Karachi Goan Association formerly known as the Goa Portuguese Association.... by Fausto de Sá

The Goa Portuguese Association was inaugurated in 1886 in the area of Karachi known as Saddar. It was located in close proximity to St Patrick’s Cathedral and St Joseph’s Convent. It therefore became a focal point of interaction for the Goans who by then were successful.

Over a period of time, possibly through an increase in membership as well as  families, the limited space possibly was inadequate so it was decided to move a little further to an area known as Depot Lines where the current beautiful building is now located.

The building was inaugurated in 1905 and was renamed as the Karachi Goan Association, KGA in the 1930s. A brass plaque listing the names of those early members is still on the wall of the Club. I had wished to identify the names of these members as well as their surnames as the plaque carries only initials. Sadly so far I have not managed to get any response to my queries relating to these old member lists.

Hanging in a corner, at the KGA, there was an amazing photograph that summed up the status and the position the Goans enjoyed at the time in Karachi. 

There was a grand event to celebrate the opening of the Club which coincided with the visit to India of the then Prince and Princess of Wales, later King George V and Queen Mary and the picture shows Goan gentlemen with Top hats and their wives in long gowns carrying parasols with the Ayahs pushing perambulators.

I don’t know if the photographs still hangs in the KGA. I have in the past tried to contact the management committee to recommend the preservation of records of membership as well as photos for posterity but have not received a response.

The architect responsible for the design of the KGA was Moses Somake, a Jew. Yes, there was a small community in Karachi and there still appears to be a few hundred in this largely Muslim state.

The main entrance to this imposing building was flanked by a Meeting room and Card room at the extreme ends. 

A majestic wooden staircase led to the corridors on the upper floor which surrounded Hall with the wooden dance floors.

The Dance floor was said to be the largest in the area and was constructed in such a manner, so that dancers literally felt a spring to their step whilst dancing.
The inner structure of the lower section comprised of the reading rooms, the library and a couple of lounges.

A similar structure at the entrance was located at the other side leading to the gardens.

This time the Bar and the Canteen were located at the extremes.

A Billiard and Snooker room used to connect the Card room to the Bar, with a gent’s toilets nearby.

There used to be another wooden staircase leading to the upper floor at this end as well.

Both the wooden floors were replaced with concrete owing to disrepair and rot. 

The card room, meeting room, canteen and bar were connected to each other through corridors.

The same design was found on the upper floor except for the fact that the four rooms located at the corners were utilized for other purposes which included toilets and dressing room for concert performances.
There was also a viewing gallery.

The grounds of the KGA were well maintained in its heyday.
To accommodate the sports aficionados, the KGA owned a playing field further to the North of the Association.

This was located in an area known as ‘Purani Numaish’ or Old Exhibition. The majestic mausoleum to Mohammad Ali Jinnah, popularly known as Quaid e Azam, looms nearby.

The KGA grounds comprised of a cricket ground which when not in season was used to host football and hockey events. I am not sure whether football was very popular in those early days but I do know that Hockey and Cricket certainly were.

My father played both sports proficiently, though his passion was hockey.

The Augustus D’Cruz Pavilion was built in 1925 in his honour by his wife and this provided the changing, the rest rooms and the badminton hall.

Two tennis courts completed the full ensemble.

The KGA grounds were used to host First class cricket matches soon after the Partition and the creation of Pakistan but lost this status much later.

My earliest recollections of visits to the KGA, were frequent visits accompanying my parents, they sat on either side in the interior of a ‘Ghora Gari’, Victoria or horse carriage in its elegant form.

One of our favourite ‘Ghora Gari wallah was a man called ‘Kasu’ who happened to be a favourite of many.

In those days the journey to and from the KGA cost between ten to fifteen rupees and this included a waiting time of a couple of hours.

These couple of hours were spent by my Father in the card room and in the bar. The card room and, the snooker room and the bar were always buzzing and thick with smoke from cigarettes.

Snacks and food were available from the canteen, chips being out of this world. For the young ones like me, we could play only in the two lounges and gardens whilst our Mothers caught up with the latest gossip. I made a lot of my childhood friends in this place.
As children, it was quite a terrifying experience to look at the marble bust of Cincinatus F. d’Abreo, looking stern. The photographs of the past presidents which adorned the upper walls of the reading rooms looked stern as well with their fancy mustaches, sideburns and beards, all dressed in their finest livery.

In my early childhood, the upper floor was out of bounds for all members as the flooring needed to be fixed. The roof was also in disrepair. Countless meetings led to nothing as there was much opposition.

The work was eventually undertaken in the late 1970s and early 1980s during the tenures of Louis Rodrigues and Angelo Lopes and the use of the upper floor was reinstated.

In the late 1980s the entire wooden roof was replaced with concrete under the reign as President of Constance D’Souza, an engineer.
My father as an active member would regularly attend the Annual General Meeting. This used to be a special event and I remember accompanying my parents for this occasion every single year.

The main stalwarts at the time comprised of Allan Misquita, the son of Manuel, the only Goan Mayor and a major philanthropist.

Ben F. de Souza, Member of the Karachi Municipal Corporation and his children Marie and Kenneth.

Sydney Pereira, Chairman of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.

Maurice D’Lima, Karachi Port Trust.

Henry Assumption, General Manager, Pan Am Airways.

The brothers Stephen, Trade- Marks and Patents.

Placidus Menezes.

The brothers Stan and Emil Fernandes, were brothers of Archbishop Angelo Fernandes of Delhi 

Stephen Lobo of BOAC; Now Stephen was a fierce member of the opposition regularly looking for an opportunity to challenge the established committee. He would study in detail the Report provided and would ask for answers. Many times the old guard would step in to try and shut him up. With his talent he would have made a great politician.
The late 1970s spelt the possible death knell for the KGA with dwindling membership due to migration to the West. This was made worse with the announcement of prohibition in 1977. It was at this stage that the Management decided to do away with its elitist image and began allowing membership from the Goan Union, also located in the Saddar area.

A relaxation of the alcohol rules meant that the KGA was licensed to sell alcohol for consumption within a prescribed area in the club as well as to buy to take home under a permit system.
This allowed an influx of membership. The bar again became prized. I still remember an incident which occurred in my presence.

My father had a good friend called Joe de Souza, father of Roland de Souza and on an occasion when they were all having a drink, in the prescribed area of the club, Joe as a joke placed his empty glass in his shirt pocket and moved out of the prescribed area.

This was reported to the Bar Secretary, who happened to be Marie de Souza. They took it rather seriously and there were calls to have his membership suspended.

My father and other members who were present took up for him saying that Joe possibly did it as a dare. Joe was a very witty man and so they bought this argument.

The KGA used to organise many events during the year which included Jam Sessions, Christmas and New Year Eve dances, May Queen, Christmas tree parties for the kids, Bridge tourneys, Whist drive sessions, and Snooker, Billiard and Table Tennis events.

The Christmas tree was always part subsidised and was always well attended as were the other occasions.

The dances except for the Jam sessions were always formal and the men’s attire needed to be suit and tie, with the tie worn whilst dancing at all times.

 Sadly the New Year’s Eve Dance event ceased in the mid-1980s after attacks from a Right Wing Islamic Students group in Karachi who claimed that this was un-Islamic.

The Christian and Goan community did not challenge and instead commenced hosting the occasion in the first week of January. It was certainly not the same as the fanfare of the clock ticking midnight was sorely missed.

The Parsi community on the other hand found ways to fool the Islamic groups.

 In its centenary year 1986, the then president Maurice Coutinho, American Express, introduced another event into the calendar of the club which was the celebration of the Feast of St Francis Xavier. This popular event is now regularly and successfully organised.
The KGA still functions with great success but with dwindling membership through emigration it is but expected that it might at a future date be renamed as a Christian Association.

I am aware that the KGA Sports club has already gone that way owing to a lack of interest in Sports by the Goan community.
The current President of the KGA, Lenny Dias is one of those diehard Karachiites who has chosen to remain in the city despite the fact that his father Ernest, a former President and his siblings have made Canada their home.
One behalf of all the current, former and life members of the KGA, I would like to wish the Association continued success.

VIVA Karachi Goan Association and all it stands for.