29 Nov-5 Dec 2013
Vol. 3 No. 15 Pages 24 ` 7
S
RNI No. HARENG/2011/39319, Postal Regn. No. GRG/35/2012-2014
Gurgaon Darshan
o what would we show and tell a guest or tourist who has come to our City? That the only local tourism is Medical…or perhaps the locations around the City – at Sultanpur (Bird Sanctuary), Farukhnagar (Heritage structures), Damdama (Lake), Sohna (hot Sulphur Springs) and Pataudi (Palace)? But that those spots are not really advisable to go to, because the infrastructure stinks? There must be somewhere to take our guest… The new millennium darshan of a city should perhaps do away with history (and therefore historical monuments). Lifestyle should be the theme…Lifestyle
Monuments, Lifestyle Infrastructure (residential and commercial) and Lifestyle Moments. Is the defining monument the Condo? Should there be a Condo Circuit for guests and tourists, riding Non-Motorized Transport? Or should the focus shift to ‘soft’ areas, our soft wares? But what is the Gurgaon culture? It clearly is in the making…at best. Perhaps the current school-kids will define it a generation down the road. How does one glue together the diversity here… the locals, the expats, the blue collars, the white collars, the collar-less, along with the hordes of construction labour, domestic help and drivers…and of course pets?
Let’s start with the ‘conventional’ 16 darshans: The ‘take-them-away Toll Plazas – Sirhaul and Kherki Daula The ‘I’m home’ ‘Ship’ Building The ‘my way’ NH8 The ‘24x7’ Cyber City & Cyber Parks The ‘Mall-mile’ MG Road The ‘not-so’ Rapid Metro The ‘Mata’ Sheetla Mandir The ‘foundation of modern Gurgaon’ Maruti factory
The ‘one-cultural-stop’ Epicentre The ‘world class, blockbuster class’ Kingdom of Dreams The ‘healthy path’ to Medanta The ‘still not encroached!’ Bio-diversity Park The ‘in your face’ Liquor vends The ‘global-local’ schools The ‘you have arrived’ Aralias and Magnolias The ‘throw a stone and you will hit one’ Builders
Don’t forget to ask your guests – and tourists - to bow their heads as they approach each….it is, after all, a darshan.