Karachi Stories: Karachi has Mumbai within!
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_7-8-2005_pg7_24
By Hasan Mansoor
Before Sindh’s separation from the Bombay Presidency, Karachi was considered to be a replica of Mumbai in many ways, particularly its architecture and markets, as historians put it.
Historians say the British used labour from Mumbai to build a port in Karachi more than a century ago which is evident from the striking resemblance between the dock areas of Karachi and Mumbai. When the British decided to build a port in Karachi, they brought in labour from Mumbai. Probably that accounts for the fact that the dock areas of the two cities look similar.
And there are many places which have lost their original colour but are still named after Bombay (not Mumbai).
Bombay Bazaar is one of the oldest market places in the city and was named so because the traders here had century-old relations with their counterparts in Mumbai. It deals with all sorts of things. One can buy textile goods and sophisticated clothes manufactured in
Pakistan. Besides, grocery markets, wholesale markets for cosmetics and food outlets are its main features.
Its most prominent feature, which distinguishes it from the rest of the city markets, is that it is a hub of the “khepias” (carriers who carry out export-import in personal baggage) who take bundles of Pakistani textiles to Mumbai and on their return carry Indian manufactured items that are in high demand in Pakistan, particularly ointments, dry fruits and cosmetics.
Shopkeepers and carriers call it the “done” business.
Shopkeepers in Karachi and Mumbai are well connected for the business. The Karachi carriers are given contacts of the Mumbai shopkeepers for the sale of Pakistani goods and a similar arrangement is for the Mumbai shopkeepers who give contacts of their Pakistani counterparts to the Indian carriers.
During the “cold war” between the two countries this business had faced a great setback, but after the situation got normalised it has got a boost.
Bombay Hotel is situated in the heart of the city at McLeod Road. Built before Partition, the building has become a landmark for the city. It has an old and less-impressive structure, but its significance is that it houses a number of regional newspapers, magazines and small publishing houses.
Karachi has also a Bombay Town in its North Nazimabad area where a large number of people originally belonging to Mumbai live. There is a Kokan Society named after a town near Mumbai. It is inhabited by the people hailing from that part of India.
The old and famous Bombay Dyeing on Napier Road has lost its charm and also most of its clientele.
Late Omar Kureishi, a world-acclaimed sports writer who grew up in Mumbai and moved to Karachi, once said: “Both cities have a strong cosmopolitan character, despite Karachi having a vast desert hinterland and being ridden by sectarian violence. So in this sisterly relationship between the two cities, Mumbai has become the dominant sibling.”