Delhi Then and Now

PLC

ISBN: 978-81-942959-0-7

Delhi now & then jkt 6 9 2019.indd 2

16/09/19 5:01 PM

Bird’s eye view of Connaught Place, one of Delhi’s most recognizable landmarks, which has managed to maintain its unique charm, highlighted by its Victorian architecture and its central location. Officially renamed Rajiv Chowk it is still popularly referred to as CP and its circular colonnades modeled after the Royal Crescent in Bath, England, resembling the spokes in a wheel, house an amazing variety of shops, pubs and legendary eateries. Originally designed as the capital’s central business district, CP went into decline for a few years but has experienced a major revival after the arrival of the Metro, being one of the largest and busiest stations in the network. The Central Park, with its expansive lawns and designer fountains now attracts hordes of visitors and residents alike, and, with the influx of international brand name retail stores and eateries plus a major Metro hub, Connaught Place has reclaimed its stature as the capital’s most popular shopping and eating experience. f o l l o w i n g p a g e 8 : From trams on the streets of Delhi

in 1902 to superfast Metro Rail in 2002, Delhi has come a long way. Travelling in Delhi was never such a pleasure! With world-class infrastructure and services, Metro has given the city an edge over the others. As seen here, an elevated Metro passes here near Panchkuain Road, in front of the huge statue of God of Vayu, Hanuman.

u Š Roli Books Second impression, 2019 First published in India in 2007 by Roli Books M-75, Greater Kailash II Market New Delhi-110 048, India Phone: ++91-11-40682000 E-mail: info@rolibooks.com Website: www.rolibooks.com ISBN: 978-81-942959-0-7 All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be transmitted or reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission from the publisher.

Editor: Neelam Narula Design and layout: Naresh L Mondal Production: Lavinia Rao Printed and bound in Samrat Offset Pvt. Ltd.

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delhi then & now

delhi now Tex t

dilip bobb P hoto Re se a rch & E d i ti ng

pramod kapoor

AN ICONIC CITY

‘D

on’t let your first impressions of Delhi stick like a sacred cow in a traffic jam: get behind the madcap facade and discover the inner peace of a city rich with culture, architecture and human diversity, deep with history and totally addictive to epicureans.’ That is the eminently sensible advice that Lonely Planet offers first-time tourists.

With a unique legacy spanning 3000 years of recorded history and seven dynasties (excluding more recent political dynasties) which have left behind spectacular monuments and forts, Delhi deserves its status as one of India’s most iconic cities. Yet, at a subliminal level, it’s the ‘madcap façade’ that is the dominant image of contemporary Delhi: chaotic traffic, an urban anthology of indiscriminate growth, prevailing architectural styles that defy genre or genesis and a population influx that has put civic services under excessive pressure.

The result is that the reality of India’s sprawling capital is more diverse, more anarchic and more contradictory than the near-mythical Delhi of Lonely Planet guides.

The imperial city created by the British, of spacious, tree-lined avenues, graceful bungalows and imposing government buildings still exists, conveying a sense of timeless elegance and serenity that is in stark contrast to other parts of the capital. Contemporary Delhi, frequently defined as a ‘city of cities’, is, however, characterized by visible fragmentation, the heterogeneity of its urban fabric becoming almost a modern-day caricature of the empires and dynasties that shaped its destiny and evolution. Indeed, Delhi has more layers of culture, civilization and history extant in it than most cities in the world. While this may have left behind an architectural heritage that is a permanent reminder of the city’s historical past, the frenetic growth in urbanization and population between 1977 and 1999 ensured that Delhi has morphed into a multi-layered megapolis made

up of innumerable, self-sustaining enclaves. That perhaps explains why stereotypes dictate much of the city’s character.

Other metropolitan cities in India have less of an identity crisis.

Mumbai conveys Bollywood glamour and high-stakes finance, secure in its status as India’s commercial capital. Kolkata, somewhat frayed at the edges, still revels in its intellectual and cultural elitism, inspiring intense loyalty among its residents. Bangalore basks in its undisputed reign as Information Technology capital and software supplier to the world.

Chennai is, well …, Chennai, ultra-conservative, fiercely protective of its Dravidian roots and larger than life politicians but growing in corporate stature as India’s Detroit thanks to the automobile majors who have headquarters there. Delhi arouses no such loyalty or affection.

Even its politicians and bureaucrats, the fountainhead of power and patronage, are mostly from outside the city. Their loyalty lies elsewhere.

In fact, well over half of the capital’s population, close to 14 million, are migrants from other parts of India attracted by employment opportunities or owing their origins to the post-Partition influx of Hindu-Punjabi families from Pakistan. A recent survey revealed that 60 per cent of the capital’s residents are not Delhi born. In terms of loyalty, pride and a sense of belonging, contemporary Delhi’s culture could easily be defined as the Alchemy of an Unloved City.

A UNIQUE LEGACY

T

ill as late as the mid-70s, Delhi was easier to define, and negotiate.

Visitors to the capital got two cities for the price of one. There was ‘Old’ Delhi, Mughal and Islamic heritage intact, dominated by imposing mosques, monuments and forts that even today resonate with the famous declaration by legendary poet Mirza Ghalib: ‘The world is the body and Delhi its soul.’ Behind the history, the old city displays a somewhat

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bedraggled old-world charm: lively, colourful bazaars, celebrated eateries, narrow streets and barely controlled chaos. In contrast, New Delhi, or more precisely, Lutyens’ Delhi, (named after its original architect and planner Edwin Lutyens and still referred to in official municipal records as Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone or LBZ), portrays a combination of understated refinement and political and bureaucratic privilege. The two worlds rarely meet but together they convey a true sense of Delhi’s romantic appeal. It’s an appeal that has largely been submerged under the undisciplined urban jungle that has sprouted at such a frenzied pace over the last three decades and diluted all traces of Hindu, Islamic or British influences. Today, it would be difficult to find a single identity or cultural characteristic that defines Delhi, a single way of grasping its complexity.

Yet, like people, cities acquire signatures, a universally recognized leitmotif: New York’s skyline, Paris and romance, Milan is synonymous with style and Venice has its waterways. The connection, whether abstract or physical, becomes as permanent a symbol of the city as monuments and memorials. Shorn of its historical influences and privileged status as India’s capital, and political and constitutional crossbreeding that makes it one of the world’s few remaining citystates, contemporary Delhi flaunts one undeniable signature: an air of aggressive intent. From the frenetic traffic to its egoistic bureaucrats, pampered politicians and social prima donnas, the flashy, nouveau riche and the policemen on the roads: everyone displays a practiced assertiveness that says, louder than words: ‘Get out of my way.’

Everybody is in a tearing hurry to get somewhere, everyone seems to have relatives in high places and even the beggars at traffic crossings bang on your car windows with an arrogance that is almost threatening.

Reading the local newspapers, it almost appears that half the city is on the make, the other half on the take.

At one level, this is the city’s negative face, one that first-time visitors often mistake for arrogance and boorishness. At another, it

reveals a vigour and dynamism that has become unique to the city.

Mumbai may have purloined the title of City of Dreams, but here in the capital, is where they have come true. A combination of north Indian aggressiveness and ambition and expanding levels of economic opportunity has created a sizeable generation of firsttime entrepreneurs and impresarios who today provide the city with its visible veneer of affluence. Author William Dalrymple, a long-time resident, captured the city with rare insight in his City of Djinns.

His skill lay in his creative ability to peel the historical onion, so to speak, and show how New Delhi resonates with the old, and bring to life a city ‘Full of riches and heroes.’ Of course, he was justifiably scathing about what the city has evolved into, showing, in his words, how ‘the grandest of grand old aristocratic dowagers’ had become ‘a nouveau-riche heiress: all show and vulgarity and conspicuous consumption.’

That, sadly enough, is in evidence all across the city. Start with the extravagant farmhouses in the Mehrauli-Rajokri belt which display a bewildering range of architectural indulgences, from Spanish villas, to American-style ranch houses and marbled mansions that would give Beverly Hills an inferiority complex. Elsewhere, in affluent south Delhi enclaves or even former refugee colonies like Punjabi Bagh and Malviya Nagar, the flashy lifestyles of the new breed of nouveau-riche entrepreneurs is on full display, from the in-your-face, pink stucco houses to the luxury cars in the driveways and the air-conditioners hanging out from every available aperture. Keeping up with the Junejas’ is an expensive obsession but its one that Delhi indulges in with obvious relish, if not good taste. Delhi is, above all, an aspirational city, bold, brassy, and brash. As former Indian cricket captain and Delhi resident, ‘Tiger’ Pataudi observes: ‘Delhiites are obsessed with where you live and how much money you have. He’s not being rude, it’s just the way he is.’ Khushwant Singh, India’s best-known author and the city’s

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unabashed admirer and critic, admits that: ‘The likes of my family brought the loud dhaba culture of the nouveau riche here. Today, it’s the Punjabis who dominate this city. It was gracious living before Partition, now it has become congested and loud.’ Yet, no other city has shown such a discernible level of upward mobility. The Punjabi influence that Khushwant derides has actually turned a culture that was seen as effete into one that is forceful, extrovert and on the move. Former Lt Governor of Delhi Jagmohan summed up the city perfectly when he recently stated: ‘I have been repelled by Delhi’s congestion, its overgrown trade and its lack of pride. Yet, I am charmed by the romance of its past, by the vigour of its life.’

The ‘vigour of its life’ has resulted in a level of aspiration and prosperity that is a classic symbol of the new India. If the first wave of immigrants, the post-Partition influx of over 5 lakh Punjabis from Pakistan, was politically inspired, the second wave, starting cent, has been largely inspired by economic opportunities. The statistics of a per capita income at current prices of Rs 53,976, more than double the national average of Rs 23,241. Income, however, is only half the story. Delhiites believe in conspicuous consumption. A report of the Delhi government shows that the average monthly expenditure for the capital’s citizens jumped by 9 per cent in 2005 over the previous year. No wonder Delhi has more vehicles on its roads than Mumbai,

drinks (about 20 per cent of national sales); and is the single-largest market for electronics and home appliances. Delhiites also own more washing machines (57 per cent of total population) than their counterparts in Mumbai (42 per cent). The number of credit cards registered in the capital has gone up by an astounding 62 per cent to 11 lakh (1.1 million) over the last decade, again the highest rate of growth anywhere in the country. There are other equally significant pointers to Delhi’s flashy prosperity. The city has over 32 lakh mobile phone users, far in excess of its total fixed telephone line connections. Without anyone quite noticing, Delhi has grown from a sleepy bureaucratic town into a dynamic, economic powerhouse.

That has been fuelled, in large part, by the emergence of affluent suburbs like Noida, Gurgaon and the industrial enclaves of Faridabad and Ghaziabad, providing both jobs and affordable housing. The generous boundaries (30,242 sq km) of what is now the National Capital Region (NCR) extends into Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. ‘More by default than by design, Delhi is emerging as the Dream City of India. A city that provides people with jobs and home,’ states corporate guru Gurcharan Das. He should know. The former CEO of Proctor & Gamble, shifted to Delhi in 1994 after living in Mumbai all his life. No other city in India has registered a faster rate of job creation in the last decade. More than half the MNCs that have opened shop in India over the same period have chosen Delhi as their base. These span the entire spectrum of business activities, from the Sonys and Samsungs of consumer durables; Honda in the automobile sector (Maruti has always been headquartered here); the Motorolas and the Nokias of telecom to the GE Caps and the ICRAs of finance. The unceasing advent of new businesses has seen the growth of 9,000 industrial units every year since 1991. According to Amrop, a leading head-hunting agency, in the last few years, job creation in Delhi has grown at least twice as fast as in Mumbai.

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