’s skyscrapers.

“It was a great sight to visit Lakshmi Building and people would love it like a property of their own,” octogenarian Mohammad Ali, who still lives in a worn-out apartment house along Outram Road in Mithadar, reminisces.
He has some loving memories about good old history pertaining to Lakshmi Building and the rest of Karachi that now sound as fairytales and

myths. “The city roads used actually to be washed every morning, and the great buildings like Lakshmi Towers and the (City) Courts used to be watered down every year by the hoses of the fire department,” says Ali.

But the municipal authorities have forgotten their old schedules and have not washed these buildings for a very long time, which have actually been the hallmarks of Karachi, for around six decades now.
Despite being subjected to fire several times, the latest was two years ago after a blast on an Ashura procession, Lakshmi Building still gives a great look and stands like a king surrounded by the new and shabby structures that are even not worthy of being called as pawns. Its façade still gives a great look but the interiors have seen huge changes.
Its original colour inside the offices and along the corridors of the five storeys has turned asymmetrical and lost its originality. On the fifth storey one finds the door to the roof locked.
“It remains locked most of the time because there is nothing worth witnessing upstairs except refuse and waste items,” says Karim, a peon at one of the offices situated in the building.
The historic escalator still serves its visitors but most of the time it remains out of order due to lack of maintenance. The old manual bells (shaped like teacups) had been fixed beside the escalator’s door at every floor and one would use it to notify to the lift-operator. Some of these bells could still be used but they have become rusty and lost their grandeur now. In fact, the entire iron escalator-mechanism has become rusty and complains of huge neglect it has been meted out.
But, it still houses dozens of shops selling toys, watches, wholesale items etc and is able to gather a great buzz around despite decades-long apathy towards it. In fact, this structure still offers ample lakshmi (wealth) to many. 

A Saint of Children!

by Hasan Mansoor
The Achchi Qabar (means white grave in Sindhi for its appearance) is a legendary monument in famous Mithadar area. This is the shrine of Hazrat Noor Shah Ghazi who is famous as Dada (grandpa) among Old Mithadarians.

The myth is that Dada Noor Shah Ghazi was a saint who had great affection for children. The children of Mithadar would go at his shrine and play there. People believe the saint would be playing with kids in the premises and some children, now in their 70s and 80s still narrate their childhood games at the shrine with firm belief that the Dada was among them.
“I still remember an incident that my living friends can corroborate,” says sexagenarian Mohammad Ali, “A woman saw his son sitting onto the grave of Dada in the shrine. She beat him and asked him not to do it again. The same night his son saw and neighbours heard the woman screaming wildly as if someone was beating her. She later said the Dada was annoyed with her for preventing her son from playing with him and warned her of graver consequences if she did it again.”
Equally important character of Mithadar was Aasoo Halwai, a Hindu confectioner having a monumental popularity in the little Karachi for his tasty sweets. Dada Noor Shah Ghazi, many old residents say, would be visible sometimes. He would often visit Aasoo Halwai’s shop in Sarafa Bazaar and take some platters of sweets. Neither Dada would pay Halwai anything nor the confectioner would demand the same. Dada would put something invisible in the money-box placed at a table and distribute sweets among children.
“Aasoo Halwai never stopped Dada from taking sweets for free, yet surprisingly he became prosperous and wealthier. Perhaps, it was Dada’s blessing that made him richer,” Ali says.
Now, when the twin neighbourhoods of Kharadar and Mithadar have changed altogether, the myths of Dada have become things of the past. Annual Urs at his Achchi Qabar still takes place but he is now merely a saint for the organisers and not of children.
In pre-partition days, Mithadar and Kharadar were mainly residential localities and were spacious enough for joy walk. Automobiles were rare enough space was there to walk and ride bicycles.
“Imagine, 60 years ago, I would go on bicycle from Mithadar to Kharadar to visit my aunt and would find no automobile all the way,” Anis Memon, an old resident, says.
“Now you see a maddening traffic here and people in hurry coming from all directions.”
Aasoo Halwai’s family had shifted to India after the partition and one of Dada's kids who visited Mumbai says Aasoo's grandchildren are engaged in the same business. They have many outlets in towns of Maharashtra and Gujarat states.
His shop is now owned by a family migrated from India and sells jewellery.
2011