Delhi deconstructed
Humra Quraishi

Celebrating Delhi 
Edited by Mala Dayal and Ravi Dayal.
Penguin-Viking.
Pages 187. Rs 350.

PERHAPS, one of those great aspects of this recently released book, Celebrating Delhi, is that it distracts you from the messed-up condition of today’s New Delhi. Those essays tucked in this volume take you to those good, old days, when New Delhi did not lay plundered or, to put it in more gentler terms, New Delhi did not lay dug up for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games!

And with that in the foreground or in the very background, this book captures the very essence of this Capital city of the country. It brings to life the different shades and aspects of this city — its history, together with that those historical monuments and their architecture, those trees planted along its avenues, the cuisine and the food spreads, the music that once flowed, those sufi and classical traditions, the languages that prospered, the poetry and verse and that very distinct culture that flourished in its expanse `85

In fact, in this short write-up it’s difficult for me to even capture that essence this volume offers or to actually focus on any of these given aspects. For, it’s a big wide range that lies captured and fitted in these pages. We begin with what Khushwant Singh offloads in his candid style: "My memory goes back to the time when there was no city but a lot of brick-kilns ... There was a miniature train that ran from Badarpur up to what is now Connaught Circus. It was called the Imperial Delhi Railway ... New Delhi was meant to take about four to five years to build; it actually took nearly sixteen. But by 1929, the major buildings had been completed ..." In fact, it’s Khushwant’s father, Sobha Singh, who built most of the important buildings that stand tall even to this day. 

As Khushwant writes: "It was remarkable that at a time when new Delhi was a barren waste, at an open auction he bought land in what is now called Karol Bagh for two annas (twelve-and-a - half paise) a square yard. He later gifted this land to his clerical staff. In what is now Connaught Circus, probably the most expensive real estate in India, he bought land at two rupees a square yard, freehold. He was the first one to put up buildings there. The first was where the Wengers Block is now ... He built more of New Delhi than any other contractor ..." And the list of the buildings which Sobha Singh built is indeed long - War Memorial Arch, now known as India Gate, The National Museum, Baroda House, AIFACS Hall, Broadcasting House (All India Radio), The Red Cross Building and many other important structures... 

And it’s Pradip Krishen’s essay — ‘Avenue Trees in Lutyens’ Delhi: How They Were Chosen ‘ – that actually gives you an insight into how particular trees were chosen to go along the avenues of New Delhi. "It’s a curious list of trees in some ways, because British planners seem to have consciously avoided planting trees like the mango, shisham, banyan that were in vogue as avenue trees in northern India through the Mughal times ..."

And academic Upinder Singh’s essay - ‘Discovering The Ancient in Modern Delhi’ takes you to the very history, to those historical detailing, together with that the very clearing of myths and notions in vogue. In fact, her essay starts off on this rather telling note: " Over my many years as a teacher in St. Stephen’s College, I often asked my students whether they could name any ancient remains in Delhi.There was usually a long silence, and then someone would mention the Iron Pillar in Mehrauli. When asked who was responsible for installing that pillar,
the response usually was : ‘Ashoka’. Now, the Iron Pillar is ancient, but it was not set up by Ashoka ..."

In fact, each essay in this anthology takes you further into the different aspects of this city — be it Priti Narain’s "Dilli Ka Asli Khana" ( The Real Cusine of Delhi ), or Ravi Dayal’s ‘ "A Kayastha’s View of Delhi, or Vidya Rao detailing the long history of The Dilli Gharana; or Sohail Hashmi focussing on the "Language of Delhi", or William Dalrymple focussing on the uprising of 1857, in his essay "Religious Rhetoric in the Delhi Uprising of 1857 ..."

As mentioned, the list is long and detailed and takes you to the different aspects related to this city.

In fact, the players and tourists who’d be finally coming here for the Commonwealth Games should be handed a copy of this book so that they know the city as it was, as it was planned to exist ... 

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