Bottle Gali

Botal Gali, The name is fascinating. And it is fascinating in a way. You won’t see so many glass bottles in one place in the age of disposable and plastic bottles. Getting there is easy, Head to Pakistan chowk via road opposite DJ science college. Turn left on the first street as soon as you reach Pakistan chowk. Find parking as soon as you enter that street and then walk into the first street on your right. It is not as grand as your imagination may suggest. The street is narrow and full of bikes. The shops are tiny and scarcely lit. The architecture is a mix as one would expect in any Saddar lane. Surviving blocks of apartments and shops here and there are in sharp contrast with the monumental ugliness of recent construction. Once you reach the other end of the Gali you get to the famous Bandar Road now known as M A Jinnah Road and are met with the sight of The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation Building. The building itself is a story for some other day.

A lot of people visit Botal Gali for similar reasons. Looking for bottles for their small-scale business. However, most of the attractive bottles and jars were not mass-produced. Chances are that they were second-hand.

Back when Pakistan had just emerged in the subcontinent as a country in its own right, this area was busy being called Parsi Gali. the area was full of Parsi residents, most of whom had migrated from India. “There were barely any shops back then,” recalls one shopkeeper. The street gradually transformed from a thriving residential district to a commercial one, featuring shops selling all kinds of bottles — perfumes, medicines, beverages, you name it.

Of the many things that strike you once you eventually decide to set foot in the Gali is the overwhelming sense of nostalgia. Surrounded by colonial buildings and residents that have stories to tell, usually dating back to pre-partition times, you immediately mark this as a place that lives more in the past than the present. It’s more about what it could have been than what it is now.

Over time, as the buildings marked by colonial imprints aged, the street also fell into disrepair. Was it the lack of a sense of ownership among the residents? Possibly but it is most likely because of the increased use of plastic bottles that hindered the sales of these glass ones.

One could easily picture Botal Gali as a glamorous and well-lit street attracting a horde of visitors from all over the city, mainly because there’s no other street like it. If nothing else, the street — if preserved — can serve as a living example of our shared heritage.

Botal Gali is in the middle of another transition. It is slowly being taken over by a lot of perfume vendors. Their shop's glitter hints that their business is in better shape than their neighbors. Some people have also started calling it perfume Gali now.