Mai Veero di Banni: Rawalpindi’s Talaab Market stands in neglect

The pond was built before partition for recreation purposes for Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims.

RAWALPINDI: The history of the city’s Talaab Market, now referred to as the CD Market, goes back to the early 20th century when people would literally go swimming at the talaab (pond). The historical market, like other similar sites in the city, is a victim of negligence and lack of awareness.

Mai Veero di Banni (The abode of Lady Veero) is named after a religious Hindu lady who built a pond where locals would bathe and swim. Talaab Market lent its name to that very pond.

“Mai Veero was an elderly Hindu lady, respected by the locals, who built the pool just for welfare of the people,” said National College of Arts Director Nadeem Umer Tarar.



Rich Hindu families used to live in the area before partition and many Hindus would keep the surrounding of the pond clean.

Apart from Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims would also gather and enjoyed bathing in the fresh water of the pool.

The source of the pool was a stream that would pass through Kartarpura.

After the Hindu families migrated to India post partition, the pond became a resting point for coachmen, who would take passengers to Murree and Kashmir, said 69-year-old Jameel Raja, a resident of the area. He said that the coachmen would water their horses and enjoyed taking a break there in the summers.

Much later, when people started demanding the government to get rid of the pond after children reportedly drowned in it, the city district government decided to utilise the place for businesses.

But the businesses did not really flourish, forcing vendors to rent out shops and return to Raja Bazaar.

In late 1980s, the market became the main centre of video cassettes and films, after VCRs were introduced in Pakistan from the Middle East and European countries. The VCR business was replaced by CDs and DVDs in the mid 1990s and early 2000s respectively.

Currently, there are over 100 shops in the market engaged in the CD and DVDs business.

Tarar lamented over the government’s negligence towards sites of historical importance, saying at present there is no trace left of the pool. “The government should at least construct a fountain in the middle of the market with the history of the pool written on a plaque,” he suggested.

Youth from across the city still come to the market to buy old as well as new movies on CDs.

The CD business is gradually being replaced by mobile phones, thanks to the technological revolution and growing dependency on mobile phones. The youth now bring a memory card and import movies and data in it.

A CD cost Rs30 to Rs50, while importing a film in a memory card cost only Rs10.

“Around 27 shops have switched to mobile phones business,” said Sajid Raheem, a shopkeeper who said people are no more taking interest in CDs and DVDs as they have mobile phones.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2015.