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Mules Mansions, Karachi

If you do not buy the notion that buildings speak, try and talk to Mules Mansion. You will strike up a pretty long, albeit sad, conversation. It is a beauty that is in a dire need of a face lift. But beauty it is. The elaborate structure has the presence of a treasure trove no one seems to be interested in acquiring.

Crossing the Native Jetty Bridge (Netty Jetty if you like) with a cool breeze caressing your cheeks making you feel comfy in the sweltering Karachi weather, you invariably get lost in the attention grabbing moving pictures that the bridge helps you come across: people leaning or bending over the overpass looking at the anchored ships or at the small mandir on its right side or some children throwing stones (not in the ducks and drakes style) into the calm, a bit contaminated water on its left side. There have been reports that occasionally some depressed individuals use this very bridge to say goodbye to life. But to judge the reports’ veracity we will keep that subject for some other time.

Once you cross the Native Jetty Bridge you witness quite a few commercial buildings on both sides of the road, many to do with the seaport. It is at this point that a striking but not well maintained structure, built of rugged stone masonry in 1917, halts your progress. It is Mules Mansion. Say hello to it, though it is difficult to greet it because there is heavy traffic on Bunder Road whizzing past you like a twister to Keamari Port, polluting the atmosphere in every which way. Pollution has made life a little cumbersome for the magnificent mansion.

If you become gracious enough to ignore the discoloured (in the sense that its original colour is no more) and somewhat aberrant current state of the building you will notice that it has a character which is marked by its ornate nature having classical elements.

Mules Mansion was designed by Moses Somake (who was born in Lahore on June 6, 1875 and died in London on April 6, 1947). It was named after the first chairman of the Karachi Port Trust, Charles Mules. After partition of the subcontinent the mansion served as the Naval Headquarters for a certain span of time. Subsequently the place was used for different purposes, including residential. In fact a few pen wielders used to live in the building in the ‘70s.

[Source: Karachi Legacies of Empires by Peerzada Salman | Coordinates: Khalid Hanif]