It has been truly stifling and oppressive in the Capital. Not merely its politics, but its weather as well! Driving past Hyderabad House at noon, with the scorching sun high in the heavens throwing its harsh light down at us, this palatial building had all its garden lights on, for no reason at all. This at a time when power, the electric variety, is in desperately short supply. It is a scandal that government has not been able to lead the way and set the example of conserving electricity, particularly when you do not require it in the middle of the day, out in the garden.
But then, what do you do when you have unthinking and uncaring babus at the helm. The bills are not paid by their fathers and grandfathers, so who cares! This small and seemingly innocuous observation sums up the impossible reality that we face as a nation. Nobody gives a damn.
I have always advocated that if the babus are compelled to pay for their lodgings, their electricity and phone bills (in full), pay for their horticulture help, those who tend their gardens, and if they and their children have to use those killer buses rather than their office cars, life would begin to be a trifle more civilised. But alas, this pampered lot has let down this country and has endorsed the illegalities and the breakdown of the municipalities.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has been deemed the most crooked and corrupt government arm. This has been common knowledge for decades. Extortion is their daily prayer and bread. The newspapers are crying hoarse with verified stories. It is the syndrome of ?The Makers of the Rules are the Breakers of the Rules?.
Beyond Hyderabad House lies Pandara Road. There, one of the occupants of a government house has built a wooden ship-like ugly structure upon his verandah and beyond, on the first floor of the building! A total breach of construction laws. And, illegal tampering with a property of the State. This structure should be razed to the ground, inhabitant notwithstanding.
A majority of the bungalows in Lutyens? Delhi, a heritage zone in the New Delhi Municipal Corporation area, have been vandalised by those who have been privileged to occupy those ?historic? houses. This is because they know no better. Rents here should be the highest in India. Instead, they are subsidised at a ridiculous level for the endless politicians and bureaucrats who have christened themselves VIPs.
These people seem to have no respect for the area they live in. They have no comprehension of architectural style, its importance, and neither a sense of history. Most abhor the notion of conservation and protection. Quick and unclean money does not come this way! They have an illiterate attitude to the environment. Since most of the inhabitants prefer remodelling these splendid properties, bringing to bear a mish-mash of styles, it would be more appropriate for them to move out to nearby Gurgaon, into homes and buildings that clone three styles in one, all clad with stone and shining granite. Leave Lutyens? Delhi alone. Do not pollute it with bad style. Anywhere else in the world, even in the USA, a nation that India emulates, such spaces and places and zones are virtually worshipped and fiercely protected. Why not try and learn the better lessons?
The latest news today, about New Delhi, is that all the roads named after the British will be changed. Another example of a deep-seated insecurity about ourselves and the reality of our recent history. Why not leave the names as they are? Let history and its symbols live. Why not? Next, Shahjehanabad will change to Mayawati kila! The whole thing is silly and once again, the babu carries these mindless changes through.
Contemporary names in present history should adorn the roads in the new colonies mushrooming across the greater capital region. Put the present leaders out there. Those burgeoning areas with no sensible municipal regulation, all growing in a haphazard manner, are the creations of post-independence India, under post-independence leaders. Celebrate them where they belong. Why should they be eulogised in areas built by the Mughals or the British that happen to be the best parts of town with the best buildings? Spare this historic city.