Karachi Landmarks – Misri Shah

Misri Shah is one of seven saints gurading Karachi from natural disasters. He is also regarded as Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s brother. To get to his shrine you have to take Khayaban Hafiz (one starting from Gizri and heading to DHA) and go past Sultan Mosque and subsequent commercial area (where all the big honchos of banking are). five minutes more and you will reach Khayaban Bukhari signal. Turn right and after couple of minutes ride you will be able to see the shrine. Its not as grand as his brother’s but yet well-trodden and revered.The whole scene is surreal with the backdrop of a typical Defence Area. There are shops selling chuddar, flowers and other things holy and there was a mosque adjacent to the shrine. There was an empty area in front of the shrine where faqirs were relaxing. There were ducks, peacocks and goats. It looked like a miniature of a village set in Defence phase six.

The caretaker of the shrine was kind enough to let me take pictures. He also offered me tea from near by Quetta hotel. He told me stories of his visit to different shrines in Sindh. He was a local TV Station celebrity and has recorded naat many times. An electrician was working on a board which wished Shaab e Baraat to everyone. He could not test it because there was no electricity. “It will come any minute”, assured the caretaker.

Tea and electricity were taking forever. I did not mind as it was getting darker every passing minute and I excused my way out in the monsoon showers.