Chauburji Two weeks ago I wrote a column about the Paharis of Lahore and made a grave error therein I omitted to mention one of these Lahori landmarks on Queens Road, now known as the Shahrah-e-Fatima Jinnah. In expiation of this unforgivable act, I am dedicating this weeks column to this pahari and the road it adorns. Queens Road stretches from the Charing Cross, also known to old Lahoris as Malika ka but on account of Queen Victorias statue that adorned it, to Mozang Chungi. Three small roads intersect it namely Lawrence Road, Mozang Road and Goulding Road, while Lytton Road branched off from it, just short of Mozang Chungi. There was a time many decades ago, when Queens Road was part of the Civil Lines and was counted amongst Lahores most beautiful localities. Huge leafy trees adorned both sides and spacious colonial style bungalows with well kept gardens and drives lined its entire length. 'Gold Smith was perhaps the only shop that faced the road, as one started strolling down it from the Charing Cross end. This shop was established much before Pakistan came into being and was well known for its exquisite, but expensive jewellery. Some distance away and on the opposite side, a bold red cross adorned the front of a residence like building that served as the Headquarters of the International Red Cross. The Plaza Cinema always forced passers by to slow down and peer at the two huge masonry rectangles flanking the In and Out gates and displaying king size posters of current and forthcoming attractions. The cinema also housed a dancing school run by a foreign lady on the first floor and was therefore a popular place for would be Romeos. Across the road, an imposing structure housed the Civil Lines Police Station with its celebrity Anglo Indian Sergeants, who were the centrepiece of an earlier column titled Melas and Traffic Sergeants. Two petrol stations served the residents of Queens Road at the Lawrence Road Intersection and were the site of sand bagged bunkers when the army was called out to quell the disturbances of 1952. I remember watching our driver getting the old Studebaker filled up at 'rupees two and some annas a gallon from these stations. By the way, a rupee in those days was made up of 16 annas and an anna was equivalent of 12 pices. The Young Women Christian Association or YWCA was a kindergarten school and a hostel for working women where one could find excellent boarding and meals free of religious prejudice. It was a lively place with a weekly movie show organised by the Government Department of Public Relations and weekends when young hopefuls vied for the attention of the fair residents under the eagle eye and barrack room discipline of the warden, Miss Suba Khan. As one walked across the Mozang Road Intersection, one passed a sprawling hospital facility donated by one of Lahores famous sons Sir Ganga Ram and named after him. Later, the Fatima Jinnah Medical College was constructed across the road from this hospital. On the corner of the Goulding Road Intersection stood a house that belonged to the family of Pakistans First Prime Minister Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan. Contrary to what we witness today, it was just like any other residence on the road minus any security or fuss. Our pahari lay just a few hundred meters down the road and on its right. It was a very small mound by Lawrence Garden standards, but nonetheless it was a landmark, as the Lahore Fire Brigade had a facility at its base next to a wrestling akhara. This pahari also overlooked a large masonry tank of pre-independence days that had been converted into a fishing point for Lahori anglers, who could cast their rods after paying a small fee. And so as one trudged on past the Salvation Army House, one came to the end of the road to Mozang Chungi with a past of its own, but thats another story for another column. The writer is a freelance columnist.