Ardeshir Cowasjee is a sole warrior, who is determined to protect the city and its lungs generally called open spaces and parks and playgrounds. He laments the way; authorities are depriving poor citizens of any breathing space. He is hence, a true crusader but his quest is not devoid of detractors; some people are deadly against him and pray for his demise day and night. He is a great survivor though he survives to see what is happening to his city its past and its present and he is out to defend it in his own way. Cowasjee indeed is a difficult fellow at 82; he cares for nobody except for this city. During this struggle, he suffered but he refused to budge. His craving for justice never dies; he demands nothing in return. Once a powerful man with a mandate offered him to accept top position in Sindh, he politely declined. ' This is not my cup of tea.' The man insisted and he even offered to spare him of protocol duty and frequent shuttle between Karachi and Islamabad but failed to convince stubborn Cowasjee. That night Cowasjee had a sound sleep. That sleep reminds him of a midnight knock at his door during Bhutto era, when the first duly elected prime minister was all-powerful. His police arrested him when he was fast asleep and took him to central jail. It was three in the morning, various gates of the jail were locked and the jailer had the keys. Even prisoners were surprised who the man was to disturb them. Jail authorities were in a fix what to do with the late night prisoner. Finally, Cowasjee was lodged in jail hospital and to the shock of all he went to a deep slumber. That was Cowasjee, a hard nut to crack. But his father Rustam had all the worries for his son after all he was a father. A way out was found to provide safe exit for relatively young Cowasjee. It was Wednesday February 11, 1976; he addressed his friend Bhutto as Mr Prime Minister and perhaps Bhutto's ego was perhaps satisfied and the senior Cowasjee was happy to see his son back as any thing could have happened to him during incarceration. To pay tribute to his parents Rustam and Mecca, Cowasjee built two open gardens in Clifton just facing once regal Jahangir Kothari Parade. These are only tow 'baghs' in the city that have no iron gates no security guards no fixed timings no charge no entry fee, it is free; it is open sort of mini 'Central Park' in the heart of Clifton. These gardens have flowers small plants and wild bushes every thing to show nature in an environment surrounded by unabated ruthless commercialization. Outside the garden there is an old, dilapidated tree that Cowasjee saved. The thinking man with high spirit not only saved trees but also poor animals that enjoy no relief in this city. He rescued a wounded donkey some time back and bought anger of authorities. 'You had a donkey in your yard?' 'Yes I had.' It was injured and almost lost one leg. It was useless even for usually cruel donkey cart drivers. Since they refused to adopt it, I provided him water and grass. What was wrong with it.' Where is that donkey now? ' It died.' Authorities were visibly upset over decent burial of a poor animal. In a city where cruelty to animals is a sanctioned social feature, there are few people who tend to care for animals. Once there was a society to stop cruelty to animals, it survived on paper alone. There is no denying the fact local authorities were not terribly perturbed about the donkey Cowasjee saved they just wanted to 'get' him to stop him from his crusade to save city's life threatened by horrendous commercialization backed by almost all political and religious parties. Now he is determined to see Gutter Baghicha (gutter garden) survive the onslaught by unscrupulous land grabbers who thrive under both democratic and autocratic set up. He has a team of brave city warriors led by Roland D Souza (sorry for any mistake in spelling) that works 24/7 to see nothing illegal happens and nothing goes un-notice here. It is by all means an uphill task but these fellows never believe in saying die. This city indeed needs such valuable citizens who demand nothing in return and keep their faith in good deeds despite enormous difficulties and challenges. It was during Bhutto era once Zulfikar Ali allegedly asked his minister Jam Sadiq to spare Mazar-i-Quaid from his allotment spree. This is PPP era again and now every body is crying foul as a lady minister is after historic Makli Graveyard and allegedly wanted to include part of it in her family's lands. This is Jinnah's free Pakistan; every body has an open license. Cowasjee has a passion for Jinnah and regularly reminds this nation of the saying of Father of the Nation. He craves to see Jinnah's message of tolerance ushered in a true Pakistani society where every body is free to practice his creed and Muslim ceased to be Muslim and Hindu ceased to be Hindu. He laments the way Jinnah's message was never rightly understood by those who matter. Does he feel angry what is happened to Jinnah's dream? 'No his dream is there. It remains intact.' He remembers meeting Quaid-I-Azam with his father. Cowasjee was hardly 18 then. He could still feel warmth of the man otherwise considered strict. He is the man who keeps reminding a vast majority that religiously refuses to listen the Father of the Nation was a liberal and secular man who was a firm believer in minorities rights. There is no denying the fact Ardeshir Cowasjee belongs to minority called Parse by all rightly or wrongly though he has some difficult title for them. I asked him did it ever occur to him to go to India or to Europe as they are considered safe haven sort of. Anguish was visible on his face that is rare. 'Why should I go to India. This is my home. My parents, grand parents born here died here. We are here for the last 150 years. 'Hum aedhar say kidhar javay' (where should I go from here) yeh mera ghar hai khatam bat (this is my home, period). He is dead right; this is what perhaps Father of the Nation wanted to make of. Is Cowasjee safe in Jinnah's Pakistan, where his cherished dream remains alive? This is saddening to find two-armed policeman detailed to protect 82- year-old Cowasjee. He is under threat from some political and religious thugs, they seldom show any mercy to him but again Cowasjee himself shows no mercy to thugs and crooks and land grabbers and illegal builders. Once I remember a small time builder organized a paid demonstration against Cowasjee and his bunch of concerned citizens at the Karachi Press Club. I asked the man why he is deadly against Cowasjee. 'This man never wants to see city developed, he is against development. We want it. We pray for his death day and night. But this crazy man never dies.' This is life.