21st March 2019
This winter has been
pleasantly cold and after several years it actually did feel like winters. Several bouts of heavy downpour and hail that surprised us in
the months of January and February made winters more interesting. Though the skies remained overcast (mostly
on weekends and that many chances of photography lost!) but all that rain
washed the air and you breathed comparatively easier this time. The coolness
continues till the end of March. It is as if Nature and people who actually
decide on festival dates knew this beforehand and Holi this year came delayed by
about twenty days.
Election dates have just
been announced. Most politicians are holding off filing of their nominations
after Holi. Apparently, it is not a good idea doing it before Holi. But your annual
Holi tradition is always auspicious. You don’t have much of a plan except the first stop
and the plan is to just take it as it comes. The kheer in the lunch is
threatening to lull you into that sweet stupor. It is time to hit the road
Jack.
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| The spanking new bridge at Kalindi Kunj and the equally spanking new magenta metro line running over it |
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| After they have built over the farmland and forests, it is the turn of the river now |
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| We are so happy to be in such idyllic surroundings and it shows |
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| Happy days are here again - Don't lament the past when milk flowed in the rivers. Milk and cream is back in Yamuna |
A new bridge has come over
the Yamuna at Kalindi Kunj. With this rate, they are soon going to cover the
river end to end with bridges depriving us of the delightful scenes of oxygen
filled floating foam though you hope the aromatics will continue to make the
air fragrant. The river does not disappoint. Huge blobs of white foam float over the waters. This is the preview of soon to be real dystopian state of India's rivers. You pause over the bridge which
hopefully will help reduce the tailbacks during rush hours as Noida continues
to grow at breakneck speed. The Okhla Bird Sanctuary is just beyond to the right. To show conclusively how much the birds love the milky Yamuna, the parapets of the bridge have
been painted with species of brightly coloured birds
chirping in ecstasy.
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| Republic Day Parade Daredevil Team practising |
Every year, the traffic during Holi afternoons seem to increase. Delhi Traffic Police has set up
several pickets and have considerable visibility across the city. But that
does not deter hordes of motorcycles with multiple riders and after apparently playing Kapde Phaad Holi practicing for next year's Republic Day as the daredevil riders. You will keep bumping into police check-points all through the afternoon.
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| Silk-Cottons Burning Bright |
Sam Miller in his
delightful spiral adventures through Delhi, has mentioned about his hideout
where purportedly there is an unseen section of Siri Fort. After several failed
attempts to locate the pretty Mohammadwali Mosque, you were pretty sure you had
seen most of Siri after finally locating it near the Children’s Mosque. Sam
Miller writes about his house at the end of a cul-de-sac in Panchsheel Park.
“And best of all, only twenty metres away, just inside the walls of Siri, is
one of those magical patches of half-tended wilderness, hidden away, unknown to
the rest of Delhi. At Sunset, I walk and run here, waving at or exchanging
local gossip with other regulars, who, like me, want to keep this perfect place
a secret.”
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| Sam Miller, your hideout is busted |
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| Siri - The largest surviving gateway you have seen in Delhi's Third City |
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| Lovely immaculate lawns run alongside the ruins of Siri Fort |
It is time to search for
Sam’s own ‘The Beach’. After making a U-turn below the flyover, dodging the cars
at the entrance of the never visited Panchsheel Park Club where Holi
celebrations are underway, you turn left where the sign says Shahpur Jat.
Turning right you enter Panchsheel Park that is “much less of
a transit camp than Vasant Vihar, and has an air of settled bourgeois
sensibility”. The colony wears the look of a holi hangover afternoon. It does
not take long to arrive at the surprise. An ASI board announces this is a
protected site. Just ahead looms the largest gateway you have ever seen in Siri
area. This is some secret and you don’t blame Sam and his neighbours for being in love with this and trying to keep it a secret.
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| The gate receiving Holi splash |
This is a total surprise. All you
expected were a few ruins. But here there is a total section of the fort walls
with beautifully tended lawns running alongside. For the first time, you are
actually looking at a surviving gate. Huge bastions, about 15 wide walls with a
passage running through them and then this enormous 30 feet high gate and you
finally get an idea how big Khilji city’s fortification was. The big gateway is
protected with a smaller gate at standard right angles that thwarts any attempt
by elephants or ramrods to break down the main gate. The Mongols never
succeeded in breaching it. But what Mongols could not, Sher Shah Suri did. He
used the material to build himself the Sixth City of Delhi.
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| Our friends under the influence of Holi! |
Zombied and colour drenched in the
throes of standard Holi beverages are several bunches of kids in the park. You yourself
are in an ecstatic state and you need to talk to someone as you blurt out the
story of Delhi’s Third City and how the Decapitator Khilji killed thousands of
Mongols and erected his city over the heads of the poor belligerents to the
stupored audience. Another man after applying colour and giving you a Delhi
hug, confirms that yes a foreigner comes here with his family and who
surprisingly speaks Hindi!
Sam, rest assured, the secret is safe
with me.
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| The Original Art District of Shahpur Jat |
There is another surprise in this
Asiad Village area. You leave meandering through the Shahpur Jat lanes. You
remember coming few summers ago looking at the graffiti on the walls. This
village was the original art district. Now all the action has shifted to the Blooming Walls of Lodhi Colony. Most of the old art compositions are gone. You see a few
new ones. As you drive closer to the Asiad Village Tower area, you seem to hit
a rush hour. Cars and revellers jam the road up ahead. Apparently, another holi
celebration is going on in the lawns to the right. Young people, some walking, others in their swanky automobiles are trying to make their way to the celebration. Scores of
traffic cops are trying to put some order in the melee. So this is how the rich kids
celebrate Holi! Well, the other surprise will have to wait for some other time.
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| Finally South Ex is reclaimed from years of construction of the underground section of Pink Line Metro |
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| The Ring Road turning into a concrete canyon in the name of development - East Kidwai Nagar |
It is time to move on. The South Ex
area is finally free of all construction. But don't be mistaken. They might start digging tomorrow to lay some sewer line. Metro’s pink line passes beneath. It
is past two now. Metro would have started its operations by now. On the road,
the low-floor DTC buses hiss by. The stores on either side too have received
attention. You do not recognise any of these. The older ones are gone replaced with even
more glitzy fronts brandishing brands you will never have any need for. Just
ahead, on the right the horror story of the redevelopment of Kidwai Nagar towers
over you. The low-rise government flats have been replaced by box like concrete
structures. This is the new ugly face of Delhi and the greed of its
administrators.
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| The wondrous White Constellation of Chamrod flowers (Ehretia laevis) a Delhi native tree |
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| Devastation Ahoy! |
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| Trees Replaced with Skyscrapers |
You climb the AIIMS loop with
blooming Chamrods and Yellow Bells on the left. Coming down on Sri Aurobindo
Marg and you realise the cruel joke the morons are playing on you. On the walls
of the ugly multi-storeyed flats they have painted images of birds and trees.
This is height of shamelessness.
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These Shameless Morons
are Unbelievable
Step 1 – Tear down all the
trees
Step 2 – Contruct those
ugly structures
Step 3 – Paint images of
Birds and Trees on the Walls
Step 4 – All environmental
damage reversed
Everyone is Happy!
East Kidwai Nagar, New
Delhi
|
You need to calm down. The flowers
always put you in good mood. Taking the Tughlaq Road as it meets Akbar Road
brings you to the annual spectacle put up by the nice folks of NDMC. Not all
government departments are filled with morons.
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| An excellent job by NDMC - a colour drenched symphony playing out at the roundabout of Tughlaq and Akbar Roads called the Matthew Circle |
The Matthew Circle, named after a
British General who lived nearby, is perhaps the most ornamented roundabout out
of the about 50 odd in New Delhi area. Petunia, Antirrhinum, Dianthus, Pansy,
Larkspur, Coreopsis all combine to create a colour drenched symphony playing a
fun and passion filled Song of Spring. A Times of India drone photo reveals the
interesting layout as the colours and flowers synchronise themselves into a slowly
spinning cycle wheel. Move ever so slowly, we want the Spring to stay here.
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| Love these fallen yellow Neem leaves |
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| Teen Murti is always a beautiful sight |
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| Not sure if the houses will be pulled down; and that will be the end of Innocence Years |
You are making your way towards Teen
Murti. You are fearing the worst. The word is that the house of your childhood
has been demolished; maybe by the same havoc wreaking morons of Kidwai and
Netaji and Sarojini Nagar. At the Traffic Police Lines, all is quiet. Your part
of houses have been locked up but the houses still stand. Rising above the row
of houses is the Shisham tree that you practically grew around and under with. The
shisham was a buddy who protected you when your little brother chased you with
the mosquito net stick and under which a cornucopia of activities happened –
the bandar wala, the bhalu wala, the sapera entertained you; the sabziwala on
his bicycle set up his shop for few minutes on his morning vending round. Now
there are only tricycle sabziwalas. The baltiwala would set his shop once a
season repairing our leaking metal buckets and replacing the rusted base. The
ruiwala would hang his tantiya from the branch and go twing twing turning the
lumps of cotton of our razai and gaddey into fresh white fluffy cotton again.
The thathera would set up his dhonkni by digging a hole in the ground and light
up a fire to heat the utensils. A dash of tin and the utensils will again turn
bright and shiny after the kaleu.
You look across the street towards
the boundary walls of President’s Estate. You can see yourself and all your
friends playing cricket between the two peepal trees. The Khirni tree still
stands. The shahtoot tree with its fruit green and so sweet has been apparently lost in the
Traffic Police Lines Compound. The building looks too prim and whitewashed.
Palika Vihar, next door, looks desolate and pretty run-down.
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| Moving on Mother Teresa Marg towards Talkatora Garden |
The sun is playing hide and seek. You
are not sure how long the light will hold on. Who knows the winter still has a
surprise waiting. Talkatora Gardens are spectacular this year after some
experimentation by NDMC. While the Matthew Circle delights with its circular
James Bondesque gun barrel design through which Bond quickly turns and shoots,
Talkatora is resplendent with almost a kilometre long multilevel straight
carpet look on both sides of the water channel. Five shades of hybrid petunia
combine with pansy and dwarf salvia to provide a visual feast.
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| This has been the Spring of Semal! Never seen them this glorious |
There were reports of some glorious Silk-Cottons on
Mandir Marg too. This has been the Spring of Semals. You don’t remember seeing
them this happy and red and so bountiful in the last few years. Flamingos in
Okhla Bird Sanctuary and now Semals – is Delhi doing something right; you are
not sure but you will grab such hopefully not sporadic moments.
The Sun has again disappeared behind
clouds and the almost bare Semals seem to have momentarily paused smiling.
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| Birla Mandir on Mandir Marg - One of these days you will go inside! |
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| After Chittaranjan Park, seeing this second Kali Bari in Delhi |
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| Buddhist Temple at Mandir Marg |
Mandir Marg is appropriately named.
The place is filled with places of worship end to end - Buddhist Temple, Hindu Temples, Churches, Gurudwaras. You don’t remember ever
stepping inside Birla Temple. Maybe you will come back one of these days just
to meet the photographers Sam Miller met during his spiral adventures.
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| Gole Market undergoing renovation for some years now |
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| Really! |
At Gole Market the Royal Store seems
to have closed down where Dad brought us for buying clothes. The market itself
is still boarded up for renovation but you don’t see any ongoing activity
inside. Today it is peaceful around here. On any other day these roads turn
into absolute mayhem. Turning into Bhai Vir Singh Marg, it is apparent Delhi
has changed. The Panchkuian Furniture Market once in Paharganj and mostly operating
out of the street has changed addresses. After coming of Metro on RK Ashram
Marg, they were promised a new location. You never really thought the new
premises will be this swank!
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| Blooms of Buddha's Coconut tree (Pterygota alata) is one of Delhi's tallest trees - on Bishambar Das Marg |
Bishambar Das Marg, beyond Gol Dak
Khana is the only pure avenue of Buddha’s Coconut Trees, now with only few
surviving. Last time you were here, you can swear there were more trees here.
On one side boards have gone up as the construction spree continues to build
even more houses for our ‘Honourable MPs’. You just can’t figure how much our
tax money these people can guzzle. You don’t give few more years to these poor giants.
Up high above, the blooms are darkened against the sun. And like the last time,
the armed guard from the opposite side comes to enquire about your intentions.
Guards on Delhi roads and guards in ASI sites just won’t leave you alone. The bell-shaped flower-cups with no petals
apparently are purple veined. You will have to figure out some way to get hold
of them in your hands!
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| National Police Memorial at Chanakya Puri |
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| The National Police Memorial is surprisingly good |
Several new places of interest have
come up in Delhi in the last few months. You have already seen the National
Police Memorial in Chanakya Puri. On Janpath, new buildings in New Delhi are
giving you a pleasant surprise. First it was the National Police Memorial in
Chanakya Puri. You never imagined something associated with Police could be so
well thought out and perfectly curated.
There is another surprise just across
the street from your weekend home. The red sandstone building is embellished
with Buddhist architectural influences. There is a Chaitya Arch. Sanchi toran
towers over the entrance. Outside Dr Ambedkar stands high on a pedestal. On the
corner, Ashok’s capital of Four Lions and India’s National Emblem rises over a
high pillar. This is the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre on Janpath.
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| What incredible interiors - Dr Ambedkar International Centre on Janpath |
The big surprise waits inside. Under
a huge domed atrium, the Dalit Icon poses on a chair reminiscent of
Lincoln statue in Washington. The dome is supposed to be the largest in Delhi
with 24 spikes and covered with translucent sheet. Two vertical natural gardens
flank the statue designed by Ram Sutar. The designers have succeeded in
creating a tranquil space inside and you almost feel like you have entered a
Stup.
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| Watching life go by |
You are heading to the Windsor Place.
The newspapers have reported
that Delhi has got its tallest fountain here. It
is 6 pm and there is no sign of a giant spurting fountain. Some disinterested
people are lolling around on the lawns under the clear influence of Holi
beverages. For now, the tallest feature is the glass Meridian Hotel on the
left. Over the years you have still not figured how it managed to build itself
here. Maybe it is 7 pm. You tell yourself. You will wait at your favourite
boulevard. Parking on the shoulder of Rajpath you buy yourself an ice-cream and
leaning against the car you watch the scenes unfold. The Sun has few minutes
before it sinks behind the Raisina Hill. Families picnic on the lawns; people
oblivious to the vistas bury their heads into their handheld screens after
clicking their selfies. The monkey wala bhai with mongrel like monkey offers to
click your photo with the two monkeys on your shoulders. You ask him to maybe feed
them first. Their brethren terrorizing the babus up there look fed on gourmet.
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| The Haryana Boys styling |
A few Haryanvi guys have stopped on
their Bullets. They pose with their bikes. The bikes are emblazoned with
‘Raavan’, ‘Peer Baba’, image of Bhagat Singh and Sardarji on license plate. You
offer to click few photos. You have an hour before the water fountain bursts
into life. The helmetless Haryanvis roar off on their bikes after deciding
which route won’t have traffic cops. You promise to email the photos. The South
Block is silhouetted against the orange sun. Birds are on their final flypasts
of the evening. It is time to check on the fountain. Always difficult to tear
yourself from these views. You will be back a little later.
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| The Multicoloured Fountain at Andhra Bhawan Roundabout |
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| Celebrating the under construction new capital of Andhra Pradesh. Though you don't like the idea of all that concrete in such agri rich geography of India |
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| Andhra Bhawan & Telangan Bhawan - happy to see them peacefully co-existing and where you have been enjoying the Thali for some years now |
No sign of the fountain. Now you want
to see a fountain – any fountain. You are at the roundabout of Ashok Road and
Man Singh Road opposite Andhra Bhawan where you have recently discovered the
joys of a combustible rasam accompanied thali. This is a shorter fountain than
the much-vaunted non-existent fountain. And it is coloured and the colours are
changing every few moments. You ask the man who is the in-charge of this and
few others fountains in the vicinity about the whereabouts of the missing
fountain. The motor got burnt. He informs as his breath heavy with the
beverages befitting the festival Holi hangs in the cool air. What! The
fountain’s motor got burnt? Yes, they will fix it soon. Come back to check. And
you thought it was only your motor at home from all the heavy duty pulling of water
gets burnt. It is dark now. The real light show would have started.
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| Watch captivated as the LED lights dance through the pillars of the colonnaded balconies - What a Sight! |
You drive back on Raisina Road to
emerge on Vijay Chowk. There is no one here tonight. You have the whole vista for yourself. They are putting up this
show just for you. Last time you were here on Republic Day night, they had the
Rashtrapati Bhawan and the associated buildings bathed in these newly
installed LED lights. The Dynamic Lighting would flash intermittently. But
tonight since its Holi, the multi-hued lighting seem to be rippling through the
colonnaded balconies and the bell towers almost continuously. It doesn’t matter
how many times you have seen this. Every time it leaves you transfixed. You set
the camera on the parapet of the fountain tank and try to capture these moments
of joy. The scenes are of frolicking revellers smearing each other with
colours in a passionate celebration of Holi.
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| Love doing this with the 83X Nikon P900 |
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| The camera fighting to focus in the dark brings up this bokeh effect |
You turn around just in time to see
the Full Moon or Poornima of Falgun rising in to the sky in all its glory. For
a moment, all goes quiet. In the middle of New Delhi, it seems you are all
alone with the moon. And in this instant, you again fall in love with the city,
with the festival and just the fact that you are here witnessing all this
goodness around.
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| The India ASEAN Friendship Park on Tughlaq Crescent |
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| Metro stations donning colours of their sponsors |
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| Turning India Green - yeah right! |
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| Laid back government babu colonies have turned into glitzy office and shopping blocks |
You will make your way back home the
same way. You want to see how Delhi’s nightscape is changing with all the glitz
replacing the old way of life. In the dark, the fragrance of petunias of Matthew
Circle wafts through the cool spring air. Driving past the India-ASEAN
Friendship Park at Tughlaq Crescent which has some majestic Arjun trees, you
are back at INA. Just beyond the Oriental Insurance branded INA Metro Station,
the darkness has covered the ugly construction of East Kidwai Nagar. The
entrance lit in lattice pattern, exhorts to make “India Green”. They are
setting a great example themselves. On the Ring Road, newly minted shopping
arcades and office blocks line up. And you thought they were residential
complexes for middle-class government workers. It will be really interesting to
know the ownerships of these offices and shops.
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| South Ex Redux |
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| Ansal Plaza, Delhi's first mall, is buzzing again |
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| South Delhi is finally connected to the Metro network but will they give up their cars? |
South Extension is finally bump-free. The trees are gone and even more bigger upscale stores eye-ball each other across the street. This is definitely not the South Ex of Snowhite of long ago. Ansal
Plaza, Delhi’s first mall after years of closure, is finally humming with life
again. You are noticing the Okhla Barrage in the night for the first time. It
seems the metro stations and all other buildings have taken inspiration from
Vijay Chowk. The barrage twinkles and looks serene tonight. Just beyond, the
city of Noida furthers undergoes transformation. From a few low-rise colonies,
now Noida is witnessing break-neck construction spree as the skyscrapers spurt
here on the banks of Yamuna and beyond. The metro expands its footprints as the
Magenta line whisks you away to South Delhi without the longer detour via
Rajeev Chowk.
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| Kalindi Kunj Barrage with its new lighting. Now only if they clean the water below |
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| The New Face of Noida |
The day comes to an end. So what
started with little planning and more spontaneity turned into quite a ride.
This is a snapshot of the city that you love – the roads, the season, the trees
and flowers, the people, the new things, the old things, the childhood, the
change, the monuments, the bad, the getting better, the memories. We will
continue to see each other. Our love affair is for forever.
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