Karachi after Partition did not have the vertical inclination that dominates its landscape today. Residential societies were the first to claim land and create housing colonies but they were mostly what were described in those days as bungalows.

PECHS, the abbreviation for Pakistan Employees Cooperative Housing Society, was perhaps the first and most well-planned of these housing clusters but here too there were no skyscrapers only bungalows and the limit in most cases was ground plus one as dictated by the bye-laws of the society.The whole area of this society was practically a jungle dotted with small hillocks and you will not believe it but the going price in those days for a piece of this land especially for the federal government employees was just Rs3 per square yard.

Even at that price few had the cash available and either had to take a loan from their provident fund or somehow manage to buy it on installment. The purpose of revisiting this lifestyle is to compare the lifestyle and hazards of those now living in this jungle of skyscrapers with the serene and smooth living of the........

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