Karachi Mayor Recalls Bombay Nights on Footpath

‘‘Way back in 1972, I spent six months in Mumbai, often sleeping on the footpath,’’ says Mohammed Farooq Memon Fariya. The burly 52-year-old is the nazim or town administrator of Saddar in Karachi. For six months, Fariya roamed the streets, ate roadside food from Pydhonie stalls and did odd jobs. Finally, Fariya got permission to return to Karachi—via Burma. In Mumbai for the sixth time, Fariya says his only regret is that he has failed to trace his friend Mohammed Ishub. ‘‘I met him at a chai shop in Bhendi Bazaar when it was pouring. And he just took me home and sheltered me,’’ says Fariya of the taxi driver who took him to his single room, which he shared with six other men. Fariya also supports the recent positive steps taken by India and Pakistan.