Key to the city

This is a project currently initiated in New York. The project, started on June 3rd, is an attempt to give the key to 24 places in NY that are usually off-limits to unauthorized people.

As I read the article, the concept was first explored in Sao Paulo, I wondered what if it was transplanted into India. What are the places that people should have access to? Since Delhi has the unique distinction of being constructed by CPWD, there is really no limits to the architectural wonders. But let us just make a list for the heck of it. So here is mine:

1. Mayur Bhawan. This houses the income tax department, a place to visit every year to deposit your income tax returns. It is dingy, with broken down staircase, and walls liberally sprinkled with paan stains. One visit is sufficient to know that getting a refund is a miracle in making.

2. Passport Office. Located in the South Delhi, near Bhikaji Cama Place, the entry is through a narrow gate which is opened only sufficiently to allow one person to enter. To enjoy the office and to admire the workings, one needs to visit it on a full working day in the peak of summer when the A/C is not working. That is when the officials manning to desk go on sudden strike and allow the crowd to simmer and smother in the heat. As an aside: My passport still has not arrived even though it is more than 45 days.

3. CPWD Service center: A marvel in itself. Visit any one that is not located in Pandara Road or Lodi Estate or Rabindra Nagar or Bharti Nagar. These venues serve the high and mighty and do not really depict the beauty of a normal CPWD service center. The normal one will be empty save for a wooden desk. The almirah will have some broken down tools. The men will be sitting outside smoking a beedi especially on a cold winter day.

4. New Delhi Railway Station: This is being currently renovated. But no amount of renovation will help this place. Not when there are plenty of people to spit on the floors and the walls, to urinate, and to throw garbage around. A visit to the pre-paid auto rickshaw stand is a must. None of the auto-rickshaw wallahs like the pre-paid scheme so they tend to avoid the place like the plague. Generally, a police man stands on the road to catch hold of a hapless auto driver and to arm twist him into taking the passenger who has purchased the ticket to his/her destination. It is an enjoyable sight as long as you are not the passenger. Currently, after the last stampede, the place is out of bounds for people who are not bona-fide passengers.

5. Munirka: Though one does not require a formal key to this place, a sort of map would be nice but I doubt if any map can be created of this congested, filthy, mosquito-infested place. Houses and shops sprout with a delightful lack of any orderliness. The houses are a marvel. A key to one of them should be provided to know how not to build a house. You wonder how people live in it as they would not be getting any air or light. This, in case any of you is wondering, is made possible by the simple expedient of removing windows during the construction. The staircases in each house (all are multi-storied) are steep without railings. All in all an experience for a life time.

That reminds me. I have a veenai class. More architectural marvels later.