Pak Tea House » Architecture, Arts and Crafts » A little bit of Goa in Karachi
A little bit of Goa in Karachi
Pride of Goans. Pride of Karachi. A Vestige of Great Goan Legacy. Walking past Karachi Goan Association entrance is like entering a wormhole, jumping into a universe which is oblivious to cacophony of competing voices out on Saddar road. Goan Association Hall is a landmark which still plays an active role in Karachi’s social scene. The entrance opposite Karachi Grammar School is a humble one and trees, as old as the Gymkhana, shadow the front facade, or is it the back. Never-mind both are equally impressive.
In 1886, Goans started the Goan Portugese Association which was later renamed as Karachi Goan Association. The task of designing was entrusted to a relatively unknown architect known as ‘Moses Somake’. The same man went on to make his mark on Karachi the way no one else did. The hall immediately became a center of social life of Goans in Karachi. It hosted all kind of events for the community. In the beginning it did not have a boundary wall and it graced the sorrounding area. At its peak it held ten days of celebrations where the top Goan bands performed. During World War II the KGA was turned into Senior Officers Club for US Army.
On a regular day you will find few janitors moping the floor, which has characteristic prepartition tiles. The furniture too has been preserved well. The main hall does not have much of seating area but special arrangements are made for Tambola nights and other social events. There is a statue of Mr Cincinattus in the hall. He had been the President of the KGA for a decade and has a residential neighbourhood, Cincinattus Town, Now Garden, to his name. To the right a small part of the hall is used for hosting table tennis tournaments. there is a small library in the left section which also showcases trophies from different eras. To the left is the billiard room. The adjacent room is used for playing cards. Move out and take the staircase which leads to a big dance floor which has been used for a variety of purposes. The hall is used for holding Christmas, New year and Easter gatherings and has been rented members for ceremonies and commercial shooting. The congregation of the hall has dwindled over the years but it remains a social hub for the community.
A seperate post is needed for what Goans have done for Karachi. The thriving community of 1850s has been migrating for pastures green abroad. There are only about 15,000 goans still living in Karachi. KGA celebrated 125 years of existence this year. Mr. Menin of Goans of Pakistan wondered how would it look like when they celebrate 150 years of its existence in 2036. The Karachi walla sincerely yearns for a better promise for KGA and Goans. They make a vital part of pluralistic Karachi social fabric. The enterprising community has contributed more than its share and we can’t afford to lose them.
A lot of Goans may have left but they have taken a small piece of Karachi with them. Brian Gonsalves, a Goan from Karachi who now lives on the Island of Margarita, Venezuela, wrote to Goans of Pakistan, “My House in Venezuela is called ‘Pakistan’ – how is that for patriotism!!”
Filed under: Architecture, Arts and Crafts · Tags: Goans, Karachi, KGA, social
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Nice. But where is the article. Guess its Karachi Goan Association Hall.
@ Saad: The pictures are unfortunately of the Sind Club, a relic of colonialism. Some of our so – called elites sat in the bar and over a chotta peg planned their intrigues when Karachi was the capital. No different to the so- called elites of today except that they were a bit more gentlemanly and spoke better English.
The Goans had nothing to do with all this of course. They were marginalised like a lot of other people. Sigh!
@ Karachi walla @ Saad: I do apologize. Having read the article ( it wasn’t there before) i realise the pictures are of the Goan Centre, and not the Sind Club. The architecture, decoration, tiles etc .are very similar. This building also appears to be very well maintained even if there are few Goans left.
@Saad: KGA still has more than 500 members plus their dependents. The only difference between the fate of KGA and other buildings is the sheer activism of the remaining Goan community. Please check http://www.goansofpakistan.org/
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The Goan-Pakistanis should resist all imported/indigenous shenanigans; and may they prosper immensely in Pakistan
“…A seperate post is needed for what Goans have done for Karachi. The thriving community of 1850s has been migrating for pastures green abroad….”. It would be nice to read more about Goans of yesterday and today!
I wonder who would venture into that area now fast faded.
slarpore writes:
“The Goan-Pakistanis should resist all imported/indigenous shenanigans..”
Then why don’t you get rid of this ideology imported from Arabia or exported from Makkah or imposed from some embassy of an alien western (=arab)imperialism?
Marvellous. It’s a great thing that it’s still preserved by the Karachi Goans. A tribute to our history and a connection with our multifaceted past.
hiob jii,
if you dont marrow line and read my line its catchall includes all shenanigans which does not exclude your fetish roelaw (pinglish, means shouting from foreign rooftops) and mullahs-megamoolaw. Yesterday, I received a long poem as sms from some unknown aficionado and I wrote back: What you need is a good Luck from all sides.
I wish you the same snide. It seems to me that you are hokusing-pokusing in some middle eastern niche where Ham’buggering is quite common.
In spite of your fascist’nating eloquence against islam, i hope you will retain some sene of humour. And jettizon some hindnus chicanery into seachange…
Look at me, the pakteahouse ran a frenzied campaign (propelled by the re’sourful lowfirm: Bhandhari+Naqvi) that Geoffrey never studied at Harvard. I tolerated for more than a year. But then when the Guppy Gland of the titttle-tittle)started Rasna (leaking a bit, beautifully off course). I confessed I did not study there, to wit: a genius does not have to study to garner degrees (plural) from any university. I merely taught Harvard (e.g., sued them, wrote a scathing paper : JUSTICE IS ABSENCE OF DICTATORIAL PREROGATIVE, and more, all this back in 1965) that time had come to start hiring non-white professors. They learned fast from me as an export-quality student and improved. But with that extinguished my becoming the first Asian justice of the United States Supreme Court. My mfhusain (glossary, it means my foot!!)
So! my sin-seer advice to you is that instead of bionically breast-beating about islam, study it and truly-verily enlighten yourself.
Write in stead critically on HyberRabidly Burgeoning Massive Corruption in Pakistan (and relatively at far lesser scale within your own India).
Or write devotedly eulogising the greatest artist who ever walked on the Good Earth (for that you can obtain particulars/baggage from local art daweyne Salima Faiz, O-Levels and her husband Hashmi (who was my classmate at the Government College along with Kamal Azfar).
Try it you like it!!! Cheer up, and get ought of your His Master’s Vice cacooooooooooon.
Let your accumulated learning turn the page rather than dirtying your soul as fig leaf.
(PLEASE!)
to slarpore
thanks for the good advice.
Corruption is a very secondary problem Geoffrey.
In fact many a corruption has helped us bypass a silly or idiotic law which the ones up there did not bother to revise for half a century of their laziness.
Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption campaign must graduate upwards to something more – otherwise it is just a case of “gande paani me dandaa maaraa”.
Occasionally I too do write something funny to laugh about. Not so often as you do.
I have never for a second doubted that you were not allowed to become the chancellor (or dean or deen) of Harvard University because you wrote too good british English. These amis can’t take it.
Dear Karachiwallas,
It was indeed a welcome pleasure to read about the Karachi Goan Association Hall. This Associciation was created in 1886 by likeminded individuals to be a meeting point for Goans. I am quite proud that my grandfather Mathias Rosario de Sa, himself a largely successful businessman of that era was one of the founder members. KGA meant a lot to my father Orlando de Sa and he served on various committees for almost half a century. When he died in 1986, he was still a committe member. I myself served for a period of five years during the 1990s before leaving Pakistan shores for good in 1996. I still recollect my youth in Karachi and would say that it was great living there. Whilst I read about the infrastructure built up these last few years, it pains me to hear about the troubles the city is facing in turns of violence, kidnappings, etc. This is not my Karachi, which will remain in my heart as a great place. Many of my generation who have left for the West, unfortunately don’t feel the same way. Reasons unknown!
What a beautiful place!
These sort of artivlces keep appearing from time to tome. It is about time the Goans of Karachi who most of them are Pakistani by birth get united and top being selfish and live like a united community.
Very few would remember the cultural uplift Karachi was given when there was migration from Goa. That was early sixties and Karachi was a city bubbling with life.
In 1974 I was in New York to meet a high UN official secretary surprised me by telling me that she was Pakistan. She was from Goa, and had lived in Karachi.
Cannot we bring the good old days to Karach so that all these beautiful people come back.
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Dear karachi walla’
Im a karachi walla i wrote a classic book history on karachi in sindhi,A/ zize 640 pages with 200 hundred B/W & COLOR PIC;Now im
workin on books second editon’i need some information on karachi
1)Biogharphy of;
1.Minual Maskatia mayor karachi frommay 1945 to may 1946.he was a
Goan of karachi.
2.Dewan Shambo Nath Molraj Mayor karachi,fm may 1943 to may 1944. Hindu comunaty.
3.Wishram Dass Dewan Dass Mayor karachi fm may 1946 to may 1947
i need complet detail abuot these prsons,i wait for your mail,Thanx
Dear All,
I really feel pain in my heart when i think what we have done to karachi. It was a live and wonderful city with mixed cultures different religions and faiths and with great tolerance for each other regardless of colour creed and cast.
There was no issue of any kind within Karachi regardless who you are every one was enjoying to his capacity there were people who were drinking there were people who were praying but nobody was bother to each other freedom of choice was there…… what every human being need.
Than in after 70′s religion became issue and see after that what we have done to city & country more killings more kidnapping more corruptions which resulted in fear to many communities who felt or see no future and started migrate which include all minorities specially Goan’s whose life styles was threatened .
unfortunately we up to now not able to learn how to live together and respect other peoples life styles while we remain committed to our own faith.
Allama Iqbal in his poetry state that beauty of Garden is result of different kind of flowers and smell they show and generate imagine if there is only one type of flower in the Garden you will never feel beauty or may fed up.
All communities of Pakistan are like flower of different colours who make the Garden we call Pakistan I sincerely wish all must make effort to re built damged Garden of Pakistan .
Kuffar has no place in the garden of Allah.
“ethos” is an interesting documentary…