Walking is generally considered one of the most effective ways to learn the geography, layout and ambience of a city. It gives you the luxury to stand and stare at architectural marvels, monuments and even buildings that might be of little interest to the common eye.

It is the same luxury Welsh poet W.H. Davies mourned when he wrote “We have no time to stand and stare” in his poem Leisure.

This becomes especially evident when one recognises a peculiar characteristic of big cities: no matter how much one walks and explores them, there is always something left unseen and undiscovered. In my hometown Lahore, I have walked nearly 20 kilometres in a single afternoon — and still come home feeling I have missed something.

During a recent trip to Mall Road, I pulled up near the corrugated iron sheets placed a few paces south-east of the historic Pak Tea House cafe. The sheets were blocking the view of the government’s ongoing project in the area around the Neela Gumbad [Blue Dome] shrine.

A boys’ hostel in Lahore built more than 100 years ago and in continuous use until a few years ago now lies empty and forgotten…

A boys’ hostel in Lahore built more than 100 years ago and in continuous use until a few years ago now lies empty and forgotten…

I went into a nearby street, shouldering my way through the bustling crowd near the Kutchery Road entrance of New Anarkali, before finding the passage that could lead me to Ewing Hall.

Ewing Hall was........

© Dawn (Magazines)