Khaiwat Khan’s Attai: Step inside Peshawar’s ‘Old Curiosity Shop’

PESHAWAR: Just five minutes off the beating heart of Peshawar’s University Road, the modern city begins to fracture into a labyrinth. If you navigate the maze-like streets of Tehkal, past modern brick houses, past the Gumbati graveyard and exactly opposite a large palm tree, you will stumble upon a place frozen in time.

It is a small, rundown wooden shack with mud walls, a wood-and-straw roof, and a weathered tin door with the Kalma, the Islamic declaration of faith, painted on the outside. To enter, you must bend your neck to avoid hitting your head on the low doorframe and step delicately into the cramped, dimly lit domain of Khaiwat Khan, a local legend.

Tehkal is a historically rich village, but its proximity to a fast-growing metropolis has largely engulfed it, transforming it into a modern suburb. Yet, while the world outside rushed into the future, Khaiwat Khan’s attai -- the traditional Pashto name for a small shop -- retained its vintage, straw-roofed charm. 

Inside, it can barely accommodate two adults at a time. The contents of his shop -- stuffed into small cubbies, overflowing on shelves, hanging from the roof beams, and resting on the floor -- instantly remind one of the namesake shop in Charles Dickens’ 1840 novel, “The Old Curiosity Shop.” 

But by far, the most wondrous thing in the shop is Khaiwat Khan himself.

Known locally as Khaiwat Mama or Kaka, he is a living legend at 98. He has been a permanent fixture of the neighborhood for as long as anyone (or their grandparents) can remember. "I'm 55 years old, and I've grown up around here," says Sherdil Khan, a local resident. "Since I can remember, Khaiwat Kaka has been here!"

To step into Khaiwat's attai is to step into a living archive of the subcontinent. He has been running his business since the British Era. He vividly remembers the chaotic birth of Pakistan. 

"I remember when the Hindus left this place in 1947," Khaiwat recalls. "They all left. No one bothered them at all." 

His memories extend even further to a momentous encounter with the country's founder: "I met him, shook his hand, with Jinnah! He came here to Peshawar. I remember shaking his hand, I also remember his karakul cap! It's been about 90 years since this happened," he says. 

Following those monumental days of Partition, Khaiwat set up his small shop and never looked back. For nearly eight decades, his family and neighbors have tried to convince him to modernize. 

"My kids, neighbors, everyone says let's demolish or renovate it," Khaiwat chuckles, "but I say that I like it just the way it is. Everything is old here, traditional. And I am happy with it."

That satisfaction translates into a deep devotion to his customers. He sells rare and everyday items, as well as hard-to-find oddities. 

"It would seem like he doesn't have much in his shop," Sherdil Khan explains, "but anything you ask him for, he'll pull it out of one cubby or another. He has everything."

Khaiwat’s inventory is a fascinating mix of the practical and the esoteric. He stocks items like “heeng” (asafoetida), aloe vera resin, copper sulphate, zinc sulphate, turmeric, and lakhtai sticks. He says that people traditionally wrap the sticks in black cloth and hang them in their houses to ward off the evil eye. 

He also sells nutmeg and turmeric for bodily ailments. Toys, balloons, sweets and slingshots for kids; many local and traditional beauty remedies. He makes his own vinegar for cooking. He has prayer mats, baskets, brushes, ropes, lanterns, keychains and such a wide variety of things that even he doesn't remember them all or where he's put them. 

If someone requests a rare item he doesn’t have, he makes it a point to source it in small quantities. Among his most striking offerings are vibrant peacock feathers, which locals buy to place inside the Quran as intricate bookmarks. 

"A lot of people still come," Khaiwat says. "So many that they have to form a queue."

While Khaiwat remains deeply grateful to God for his long life, noting that "everything is abundant" and that he serves everyone with utmost respect, he does look back on the past with a sense of nostalgia. 

"The people were better back in the day," he reflects. "Even food like yogurt and chutney tasted better. Now, everywhere you look, those pleasures are gone, those colors are gone."

Yet, Khaiwat Mama himself brings color and joy to modern Tehkal. Despite his advanced age, his personality remains incredibly vibrant. As Sherdil notes, "He is very full of life; with grown-ups he is a grown-up, and with kids, he becomes a kid himself." 

At almost 100 years old, this beloved icon continues to greet his customers with a warm heart, with absolutely no plans of retiring anytime soon.