City Museums – Up close with Sadequain

The Karachi Walla has visited Frere Hall umpteen times but never had a chance to climb the stairs to the wooden rostrum inside the main hall. Supposedly from there, town hall gatherings were addressed. Also you could have a look at Sadequain’s mural much closely. Even if these were not good enough reasons, wanted to climb up the stairs just for the hack of it.

I was there with a fellow wayfarer. We had to wait for a bit before we the doors were unlocked but we did not mind. We walked around Frere Hall. Had a close look at the fountain which has seen the good, bad and ugly Karachi days. They have left their mark on it. Few kids were playing Cricket in parking lot. We decided to sit and wait. She wanted to bask in March sunshine but I preferred the shadow so I sat at under a tall tree. She sat next to me but where the shadow ended.

The doors were opened finally. We climbed to the first floor and took the staircase to the wooden platform. Few of Sadequain’s painting were lying in the open. We stood at the edge and had a close look at the mural. We interpreted it in our own way. A narrow opening from there led to one of the towers of Frere Hall. We had a good look of the area. There was a ladder inside the tower which led to the canopy but it seem to be in bad condition. There was another door which led to the rooftop hall but it was closed. We walked back and called it a day.