10th March 2020
Delhi is hurting. And it
shows. Delhi’s spring had never been this hesitant and colourless. It has been
a grim and cold winter like the summer of Marquez’s ‘One Hundred Years of
Solitude’. It brings back the painful memories of that October afternoon of
long ago as you made your way back from school even as smoke rose into the sky all over the city.
Next few days were of terror and helplessness as goons took over your beloved
city. You always prayed that those events were an aberration and that they would
never occur again in your city. You are wrong.
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| Holi is popular among all Indians - Mohicans, the Indians of USA too enjoy the colours |
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| The entrance painted arch looks brilliant under the golden hour skies - Safdurjung Tomb |
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| Flower Smeared Holi |
It has been a winter of
riots, burning and people losing lives and their homes and businesses. Days
when the temperature did not rise above ten degrees, the happenings leave a
chill and that tiredness deep within. Except for those three wonderful days in
the beginning of the new year, you have never before looked forward to Delhi’s
spring with such hope like you have this year. But the Spring is as morose as
you are.
And the feeling refuses to
leave even as the days turn warmer. You can see it in the flowers this season
that refuse to smile and are strangely charmless. And then the virus hits.
Another bank collapses. The winter of restless discontentment is getting
longer. The city has turned joyless. People walk on the streets with masks. The
deaths from the riots go up every day.
It is Holi and the excitement
of exploring the city in the afternoon stupor of the festival is missing. In
the previous years you would be working out the route and things to explore weeks
in advance. Yes, there is definitely something missing from Delhi’s Spring this
year.
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| The Pink Line metro line in the distance soaring over the flyover and the Blue Line on the right |
The Kalindi Kunj road is
still blocked since December. Going into Lutyens’ Delhi today won’t make sense
as instead of the Holi Milans that have been cancelled this year, everyone is
busy trying to save and felling the MP government. The TV is showing the
normally empty boulevards overrun by reporters. So, this year you will take the
road to Mayur Vihar and see how the afternoon unfolds.
This stretch saw lot of
action during Commonwealth Games 2010 as new flyovers and foot overbridges came
up. The new addition, Pink Line metro stretch reaches out from Sarai Kale Khan over the Yamuna
and through the fields growing vegetables to meet Mayur Vihar Extension station
that sits on top of the Blue Line station. The first metro train of the day is
just leaving. Delhi Metro has been creating construction marvels all over Delhi
and this is another feat as the viaduct soars over the flyover and the Blue
Line viaduct.
The Barapullah flyover is
being extended over the Yamuna to bring East Delhi closer to Central and South
Delhi. Huge cloverleaf loops are being built. Soon the fields across Yamuna
will be thing of past with roads and flyovers and viaducts taking over the
whatever little green patches are left in the city.
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| The bare Basant Ki Rani or Pink Tabebuia tree - hope to see it blooming next year at Rajghat |
The Akshardham Temple is
shrouded in afternoon haze. Yes, the day does feel warmer today and the breeze
is missing. You turn right towards ITO still trying to figure out the route. Last
May you saw this tall Basant Ki Rani on the south side of Rajghat lawns. You
still remember seeing the flowers for the first time on one of the roundabouts
and were totally smitten by the pink beauties. Is the tree still flowering? Nope,
you are late by at least two weeks. Maybe next time.
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| The brilliant Semal or Cotton Silk trees on Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg |
When was the last time you
drove through Darya Ganj? It is impossible on any given day but today looks
like a good time to try it for the first time. Before turning right towards Delhi
Gate, the crimson red Semals light up the afternoon. The Silk Cotton trees with their huge red
and orange blooms beckon the Spring. The sight of these colourful giants always
brings a smile to the face. A violet Kachnar blooms beneath the red canopy. Workers on a holiday do their thing digging up the road.
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| When was the last time Delhi Gate was visible from this far |
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| Another single screen cinema hall downs it shutters - Golcha in Darya Ganj |
Here you turn right, going
around the Delhi Gate and entering Darya Ganj. The Sunday Book Bazaar of Darya
Ganj is gone; another tradition vanishing into time. The Golcha Cinema looked
deserted with no display of any posters. And you thought it was back in
business after renovation. The Netaji Subhash Marg that runs through Darya Ganj
to Red Fort is almost empty. Metro’s violet line has gone beyond Mandi House to
ITO, Delhi Gate, Darya Ganj, Lal Qila and finally to Kashmere Gate.
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| The Forlorn Red Fort |
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| Chandni Chowk being revamped |
The Red Fort is again
empty. Just across the entrance to Chandni Chowk is barricaded. Revamp of the
stretch to the Fatehpuri Masjid is going to turn it into a vehicle free mall.
You are not sure when the work will come to end but until then you plan to stay
away from Chandni Chowk. But one thing you are sure of. Within a month of inauguration,
they will dig up the whole mall again saying they forgot to lay the sewage
pipes. And it will go on, business as usual.
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| Shahid Smarak opposite Red Fort in Chandni Chowk |
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| Paintings of Freedom Fighters line the walls of the temple |
Just beyond on the left,
you see this temple, with all these posters of freedom fighters over the
centuries. The sign says that the Shaheed Smarak or the Martyr Memorial has
been built in the sweet memory of freedom martyrs by the Shiv Shakti Temple.
You can recognise some of the personalities. Mr Swarn Lal Pruthi, freedom
fighter and the founder of the gallery says the idea of the memorial is to
celebrate little known martyrs like Madan Lal Dhingra who was hanged at the age
of twenty years by the British, and the female revolutionary Santi Ghose whose sentence
was turned into life banishment instead of hanging because she was fifteen
years when she assassinated a district magistrate. Apparently, these are
paintings and not posters and today they number about 120.
You see more police barricades
with armed cops. Darya Ganj area too witnessed disturbances and arson and the
authorities are not taking any chances. But you do feel for the cops when
everyone else is celebrating festivals with their families, they stand here manning the roads, serving the ungrateful society and performing their thankless duties. You have
known and experienced it all along personally.
Here you turn west on Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Marg towards Old Delhi Railway Station with its British castle like battlement turrets.
There are more barricades and you just don’t feel like getting down and taking
photos. This time you turn south on Babu Ram Solanki Marg that will deliver you to New Delhi Railway
Station. You get waylaid by a bunch of rowdies who probably want to scare
passerbys and extort money. They bang on the car and throw colour but you don’t
stop and keep going. A little hair-raising though.
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| Looks like a photo Circa 1930s! The twin effect of Holi and Corona |
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The Planet of the Pigeons - Corona Virus was a red
herring. The pigeons have taken over the city. First they drove out the
sparrows and crows, now it is the turn of humans
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You have had enough of Old Delhi. Something is not right in this part of the city. It is time to come back to New Delhi. New Delhi always soothes your frayed nerves. This is probably the first time you are driving through Connaught Place in the afternoon on a weekday! And it is deserted. The inner circle, the parking lots, they are all empty. All showrooms are closed at this hour. Maybe the restaurants would open in the evening. But you are not waiting to see that. Time to move on.
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| Teen Murti, where you grew up, RML or the erstwhile Willingdon Hospital where you got rabies shot and Mughal Garden your backyard |
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| This board right there indicates milestones in the journey of your life - you rode the 100 number double-decker once just to see Anand Parbat, a part of Delhi that was exotic; 680 bus that would go to Madan Gir and drop you at Shanti Path in your middle school days, 280 (Nand Nagri), 340 (Seema Puri) & 740 (Uttam Nagar) buses were part of your high school days, and 480 Kalkaji DDA Flats and 540 bus that terminates in Alaknanda, was part of your college and later & present days |
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| Daftar |
Going past Bangla Sahib
Gurudwara, Gol Dak Khana, Dr Bishambar Das Road where ugly MP multi-storeyed flats
tower over the Buddha Coconut Trees, you arrive at Daftar. DTC buses are beginning to stir. The numbers on the DTC board all look so familiar, as you would switch buses
from here to back home.
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| MPs have all the fun - North Avenue |
Wait a minute! These MPs
are having all the fun. If not new multistorey flats for them, here on this
stretch of North Aveneue, the MPs have got themselves brand new Dupleix Flats
recently inaugurated by the PM himself. Great, at least some segment of citizens
are totally unaffected by the economic downturn.
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| Traffic Police Lines, Teen Murti and the Shisham |
Time to swing by your old
house. Let’s hope they have not pulled them down to make some more fancy abodes
for our elected representatives and sewaks. The place looks even more ruined
and grown over. The houses have locks sealed by Delhi Police probably when
Donald Trump drove around these roads. The sheesham tree under which we all practically grew up, still watches over the
house .
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| The Keventer's Dairy |
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| Really! You have heard of Lathmar Holi, but Laddu Holi? |
Before going to have a look
at some flowers you swing by the tiny road off Sardar Patel Marg which you took
on the way to school. The property behind the house, that belongs to Keventer, where
Sanjay Gandhi’s plane crashed, has a sign warning tresspassers of prosecution. The dog who was
till recently whimpering now escapes into the gates and starts to sound brave
and doing his perfunctory duty seeing the potential trespasser.
Malcha Marg market is still
the same. The Canara Bank where you opened your first bank account breaking the
piggy bank. You can still remember counting the coins on the desk in the bank. You still
repent closing the account. Having an account in a bank on Malcha Marg will be so cool. Fujiya restaurant is still going strong. You are
not sure about the next door Yes Bank that has caused so much grief lately.
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Motorcycle Riding in the Time of Corona
All Motor Vehicle Act laws are suspended on Holi - Did you see any kids who took off with our helmets? |
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| Playing in the Park in the Time of Corona - Desperate Measures in Desperate Times |
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Perhaps
the sweetest smelling spring flower of Delhi.
You
are rediscovering the swoony fragrance after a gap of several years - this time
across the street and almost discrete. Though Petunias also smell lovely in the evening but sweet pea flowers are extra special.
Sweet
Pea Flower (Lathyrus odoratus), BRICS Friendship Rose Garden, Chanakya Puri,
New DelhiPerhaps
the sweetest smelling spring flower of Delhi
|
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This is the first
time you are seeing an Electric Vehicle Charging Point in Delhi. And unless the
electricity is coming from a solar grid or windmills, it is not eco-friendly.
Windmills are known to affect weather conditions and kill birds while the
hydroelectricity plants come at a great ecological cost to the hills.
Not
sure if Delhi has more such points.
And
of course, it was not working - Yashwant Place
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| The Familiar Yashwant Place |
Time to wander off to the other
Rose Garden on the other side of Shanti Path. When the stately Semals bloom, the BRICS Friendship
Rose Garden is the best place to be. A few families stroll among the greens. A
couple of dogs seemingly high on Holi beverages race through the rose beds. It
is then that you discover what you have been missing for some years. Small
sweet pea flowers bloom among the petunias and calendulas. A gardener last
week had informed that they have stopped planting sweet pea flowers in the
other rose garden. These few vines are a pleasant fragrant surprise.
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| The Painted Net Vaulting of the entrance gate of Safdarjung Tomb looks especially beautiful when lit |
You are back on the road. The skies are darkening and it has started to drizzle. Just the perfect blue hour to be at
Safdarjung Tomb. Last time you were here, you had missed
out on the decorated lit facade under the spell of the lit main tomb. Today you have the tomb to yourself. Cops are busy
on their phones in the patrol car. Even the ticket window seems to be empty.
The painted net-vaulting under the main entrance arch looks even prettier under
the lights. The silhouette of the double storey pavilion entrance under the
blue skies provides amazing reasons to photograph Delhi monuments in different seasons
and different times of the day. ASI has
done a fantastic job lighting the tomb. One of these days you need to visit
Qutb in the evening.
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| So you discover that even the Bistendu trees are lit. Only that the mud and fallen leaves have covered the sunken lights. So you clean them and soon the lights stretch from Rajpath to the Rashtrapati Bhawan! |
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| More government offices should be lit. While they light up some during Republic Day but except Raisina Hill you don't think any offices are lit except Vigyan Bhawan. Again its fate is unknown before the dozers roll in |
The mandatory spin by Vijay
Chowk is needed before they close down the central vista for the revamp when
concrete blocks will be built along the length of the Rajpath. The biggest
personal loss will be IGNCA where you have spent most of your
weekends in the last few years. All the green open spaces, the Maati Ghar, the majestic Semals, Pilkhans, the largest Bistendu you have ever seen will be lost forever. First the multistorey horrors of Kidwai Nagar, now
Sarojini Nagar and Nauroji Nagar being levelled down and soon the excavators
and dumpers will roll down the Rajpath.
Few years ago, you had felt New Delhi growing prettier with every passing year. For the first time it seems the slide has begun, and the change is inexorable. You actually feel old and helpless with the events
around you spinning out of control. All you can do is watch and hope that the
madness stops. Delhi is being pummelled from all sides. Delhi’s hurt will only get worse. And with Delhi, your hurt will continue to fester for some
more time.
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