Of heroes and cities

Date

March 29, 2008

Category

Individuals

This country seems to honour its heroes only after they have kicked the bucket. We name our battleships, our airports, our boulevards and bridges after them. What’s wrong with naming a few things after people who can still walk?

To embark on a mission to reclaim Karachi from rogue developers and robber contractors you are going to need help. That help is available. The Parsi community has played a pivotal role in shaping Karachi as it once was. Dinshaw, Nusserwanji, Cowasjee, Kothari and Avari are only a few names that come to mind. Their children are still living among us. Their love for their city is evident in some of the landmark structures the city is still proud to have.

Ask Ardesher Cowasjee for help and advice. He loves his city. Listen to the wisdom of this grand old man. He might give you an earful before he gives you some good ideas and advice — a small price to pay for being in the company of an idiosyncratic iconoclast who has never turned away a friend or foe who he thought he could somehow help in some way. It is just that Ardesher suffers fools badly.

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