A photograph of the famous Columbus Hotel in Karachi, taken likely in the 1960s.
Located on Clifton Road, the hotel was owned by the Dossa family, who lived on Britto Road in the Soldier Bazar neighborhood.
In her memoir, the Iranian-born Jewish woman Dr Mariam Waseem recalls staying at the hotel after illegally entering Pakistan, while fleeing the theocracy in Iran:
"We got one room for the four of us… We were in that room for the next six days and the food went bad. We used some money that my sister wired to buy more. Then a young man finally arrived wearing a white shirt and white pants. It was Ramadan month... He was like an angel sent from God, a Muslim man who just wanted to help. I told him my son was sick, so he took me to the hospital, where I saw a female pediatrician for the first time... He took me to get the medicine and some food and never asked me to pay him the money back.
"[He] came every day to answer my questions and he always took my son and I for a ride around the city to look at the different places. He made sure, however, that we were not too friendly to anyone and that I looked like a Pakistani woman, mostly covered up..."
Located on Clifton Road, the hotel was owned by the Dossa family, who lived on Britto Road in the Soldier Bazar neighborhood.
In her memoir, the Iranian-born Jewish woman Dr Mariam Waseem recalls staying at the hotel after illegally entering Pakistan, while fleeing the theocracy in Iran:
"We got one room for the four of us… We were in that room for the next six days and the food went bad. We used some money that my sister wired to buy more. Then a young man finally arrived wearing a white shirt and white pants. It was Ramadan month... He was like an angel sent from God, a Muslim man who just wanted to help. I told him my son was sick, so he took me to the hospital, where I saw a female pediatrician for the first time... He took me to get the medicine and some food and never asked me to pay him the money back.
"[He] came every day to answer my questions and he always took my son and I for a ride around the city to look at the different places. He made sure, however, that we were not too friendly to anyone and that I looked like a Pakistani woman, mostly covered up..."