By mentioning rupees, money and my suit, I have made you realize the value and value of rupees in those times. The average monthly expenditure of an ordinary family used to reach 50 rupees. A school shoe made of bata used to be available for 5 rupees.
What am I, that once again I strayed from the subject of Elphinstone Street and where did I get you into financial confusion. But what to do, it is not so easy to write or talk about Karachi. If the word comes from the word, then it is not known where it goes. I often get sidetracked so that I don't forget anything later, so in this cycle, I have mixed up the historical, geographical, economic and social aspects of Karachi and made it a bit of a puzzle. which I will continue to give you in light doses with the care that neither you are bored nor I worry about something being left unsaid later.
While strolling on Elphinstone Street and walking towards Saddar, this road also reached Friar Road in the central area of Saddar and merged with it and lost its existence. But taking the last hiccups, it would merge with the drug road and then the two roads would merge and lose their identity at the same time and from here a new road, Club Road, would start, which would lead to Hotel Karachi. It was heading towards the Intercontinental. There was only so much story about the important roads of Karachi like Drug Road and Elphinstone Street!
A little further on the club road, another big road also came from the Sadar side and crossed it and went ahead. Its name was "Victoria Road" (Abdullah Haroon Road). It also got its name. It was a grand, dignified and grand road named after Queen Victoria of Great Britain and it was one of the earliest roads in Karachi. It ran almost parallel to and eventually crossed Clark Street towards Saddar's main market. However, instead of stopping there, it crossed Friar Road to become Bandar Road (MA Jinnah), Karachi's largest and main road. Road).
The first part of Victoria Road had mostly heavy machinery and car showrooms etc. Apart from them, there were also large trading companies, while there were also offices of some local and foreign banks. There was also a very large laundry, probably named Snow White. Daily necessities were not found on this road and only those people who had to come here came, so there was not so much crowding on it which was the characteristic of such roads. This part of the road used to be quite desolate. Especially in the evening it would be overrun.
Yes, going forward, in the area of Saddar, not only the business activities increased, but also the traffic of people increased. Just before entering Sadar Bazar was Karachi's new Central Post Office, which was built much later. This beautiful 2-storied building used to be a magnificent and prestigious building of its time, where a large crowd of needy people used to live. ( to be continued )
