Prized possessions of Mumbai would be showcased in two days. Time for Delhiwallahs to kep a date with the churning that the city has been witness to -and well lit broad roadsamong others isthe envy of many
As the city grapples with the bumper to bumper traffic and hordes on short fuse, it is prudent to look at the way the city has changed over the years and what were the events that defined it. Mind you there is an entire tribe that has had a bad outing in the city and left with the resolve to never return back.
Some of the images of the city go like this.
Once upon a time in Delhi
- the much-revered JRD Tata sweating it out at Jt Secy’s office when licence raj was the norm.
when Dhiru bhai came to the city and all the big politicos in attendance to have a word.
the much-respected Ratan Tata pitching tent in Delhi to secure an alliance with S’pore airlines only to be thwarted by sinister elements.
the traffic was nearly proportionate to the number of people residing in the city.
the city was witness to Ambys and Fiats sharing space with the much-desired DTC buses. The DTC buses of that make are visible on the Delhi-Ajmer route alone these days.
you could possibly reach DU(North Campus) from your place of residence in just under 10Rs; nowadays it sets you back by at least 40Rs. JNU could also be reached in just under 5Rs.
the DTC tickets priced at 25, 40 and possibly 60 paise with 12.50 Rs bus pass the most cherished possession.
you could enter Parliament from C Sec side and exit towards Vijay Chowk with seamless ease.
you could possibly see Indira Gandhi’s convoy of three to four Ambys coming from Sunehari Bagh Road side and proceeding towards 1 Saf Road. The windows had just curtains and there was no such thing as tinted glasses or taint tailing a leader. The last time you saw the leader of that calibre was Narashima Rao as his convoy passed through Krishna Menon Marg with pedestrian movement not restricted to the scale that is visible now.
your access to the picture of Super Star of’70s and’80s peeing off in the bushes of Willingdon Crescent Road.
the Illustrated Weekly of India having a cover story "Finished" following a series of misses from AB. The star had his comeback opportunity with "Hum".
AB marking his presence in J N Stadium in’82 Asian Games and the crowd going berserk when he left.
AIR in the evening news bullettin confirming AB’s resignation from Parliament in the summer of’87 as the cesspool of politics was too much for him.
a boy(barely in his teens) going to Ajmer(his maiden visit)with a prayer to Khwaja(as he put the 50 Rs note in the big vessel placed on the right side in the Dargah) that he could make it to the film industry only to be rudely told that vacancies weren’t there for the next 10 years.
India Post and Business and Political Observer newspapers hitting the stands in’87 only to fold up later.
the Jat leader from Haryana giving his piece of mind to A Shourie on a landline and the entire conversation(all expletives included) carried in toto the next day and this setting in place an entire new tribe which couldn’t do away with abuse.
the Human Rights concert taking place in J N Stadium in’88; the tickets for which could be procured from Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg(TOI).
the Vijay Chowk wasn’t the den for Journos to spell out the rights of every child to free education in India, Pak And B’desh.
Salma Agha and Raman taking to news bulletin reading on Doordarshan, with none leaving the chair until the exercise was complete. Nowadays the likes of Ka Se do a disappearing act(for a while) while sharing space with another anchor in the 8 pm news slot.
enamoured by the success of India in’83 World Cup, Indira Gandhi and a host of others visited Feroshah Kotla Stadium only to witness the mayhem that Malcom Marshall had unleashed as he ripped apart Indian batting lineup in the India-Windies Test match.
the flicks like Chashme Buddor(Farooq Sheikh waiting for a bus right opposite Embassy of Nepal) and Burning Train(Dharmendra speeding with his machine in the city) showed the breathing space that city roads were blessed with.
the Delhi Cantonment Station having metre gauge trains going right up to A’bad’; and there were no such trains with which you could return from Ajmer the same day.
the Delhi Mumbai sector having not more than four flights a day with Indian Airlines having the first and last mover advantage.
the landline being the sole mode to connect, we were years and years away from the cell soaked conversations that is as pathetic as the innumerable TV debates. The scene from “Jane Bhi Do Yaaro” where Naseeruddin Shah is all hooked up to a landline conversation with his opponents sums up the invincibility of this machine.
the city theatres like Kamal and Archna playing host to flicks like “Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyo Aata hai”and “Return of Bruce Lee” have metamorphosed themselves to commercial enterprise of a different order. Chanakya is the new one to down its shutters.
Gandhi movie being extensively shot around Raj Path, with a degree of commotion that wasany day less than when two Aamir flicks(rang de basanti and three idiots)were shot.
when the likes of George Shultz and James Baker 3d never cared to visit the city. Here we have this lady Secy of Statewho returns every year.
When Gorbachev visited the city in 86-87, the bonhomie was too apparent to be missed and series of agreements too big to be ignored.
From a city of Asian Games’82to the upcoming Commonwealth Games’10, it has seen it all happening. From a leaking airport roof to the utter madness at the railway station is the new fact to live with. More and more are on short fuse - and that’s the dark reality that tails it.
The metro would be a blessing to its denizens. But when I went to take the Qutab-G’gaon ride(with the impression that I would have ample time to walk inside the Qutab Minar), the Qutab Minar was a good one-and-a-half kms from the station. And the connectivity next to nil. As you haggle with the untamed auto wallahs the best prescription offered is to take the metro. But metro doesn’t touch a large part of the city. Here my experience with the public transport system in the South India has been much better. Having stationed in Tirumala for 20 days in the first visit and 10 days in the second one, the longing tore turn to this pilgrimage centre is strong.
Tirumala, Chennai and B’glore were the best.The connectivity good and staff miles and miles away from being rude. Honesty and humility are routes to success - and a large community understands that.