By Murtaza Razvi

Date:23-06-05

Source: Dawn

The Bagh-i-Jinnah or erstwhile Lawrence Garden, sprawling over hundreds of acres in the middle of Lahore can truly be called the lung of the city. Established by the former Punjab governor Lord John Laird Lawrence in1860, the garden has some of the finest variety of trees and shrubs that rival the Lodhi Garden in the heart of New Delhi. It even has a miniaturized Shalimar in its fold.

In recent years many of the garden trees, however, succumbed to old age and had to be pulled down. The Parks and Horticulture Authority has done well to replace some of the fallen trees with new varieties, such as the Ashoka and the Buddha, which grow well in tropical climes. But neither provides the kind of shade associated with the native pipal, keekar and the banyan varieties.

Many pine and crimson trees were also among those which fell in recent years, making you wonder where the huge fire foxes (bats), having a wing span of up to two metres and that hung themselves upside down from the branches of these towering trees, have disappeared.

And so have the huge vultures which perched themselves high up on top of the tall trees lining the Lawrence Road entrance next to the zoo, facing the open air theatre on the hill right across. The crimson tree under which sat a mysterious man playing his flute through the night is also gone.

The hill is the place where G. D. Sondhi, former principal of the Government College (1939-45), had an open air theatre built. Here were staged the plays put up by the GC Dramatic Club as well as the arts council under Lahore theatre pioneers Agha Babar and Rafi Peer. This was also the place where PTV was born back in 1964, when live broadcasts were beamed to a dazzled Lahore audience who had not seen anything like the idiot box before.

The open air theatre was also the place where Sadequain sojourned for a few years in the `70s and painted some of his masterpieces.

Here was also held the annual All Pakistan Music Conference under its late patron Hayat Ahmed Khan. The Faiz Amn Mela was also held here in 1984, which became a watershed in the Movement for Restoration of Democracy during Ziaul Haq time. Many Lahoris still foster the wish of bringing the remains of Madam Nur Jehan and raising her tomb here one day.

In the shadow of the hill lie the meticulously manicured lawns at split levels where old Lahore socialites and the city’s political elite used to throw tea parties and luncheons. Then there’s a huge patch of land that remains part of the well-stocked plant nurseries; the botany departments at the Punjab University and the Government College still use these nurseries for research purposes.

A widened jogging track is the latest addition to the garden, which is frequented by joggers who come here not only from the vicinity but also from areas far off. There is something about the place that is habit forming. When people hadn’t moved out to the suburbs this was the place to come for an evening stroll or a morning walk.

“My father used to play cricket here at the cricket ground, arguably one of the oldest in the subcontinent, says Dr Bhatti, a physician in his 40s, who now lives miles away in DHA, but comes to jog at Lawrence for what he terms old times sake.

Shazia and her fianc Saqib come here from Gulberg, saying they have sweet childhood memories associated with the place.

Our parents were friends and we used to come here for day-long picnics in the winter. In summers, we would come here in the evening and munch on chips, gol-gappay and shami kebabs served with tea at the cafeteria, while our parents played cards.

Similarly, Begam Aqeela Bano, 67, comes from Johar Town, easily a distance of 16km, because she says she grew up looking at the trees here and cherishing the change of seasons as depicted by the plants and shrubs.

“It is surprising that despite all the pollution, increased lighting and noise, I can still hear the nightingales sing and spot an odd fire fly or two amid the bushes. That gives me hope about the garden and the city. Maybe all is not lost yet, Bano says.