Another place I visited to document its history as part of the Mughal Gardens was Shalimar Gardens. These gardens are located near the renowned University of Engineering and Technology, just along the Grand Trunk or GT Road. These gardens were in fact influenced by the Shalimar Gardens in Srinagar, in India. The latter were built by the Mughal Emperor Jehangir, and they too have a similar architecture, with gardens linked through a channel. Jehangir's son, Shah Jahan was responsible for the Pakistan-side Shalimar Gardens. At this time, the Mughal Empire was at its zenith.

A while back, I had organized a trip to Wazir Khan Mosque, and as you walk from Delhi Gate to the mosque, you are bound to encounter the Sunehri Masjid, which was built after the Wazir Khan, at a time when the Mughal empire was facing decline.

The mosque was in fact constructed during the time of Muhammad Shah, one of the last Mughal emperors, and designe by the then, Deputy Governor of Lahore. Following that, it was converted to a gurdwara when Punjab was under Sikh rule. It was not until the 1820s when someone from the Fakir family (Fakir Azizuddin) convinced Ranjit Singh to transfer ownership back to the Muslim community.

To reach the mosque, you have to climb some stairs to see the mosque. The idea of this was to have the mosque elevated by 11 feet, from the bazaar, and to collect rent from the shops. Once you have climbed the stairs, you may find the gate locked.

Just ask around the storekeepers, and the main guy who is the guard there will be summoned. If you show him your ID card, and tell him your a tourist, he will open up the lock for you and let you in. Kind enough and he will even take a picture of you!



Once you climb the staircase in front of the mosque, you will see that it opens up to a small courtyard. There was some construction work being done there, but if you can get past that, you will be stunned by the beauty of the mosque. It's sad not much has been written about it though! There is an ablution tank in the centre of this courtyard. The prayer chambers are at the front, and I believe there are 7 in total. 4 minarets can also be seen!

After some email exchanges, I along with my friends finally got permission to visit the Asif Jan Haveli on a bright and clear Saturday. The haveli is now The Government College Fatima Jinnah, but is not open to visitors.

Walking from Delhi gate (one of the thirteen gates of the walled city) and by-passing the famous Masjid Wazir Khan, we reached the Haveli. It was all wired and barricaded but we managed to get in easily. The main entrance archway had a huge wooden door giving the sensation of a fort. Given that is 42 kanals, it may well have been one.



This Haveli dates back to the period of Mughal Emperor Jahangir when Asif Jah Khan was appointed as Governor of Lahore by Jahangir in 1625. He was the father of Queen Mumtaz Mahal, who was the wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. There are various references in history about the construction of this Haveli, some of them relate to Asif Jan while others make mentions of Dhayan Singh and Khushkhal Singh. Most of the remaining architecture that is part of the college that stands now, is Asif Jah haveli. When we asked around, the people in the school traced its history to Asif Jah, with no such mention of Dhayan Singh.

When you enter the haveli, it opens up to three courtyards. The buildings have arched hallways, stairs leading outside, and a number of passageways. There is one passageway, that leads to a tunnel that goes all the way to the Lahore Fort. The architecture of the building reflects a mix of Mughal and Sikh influence. Blue lotus flower petals are painted on most of the pillars, while the balconies resemble the architecture of Lahore Fort and other buildings of that era.

We were told by the Principal that they are working on a book that relates the history of this Haveli. It would be undoubtedly a great contribution to learn about this haveli, whose past has yet to be studied or penned down.

In more recent months, I have been fortunate to enjoy breakfast with Mr. Babar Ali at Naqsh, an art school and gallery for unconventional artists. Attached to the school is the gallery where the artwork is displayed. The interesting thing about Naqsh is the school itself, which reflects the foundations aims. Like many other institutions committed to education, service and learning, Naqsh too has been founded by Babar Ali in his ancestral home.


For a period, the grand Mubarak Haveli remained empty for a few years and then changed ownership. With the coming of the British, the Mubarak Haveli was taken over and handed over to Nawab Ali Raza Qizilbash. The Nawab, out of respect to the original owners, rebuilt the haveli and converted a major portion of the haveli into an Imam Bargah.

The diversity at the school is striking. With a monthly fee of PKR 1000, the school caters especially to the less privileged of Lahore and neighboring areas, as well as to non-traditional artists, who have no formal training in painting or art.

The story of the haveli begins with the three brothers by the name of Mir Bahadur Ali, Mir Nadir Ali and Mir Bahar Ali. When Bahadar Ali’s wife gave birth to a son, the ‘haveli’ was named Mubarak Haveli. The family branched off into two major components, the Fakir family (one of the oldest in Lahore) and the Syed family. The Fakir family built their own havelis near the Mubarak Haveli, one of which stands even today and is known as the Fakirkhana in Bazaar Hakeeman. The Syeds owned the properties from both sides of the right edge of Tehsil Bazaar right up to the entrance of Mubarak Haveli. While the Fakir family, because their influence in the Lahore Darbar remained in power,it was seen that the Syeds had to flee.

It was a few years, and owners later, that Syed Maratab Ali, who happened to be an ancestor of the original Syed ownersm decided to acquire the entire property of his mother’s family. His own wife’s name was also Mubarak Begum. Later on, Syed Maratab Ali’s son, Syed Babar Ali, bought this entire place, and built a School of Calligraphy, now Naqsh.

Naqsh was established in 2003, by Babar Ali, in the buildings attached to the Mubarik Haveli, which were the family’s ancestral home. The Mubarik Haveli, in fact, has been labelled as the oldest, and finest of havelis, just off Bazaar Hakeeman inside Bhati Gate.

Since having  graduated, I have had perhaps ten friends from overseas visit me or come to do research in my native Lahore. Of course, I took them to the usual places to indulge in the food and culture, but it took me a while to show them old and even perhaps the not-so-nice parts of Lahore. There was an element of fear since I was putting them in some peril (or myself!). But then, as we all say in Pakistan, "sab ki likhi hui hai" and eventually I decided to take them to some of the older and slightly dilapidated parts of Lahore, beyond the historical places to the business centers, bazaars and awami (for the locals) places.



 I decided to take them to Shah Alami, since one of them wanted to buy something. When it comes to Shah Alami, I take my mother, the Queen of Shah Alami (a title rightfully bestowed by my cousins).My mom is very good at bargains. Maybe all South Asians are. But she is relentless. When she had to buy bulk items, mostly for her business, she would take me to Shah Alami market, which was a city in itself. Shah Alami Market is one of the oldest markets in Lahore. When Lahore was simply old Lahore, it used to be the vehicular approach into the walled city. It was again rebuilt and developed under the 'Punjab Development of Damaged Areas Act, 1952' by the Lahore Improvement Trust to compensate for the loss of building stock due to Partition Riots.

Within the market are NUMEROUS sub-markets. An analogy would be the Grand Bazaar, expect Shah Alami is a hundred times larger, uglier and cheaper. But hey, that is real Pakistan. It also has some shady items you can buy, so do not buy any medicines, tonics, herbs or food items. It is however, excellent for costumes, antiques, second hand Disney and Apple products, Chinese smuggled good, sketchy tonics, historical remnants that might be worth a fortune but are being sold at almost-free prices.

Within Shah Alami, you will come upon a place called 'Suha Bazaar' which means 'gold market'. It is almost like a gold consignment market where you can get second-hand gold. Around the gold market is Kasaira Bazaar where pots, pans and utensils are sold. This was always an exciting place for me for some odd reason because I would love looking at the display of brass utensils. You will also come across some craftsmen working away on pieces of metal.

Anyways, they also have an excellent music store where they sell local drums and dhols and sitars. Some are antique-ish and ridiculously inexpensive (a sitar for $10).

Freddy's - too-crowded

After a hiatus of two years, I am back ready to write !
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It's been a while since I have been back home but the last time I was there, I chose to stick to one city- Lahore. This time around though, I decided to pay more heed to the forgotten parts of Lahore, the ordinary roads and streets that are now mere shadows of the past.

So - I will talk about Old Lahore that no body cares about starting with Fane Road, the road where my home was and is. Since we just shifted out of Fane Road, it seems reasonable to write about it.

After partition, when streets were being renamed, Fane Road was renamed to Justice Kyani Road, presumably after a particular lawyer, Malik Muhammad Rustam Kayani. Most people still call it Fane Road, however (much like Temple Road or Egerton Road).

I hear from my father and uncle that during the partition era, Fane Road was the place for the liberal, left-wing activists. Of course, many of these activists were lawyers by training and found this the ideal location to engage in enlightened discussions, given the proximity to the High Court.

In the 1880's, it was called Thieves' Alley as a sarcastic reference to the number of lawyers there. According to Henry Goulding, the original Thieves Alley or Shark's Lane was Court Street. That street was inhabited by several members of the local bar including the late J.R.E. Gouldsbury, known among his friends and colleagues as Mr. Gold. When Mr. Gold moved to Fane Road, this road became known as the new "Sharks' Lane" or "Thieves' Alley", particularly after the transfer of the Chief Court to the building on the Mall, today the High Court.

Fane Road was once the site of the Goethe Institute as well as the French Cultural Center. It was the residence of Bakhshi Tek Chand and Khushwant Singh. Tek Chand was a High Court lawyer, who was instrumental in reviewing the patent law in India. Khushwant Singh was a prominent journalist and writer just recently passed away.

My own house on Fane Road was where my grandfather moved to after independence. It was bought from Amolak Singh Kapoor who was a lawyer as well and a friend of my grandfathers. Our families have reconnected after 50 years and remain to be good friends.

Every Lahori guy loves to eat and every Lahori girl at least pretends she loves to eat. However, I would say both would rather face the dire consequences of diabetes ('shugar') and high blood pressure ( 'blood'), then opt for a tasteless, bland, oil-free meal. Regardless, you can't blame us given that there is so much good food in Lahore.

Gawalmandi Food Street
Gawalmandi itself is actually a part of Lahore, often regarded as the cultural centre of Lahore. The famous Food Street of Lahore is located here, which is crowded with families and extended-families and even more extended families. (Yes, nobody TRULY believes in 'do bachay hi achay' trans. 'Two children are good'). Although the food street has been destroyed

Tooba kay Cholay (Tooba's chickpeas)
OMG. This is the ultimate lentil dish you will have and beats the juiciest meat in the world. They are found in front of Odeon Cinema on Abbott road. The cholay are laden with oil and that only goes on to prove that all good things are either fattening or sinful!

Phajje ke Paye
Paye are the feet of goats. The real name of Phajje I believe is Fazl e Haq. He started his restaurant in Hira Mandi, the Red light district. Now, if you want to have dinner, you should wait in the line at 6:00 pm since there is a long queue of people waiting with hungry eyes for the sticky, gooey meat of goat feet. For most goras, I advise you to eat the Paye and not get into the details about what it is or how it is cooked, because although it is extremely delicious, it is laden with oil. However, it is supposedly an aphrodisiac (maybe due to the proximity of the Red Light area), and what is better than desi viagra.

I heard recently that Phajja has expanded his business and his famous, (or infamous) paye are sold in the Fortress stadium, Gawalmandi, Red light district, Model town, and a few more places that I am not aware of.
The real Phajja is however near the Taxali gate and you should go there to get the real deal. It is very close to the Badshahi Mosque.

Taka Tak and Gurday Kapooray
As much as I'd hate to admit this, but Pakistanis eat cooked kidneys (gurday) and testicles (kapooray). Don't be so grossed out. These are cooked and so well done that you can never guess from there looks what they are. Often, this cooked dish is called Taka Tak, which refers to the sound made by the chef while cooking the meal. For those who find this post disgusting, I assure you that you can pick and choose which parts to include in your serving (so you can decide not to choose testicles, ok). It is DELICIOUS.

One of the best places to get Taka tak is Lakshmi chowk, Gawalmandi. It is located right next to another famous place called Butt Karahi. You will be seated next to uncooked kidneys and testicles to keep you company.

What? I didn't write about Lahore! Well, here is to my hometown.
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Lahore is the capital of Punjab and the second largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi. The city lies along the Ravi River, and a few kilometers from Amritsar, across the border.

Historically, and even today, Lahore has been center hub. It successively served as regional capital of many empires that came to the sub-continent. Mughal structures such as the Badshahi Mosque, the Lahore Fort, Shalimar Gardens, and the mausolea of Jehangir and Nur Jehan are popular tourist attractions for the city. Lahore is also home to many British colonial structures built in the Mughal-Gothic style, such as the Lahore High Court, the General Post Office, Lahore Museum and many older universities including the University of the Punjab. The Lahore Zoo, world's third oldest zoo, is also situated here. Lahore is also referred to as the cultural heart of Pakistan as it hosts most of the arts, cuisine, festivals, film making, music, gardening and intelligentsia of the country.

There is perhaps a lot of color to Lahore, in its people, places and food. It has everything that tourists love and those that locals love: Shah Almi, the shopping paradise, Pak Tea House (a left-wing liberal hangout spot turned semi tyre shop), Susie the elephant (incorrectly spelled as Sozie and perhaps represented by multiple elephants who are always named Susie), Urdu Bazaar, and the Wazir Khan Mosque.

However, Lahore is so vast and complicated that one post would probably never do justice to it. That's why I've written a number of posts for Lahore, highlighting various aspects of this culturally rich and perplex urban hub.

 Of course, there is a little bias here since I am a Lahori and live very close to the Inner City where all the action happens.