#SwachSubways

      Strepsils India has a campaign underway to raise awareness on Cleanliness, basically promoting Swach Bharat. Through their page Ab Montu Bolega, Strepsils India is encouraging bloggers and public to raise their voice against any place that requires cleaning or people that need attention.
     Click on the link for more details  http://www.abmontubolega.com/  or visit the Strepsils India page on Facebook and Twitter. The links are as follows:
https://www.facebook.com/StrepsilsIndia?fref=ts
https://twitter.com/StrepsilsIndia

      I travel frequently by public transport which many a time requires me to cross a busy road because a bus stop or metro station is on the other side. I have had no choice but to take the subway ,at times, to the other side as its dangerous to walk across an arterial road during peak hour. Whenever I took the subway, I would always be twice as alert, holding up my handkerchief or the end of my dupatta to my face as I walked through it in long hurried strides. I would invariably be ambushed by hawkers selling flowers or little trinkets who persistently followed me edging me on to purchase something so they could 'feed their starving babies'. I would have to hop over drains that would appear out of no where or sleeping stray dogs or dodge an occasional bat or pigeon that would swoop past me. 
     When people mention 'subways' the mental image that most of us have is a dingy dark underground tunnel which smells of urine and where most illegal deals go down. Having traveled to many of the metropolitan cities across India I can say with much confidence that Subways in most cities are not maintained what so ever. They are crawling with rodents and beggars looking for shelter. They turn into reservoirs of water during the monsoons and remain water logged even much after the rains.
     Its not uncommon to notice the various posters advertising help with personal problems and promoting 'health' supplements. The walls are caked with layers of 'pan' juice and graffiti isn't a very pleasant sight for anyone walking through. Most subways also lack sufficient ventilation and has almost no sunlight coming in and are potential breeding grounds for a lot of disease and infection.    
     As a part of a Urban Design project in the city that I was part of in college, subways were reviewed for the number of daily commuters that used it and what they felt about them. The majority of the people chose to cross a busy main road and put their life at risk than walk through a stinking subway. Women avoided subways fearing their safety. Subways are like the human esophagus with a strep infection badly in need of lozenges. #abmontubolega.
Our cities would be so much better if its little nooks and crannies were taken care of. It is as important as cleaning behind your ears.  

Here's hoping that this campaign manages to make a difference. Kudos on the effort so far.   

Inferno - Chennai's Heritage in Flames

         How often does one manage to see a building of fire? Every few months if you live in the city of Chennai. It was a pleasant Saturday afternoon, the weather had cooled down a little after the few thunder showers in the city in the last couple of days. I busy studying the busy streets of Broadway for an Urban Design project when a couple of people accidently ran into me. This was a common in the busy streets of Broadway so I continued to carry on looking at the road widths and encroachments. As I walked on I saw a crowd gathering on the road right outside the State Bank of India building. Another young man ran into me and I caught his gaze. I looked up to see what he was staring at and that's when I saw the SBI go up in flames. Thick smoke billowed from the Bank of Madras, one of the most exquisite examples of Indo-Sarasenic architecture in Chennai. The bank constructed in 1843 was an amalgamation of many regional banks in Madras in the 19th century. The fire raged on for two hours, the first and second floors completely gutted, it was finally put out at 7 pm. At least the response of the fire department was quick enough and the building was saved before it was reduced completely to ash.

Bank of Madras on Fire, 12th July '14

    Similarly, the government run Co-Optex textile showroom turned into a camp fire site in November last year causing a traffic jam that lasted an hour at a very crowded junction at Egmore. The building that is at least a decade old has caught fire more than once.
     The Indo-Sarasenic Moore market, a landmark in the city, was razed to the ground in a fire by 1985. It was rebuilt and the new structure has caught fire twice since then. The cause of these fires are often electrical short circuits. The cause of the Moore market fire outbreak was never actually found and the investigation remained inconclusive, but rumor has it that it was started by Southern Railway officials who wanted the land back as the market stood on Railway property.      
       So what is it with these frequent fire outbreaks? Just sheer negligence and public insensitivity towards heritage structures.
      While the government is busy building monuments and memorial arches, converting buildings from state legislatures to multi-specialty hospitals, nothing is done to protect or maintain existing structures which actually have historic significance. What is the future of these buildings that have survived a fire? They are treated as an invalid. They are cleared out, locked up and left to decay and crumble until some suited-up industrialist or politician with a receding hairline decides to tear it down and build something more safe and user-friendly. Some heritage buildings stand even till today over grown with weeds and moss with no future intended for them
            Some of these buildings are actually ancestral property owned by affluent families in the city. Having interned with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage in Chennai I have seen many proposals for renovation and conservation of heritage buildings shot down for reasons like "relevance to a modern context" and "risk of building collapsing a few years after renovation". Here 'modern' buildings less than a few months old are collapsing killing hundreds and yet people don't seem to trust an old building that has survived centuries. Ironic?
             While the governments in Brussels and Italy are busy formulating and implementing policies to save their historic cities and minimize the impact of urbanization, our Indian cities are losing a lot of it's colonial neighborhoods to the demand for housing and sprawling metros.
            My idea of a Utopian city in India would be one where the past, present and future co-exist, where history is an integral part of a cityscape and where people respect spaces and structures and Chennai city seems to have a really long way to go.


Hit like and comment below if you think heritage buildings don't deserve to be neglected. For more articles subscribe to Van der Wrote and don't forget to +1. 

Black Holes in the City- Chennai's Dying Malls

Spencer Plaza, Mount Road, Chennai

        Strolling into Spencer Plaza, at Mount Road, made me wonder if it was a weekday or weekend and a quick check on my phone confirmed it to be a Saturday. This mall which is a landmark in the city of Chennai and as large as three phases of shops and boutiques seemed absolutely deserted. A few visitors were walking about casually looking at the merchandise on display, some munching away corn and cookies from the respective stalls. Walking down the narrow aisles, trying very hard to evade an occasional clothes rack of night gowns and tee shirts and a scary mean-looking shop owner trying to get you to buy a carpet or a printed salwar I noticed most of the shops were on clearance sale or were packing up for good. I sneezed half a dozen times. The place hadn't seen a mop in eons.
          I remember coming to this mall as a child for everything that I wanted to buy, be it clothes for my birthday or a new bag and stationery for a new year at school. We always lost our way, my mother and I, and every visit to this mall was an adventure. The mall built in 1863 and reconstructed in the 1980s was one of the largest in South Asia at the time and the largest departmental store in India. Now people visit the mall only for specific purposes, mostly to purchase cheap electronics and accessories for phones and computers and to get a tattoo or piercing.
          There are other rather old malls and plazas in the city, Spencer's was just one such example, which were THE places to go to on a weekend when people just wanted a break from the monotony of life. They now seem to be dying centers of activity as their newer and fancier counterparts coming up in the city cater to the current standards of living of people. The newer malls seem to draw the crowd consistently with luxury brands, restaurants, clubs, food courts and multiplexes which offer new age entertainment, while the old ones reply on their regular customers to remain in business. Some of the older malls thrive also because they house offices in their premises whose occupants aren't in no hurry to move out.
           These dying activity centers are now a good breeding ground for antisocial activity as security is limited to none. The small crowd and empty shops result in many a dark corner and safety is not guaranteed. These places are thoroughly exploited by couples to get some alone time as they use the small crowd and the little chance of being caught by their angry conservative families and friends who might be at the mall at the same time, to their advantage.
             Many of these malls have historic value as they were built as early as the 1800s and I always feel that any building of some historic significance adds to a cityscape. I think its really up to the owners of these gigantic commercial spaces to keep these places alive and . Be it marketing gimmicks like flash mobs and badminton tournaments or just bringing in merchandise and the kind of entertainment people are looking for at present days. I went about asking my shopaholic friends what they thought these old malls lacked. The most common answer was lack of security, cluttered aisles, dim lighting and clouds of dust lingering in the air which gave the place an eerie atmosphere and terrible customer service. So it is clear that a better effort has to be made in order to maintain the space and provide enough security and services so people are not put off when they visit. If the owners of the various boutiques took the effort to make their shop fronts attractive and be a little more customer friendly rather than scaring potential clients by harassing them to make a purchase at their shop, it would automatically make shopping more enjoyable. Perhaps social media and newspapers can help highlight this issue and this blog post I hope makes a small difference.

Fountain Plaza, Egmore, Chennai

Post in the comments below if you feel something can be done to help bring activity back to these landmarks.
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This article was inspired by a post on a social networking site by a good friend +Manjith Mothiram who addressed this issue. Cheers to that!
               

Time capsule: The Regional Rail Museum, Chennai

Vintage Vignette 

         As a child many of us probably got a toy steam engine or a train set on our birthday which was largely a part of our play time fantasies. Be it pretending to be a superhero trying to save a teddy bear tied to railway tracks, or pretending to be Godzilla that trampled down half of Manhattan, that little steam engine was the center of the story.
        Locomotives were a part of a lot of significant moments in history like the Industrial Revolution in America, Mahatma Gandhi's movement to prevent defranchise of Indians in South Africa, to riots in Gujarat. They are also big a part of cinema with Bollywood dance sequences being filmed on the Nilgiris Express to entire action sequences being shot in Super Fast trains.
       The first Railway line was proposed in India, at Chintadripet Bridge, Chennai in 1832 much before the first successful railway line was constructed in 1853, from Mumbai to Thane. Interestingly, the first coach factory for the Southern Railway was also established at Locoworks, ICF in Chennai. This coach factory functioning from 1872 has been constantly evolving over decades since its inception during the Raj.
        Tucked away in the sleepy suburban residential colony of the Integral Coach Factory area, hidden from view by a wall of thick foliage, the Regional Rail Museum is easily missed by commuters on the busy National Highway 205. Its not surprising that, although having been a part of the city since 200, many residents of Chennai city seem surprised when asked about the museum.
      So, for those of you who don't know, here is a peek inside this time capsule.

    The Regional Rail Museum is housed in two Imperial style buildings and over a vast area of greenery. With ample parking and a ticket counter coach to fit with the theme the Museum tries its best to be creative. As one enters the building that contains the technical exhibits the first thing you notice is the cool breeze blowing through the space, dim lighting and the incessant mechanical noise from the old ceiling fans, probably spinning from British times. What really gets you thinking is what a 19th century Mercedes is doing in a Rail Museum!
     After looking at two levels of a variety of engine parts, miniature coaches and an audio-visual presentation on the Integral Coach Factory (the voice-over happily quips "Incredible Coach Factory) one moves on to see the real deal. Set up over an extremely well maintained lawn, shaded by a variety of trees are the life size exhibits of decommissioned and vintage engines and coaches.

Who cried Fowl?

Vintage Mercedes Benz

      Pose in front of a coach from the Nilgiri Mountain Railway or hop onto the 1895 Fowler Ploughing Engine. Step into a coach and you can see the controls. Some of the most engaging exhibits are the Crane Hercules, Signal posts, Railroad switches and Inspection carts. After all the climbing and walking around one can head to the little cafeteria near the entrance for a quick bite or settle into the seats of the tour train which goes around the museum's perimeter. It's really meant for the kids. Past all the live exhibits at the very end is the souvenir shop. The souvenir

Gear on the axis: Engine part 

shop has a large functioning train set filling a good part of the space. Here a little 'Duronto' and an electric train chug along going over bridges and through tunnels. Well for train enthusiasts this section of the museum is a real delight as it also has vintage miniatures and paintings on sale for very affordable prices.
       Now, architecturally this museum seems to have checked off all the boxes which makes it a go-to place. First, the whole museum is incredibly well curated with placards and posters interspersed with the exhibits to break monotony and keeping visitors engaged. The placards provide a background history and a few technical details for those who might be interested. The layout allows a visitor to pick what he wants to see first, the live engines or the technical objects on display. The imperial building, being extremely well maintained creates an ambiance which almost teleports a visitor to the era of the Raj. This sort of lets you imagine men in sack coats and bowler hats walking around looking busy mapping new rail routes and inspecting engines parts.
         The brightly painted pieces of machinery in the open lawn amid the merging shades of green and yellow is visually stunning. The landscaping makes it all the more aesthetic with neat paved pathways and boundaries around the exhibits.

Honey I shrunk the....Duronto?

So for those of you who are in the city or will visit the city soon, put on that engine driver's hat and take that ride to the past and and back!If you enjoyed this post don't forget to hit +1 to share and subscribe!
    

Politics of a Changing Indian Cityscape

      India, being the largest democracy in the world, probably also has the most number of political parties. The ruling party of each state, is ever ready to change the face of the nation, and by that I mean quite literally change the face. As different ruling parties form the government each time, they leave a little something behind by which they think people would remember them. The mementos start with statues of party leaders, then arches and inaugural stones. Soon they graduate to tearing down buildings erected by the opposition and construct a more suitable monument in its stead.

       The two political parties that have been rivals for decades in the state of Tamil Nadu, India are the AIADMK and the DMK. With each party having formed the government at different periods from 1972 the face of the city has been constantly changing. In 2010, when the DMK was in power, the decision to construct a new secretariat was finally taken. The new secretariat, designed by a German based architecture company, was to commemorate the 50 years of association of the DMK with the State Legislature. This building seems extremely out of place in a neighborhood that has the most number of colonial style buildings and practically ruins the old world feel of Mount Road. It has changed the streetscape of the area making the city seem almost ignorant to neighborhood context. The neighborhood has many landmark buildings in the city such as the Simpsons &Co. building, The Mail office, The Hindu office building and P.ORR &Sons which is famous for its clock tower.   

                                            

        New Secretariat building, Mount Road, Chennai

    Imperial Style buildings on Anna Salai.

        In 2010, when the AIADMK came to power, just as predicted, the Chief Minister moved the secretariat to Fort Saint George and the newly built secretariat building was converted to a multi-specialty hospital based on public opinion. Obviously, the change of secretariat was not enough to leave a mark. The next building to be altered was the MGR Memorial along the Marina Beach. The Chief Minister felt the existing archway of the Memorial was not grand enough to represent the power and greatness of the ADMK. The existing archway, supposed to represent a pair of palms together (a traditional gesture of greeting) was demolished and a new archway, a sculpture of the party's emblem, the two leaves, was erected in its place complimented by ionic columns on either side and a golden Pegasus.

New Entrance

            Old Entrance
The new entrance just does not answer the context of the site. It defies the idea of it being an entrance all together and comes through more as monumental.
         Now this isn't only confined to the state of Tamil Nadu. In the state of Gujarat, the BJP which has been the ruling party in the last ten years took change to the next level: demolition of a heritage building. The Babri Masjid, or the Mosque of Babur was one the few surviving monuments of the late Tuglaq period. This mosque built in 1527, was claimed to have a Hindu temple beneath its foundation, which is believed to have been demolished by Emperor Barbur after his conquest of the Rajputana state. So the leaders of the BJP felt the need to return the sacred area back to the Hindus and ordered the demolition of the Masjid in 1992. So much for revenge for a crime committed over 300 years ago. After an incredibly long trial that took almost a decade, a verdict passed in 2010 stated a Ram temple could be eventually be built on 1/3 of the area of Ayodhya.
          The state of Uttar Pradesh is not far behind. Although there were no dramatic demolitions and difference in opinion over location of secretariats, four time Chief Minister of UP, Mayawati, has erected hundreds of statues of well known Dalit leaders and memorials all over the state of UP. She also installed over 100 elephant sculptures in parks in Lucknow. Do elephants have anything to do with the city of Lucknow? I doubt, but the elephant just so happens to be the symbol the the BSP. Aesthetic? Yes. Relevant to Lucknow? No. I don't think so.

                                             Babri Masjid, before demolition

                                          Elephant Statues, Lucknow, UP

        This constant demolition and construction by political parties who are so eager to leave behind a legacy has a huge impact on the architecture of a city. It is not only insensitive to site or neighborhood contexts but also unintelligent as this continuous process changes the fabric of the city, sometimes even damaging neighboring property. A city is always transforming to suit modern day requirement but it still tells a story. Most cities get their identity from their heritage, their landmarks. Historic buildings are essential in showcasing how a city was in the past and how it is in the present, and without them there will be large gaps in the timeline. Walking through a city must be like turning the pages of a three dimensional history book. It is important to be sensitive to a city's heritage and people must be aware of its value. Do these facts occur to the quintessential Indian politician? And if they do, do they just prefer to stay ignorant to the facts so as to achieve their end? A politician may have 99 problems but a historic building isn't one!

Lost in the Crowd - Delhi's Lesser Known Monuments

     Looking down through a window from an airbus hovering in the stratosphere, ready to land, one can see, past drifting clouds, the almost Utopian layout of Lutyen’s Delhi. One would first notice the wide criss-crossing roads and highways, then the vast expanse of greenery and finally catch a glimpse of the domes of some of Delhi’s most prominent landmarks. But, the rest is a blur of earthy hues. It is among these hues that lies time capsules hidden away in different parts of the city waiting for that lonely traveler to find.

     A view of Old Delhi

     Walk with a tour guide at a popular monument crawling with tourists. The tour guide who has faithfully memorized paragraphs from a history text book about the most famous landmarks in the city would, with a wave of his hand, dismiss the landmark’s lesser counterparts as “something built by some king in the same era”.

      Watch a tourism advertisement for a particular city or even country and one will see glorious visuals of the landmarks the city is identified with. Whilst the construction of these landmarks was in progress other structures were being built for reasons of lesser importance.

In my recent trip to the National Capital Territory of Delhi, I had the privilege to work with some of the best conservation architects and consultants in the country at the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, Delhi Chapter. It is here at one of the rallies for public awareness about nominating Delhi to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Cities that I learnt about these lesser known monuments in the city of Delhi. As they say, little drops of water makes an ocean, every single monument, well known or insignificant makes up Delhi's history and heritage. With a little research, I've come to conclude that  Lesser known monuments are indeed important for the following reasons:

First, They are witness to historic events.

-          Like the Turkman Gate, located at the Ahsif Ali Road, Chandini Chowk. In 1976, the slum relocation project was put into motion much to the disapproval of many slum dwellers, who started protesting. There was a rebellion that was started at the Turkman Gate which had a concentration of Muslim traders. They protested and resisted demolition of their houses. Emergency rule was imposed on April 18^th .1976. The police opened fire on them and began demolishing the gate, acting on orders given by the then president. Many civilians were killed and this event became global news which left the country shaken.

 Turkman Gate

     

     Some lesser known monuments showcase the lifestyle of public figures in a particular era like the “Tomb of Mohd. Quli Khan.” This tomb, located near the Quab Minar was remodeled by Sir Charles Metcalfe who was a negotiator between the East India Company and the Mughal rulers. Metcalfe used this structure as a holiday retreat and also to spy on Bahadhur Shah, the last Mughal emperor. This tomb has also survived the Revolt of 1857, during which it was ransacked and vandalized. 

 

Tomb of Mmd. Quli Khan

  

     Some such monuments were built to facilitate a now-forgotten practice, like the “Chor Minar”. The “Chor Minar, as its name suggests, was a minaret constructed at the present day Haus Khas village. This minaret was used to publicly flog thieves and their heads put up on the minar as an example.

     Lesser known monuments along with the more significant ones can collectively help determine the building typology in a place and architectural elements characteristic to a particular style and period in history.

    The Baradari at Sadhana Enclave is a building typology characteristic to the Mughal era. A Baradari is essentially a building or pavilion with twelve arches, for facilitating the free flow of air through the pavilion. The pavilion or hall was used for performances by dancers and musicians of the time. The Khirki mosque at Saket is the first mosque to be covered with rendered stone due to lack of skilled artisans. This mosque also exhibits a characteristic element of the Islamic style of architecture which is the “jaali” windows. Looking collectively at these buildings it can be established that pointed arches, jaali work, domes and minarets were the recurring architectural elements of this era. All elements may not be seen in every building which is why it is important to preserve even lesser known structures as they may contain detailing or be a building typology that the landmarks might not have and might not be.

                                                    Baradari

      While well-known monuments are recommended to first time visitors to a place, lesser known monuments are sure to interest budding historians and seasoned travelers. Just as little drops of water make an ocean every single monument however significant helps tell the story of a city. The cityscape of a place would be incomplete without these structures and hence, must be preserved.

      Preservation and conservation requires a significant amount of effort from not only historians and architects but from also patrons and organisations with similar ideals to help with funds and labor.

All you avid travelers reading this post these monuments are worth seeing as it only makes the big picture on India's rich history a lot clearer.

Hit like if you found this informative. Comment if you know about any more lesser known monuments but you think are significant to a city.