Afternoon in a garden

 Afternoon in a garden

To connect with people one need to step outside the cosy comfort of home. I dared to go out in yesterday’s hot and humid July afternoon to India International centre to attend a lecture organised by ASI on Harappan civilisation, found in Rakhigari in Haryana near Hissar. Whenever I visit IIC,

I always try to reach early as I could not resist walking around the nearby Lodi garden. There are several entry gates to the garden, but the easiest way to park your car is in the by lane named Joseph Stein Marg.

The two hundred meter long road ends up in one of the lesser used gate of Lodi garden.

It was 5pm, when I entered the garden through gate no 3, chirping of birds and the surrounding trees, many of them are gigantic, fresh from yesterday’s rain greeted me. The left corner near the gate boast of a small structure of Sultanate era.

Most likely it is a part of a gate, the original gate gone with the passage of time. Normally I use my iPod to listen songs or to listen political discussions in YouTube. But to feel the nature and the serene ambience, unplugging iPod from my ear,  I started walking through the walkway nested either side with  varieties trees like palm, Amaltas, Semal, Arjun, neem, Jamun, Peeple and even bamboo a rare species in Delhi. 

Walking towards tomb of Muhammad Shah of Sayyid dynasty, I had to walk over a arched pedestrian bridge, build to give way to another walkway beneath.

Over the bridge a middle aged man with ordinary attire was standing with two small carry bags laying near his feet. He greeted me with folded hands. He seemed to be an ordinary person, perhaps a bit out of place in this posh garden which is usually frequented by high class gentry from nearby Jorbagh area or even VIP’s flanked by security guards. I also did a namaste before triggering a conversation. I misjudged his age. He is just fifty years age, though at a first glacé I though he would be around sixty.

He said he is coming back from duty at AIIMS where he works as a security guard. Showing the two bags near his feet he said that he is back only today morning from his ancestral village in Mainpuri district in western UP near Agra. He was out of town for two months to attend his daughter’s marriage. He has two other son who after finishing graduation working part time job in village. He wants at least one of them to get a government job which he knows is very tough judging by the low success rate among the village youths. His name is Sudhir Sharma. So you are a Brahmin, I told him. I asked him about caste politics in village. He said cast or religion based community attitude is a aberration. He said there are three different categories of security guards at AIIMS. He is directly recruited by AIIMS because of his army background. He took premature  retirement from 16, artillery regiment  as naik subedar. He developed some eye complications during his posting in high altitude Ladakh area near China border. He told me that he draws an handsome pension over forty thousand from army and gets salary thirty two thousand from his present job besides having agricultural land in his village home. So by village standard he is well off. When I asked what he misses most about his home, he said it is his family and the pair of Sarus cranes which are in abundance in his area.

He is a nature lover as he told me that he always prefers to take a walk through this garden rather than taking public transport because it gives him solace in mind. I parted wishing him good luck which he returned with humble folding hands. 

It is the first week of July. In the northern part of India this period of time sun sets around 7-30pm. The time of 5-30 a bit early for evening walkers to crowd the place. I was walking through an array of palm trees on my left and Muhammad Shah’s tomb on on a slightly elevated land mass.

One aged person wearing a T shirt and half pant coming from opposite side. He is the usual type meaning the rich gentry from nearby posh locality of Jorbagh,  whom you usually come across while walking here. He smiled at me waving his hand and greeted me with a word ‘Radhe-Swami’. I was curious to know, if he belongs to the sect ‘Radheswomi’. But before I could respond he briskly walked past me. The walkway is circular. So I thought I will ask him when I again meet him. I recently came to know about this sect. I had the fortune of visiting commune of Radha-swami sect peoples at ‘Dera Biasi’ located in between Ludhiana and Amritsar. Inside the premises they have, besides  rows of accommodation, facilities like school, college, community kitchen even a mall. The astonishingly big prayer hall where Guruji delivers his sermon everyday in the morning can accommodate four lakh devotees. 

I saw him again from a distance and stopped at a convenient place to strike a conversation with him.

He looked to be older than me. I told him “Sir, some time back you greeted me by saying ‘Radha-swami‘. Do you belong to that sect? After glancing at me for a few moments, with a smile in his face he replied, ‘no, I am not follower of any sect. But usually I love to greet people with different words - sometimes simply good morning or good evening, or else jai Sri Ram, Jai-Krisna, some times Assalaam  alykum, if I find a Muslim. But what prompted me to ask him if he is ‘Radha-Swami’ follower.’ I explained that as I recently met a family follower of Radha-swami, I wanted to know more about the sect. Listening to my heavily Bengali accented English he asked me if I am a Bengali or not. When I nodded in conformity, he said he stayed in Kolkata for 26 years in seventies and eighties and laughingly told he loves rosgulla of Kolkata. His residence was in Belevedia in Alipore area. His son passed out from St. Xavier, Kolkata.  I underestimated his age. Now he is 84 but looks like he is a septuagenarian. He mentioned that he is still active and goes to Ashoka University very often. This new era university located in Sonepat in Haryana, an hour drive from central Delhi. ‘How come you are associated with the university’?- I asked him. His answer surprised me. His son is founder member and trustee of Ashoka University. His son’s name is Ashish Dhawan. Ashoka, a private university is India’s first liberal arts university. He said he is a resident of Jorbagh and his son stays in Amrita Shergil marg just opposite to Lodi garden. Incidentally my university classmate Shubhasis

joined Ashoka University after taking sabbatical leave from IIT (D). Subhasis told me during our recent visit to Nizamuddin Dargah that his new task is to setup a department with major in computer science where many of the students enrolled, are from arts background without having maths in CBSE course. Having teaching experience as professor of computer science in IIT, Delhi, teaching country’s cream of students, It is a challenge for him to design a computer course for students without maths background. I told him about my friend. He knows him pretty well. He also mentioned that he has a lot of Bengali friends in his circle, many of whom were brought to Delhi by ex-president Pranab Mukharjee. Senior Dhawan is a regular visitor in the garden. I told him that compared to his age, he looks younger and fit. He said it is all god’s grace. Before parting I took a selfie with him. 

So today I got acquainted with two personalities, one from lower economic background and the other belongs to the elite and affluent member of posh south Delhi locality. 

One round to the park covers exactly 2.5km.

Shisha gumbad and bara gumbad, are the two structures, located adjacent to each other are the two most visible heritage structures build in 15th century. Whenever I look at the top of the dome of Sheesh GUMBAJ, it reminds me of a novel written by witty Khushwant Singh. It was a story revolving three people from different sect in their twilight years, passing time, sitting in a bench

overlooking Bada Gumbaj, occasionally remembering their romantic encounter with women in prime of their youth and sometime jokingly imagining the protruded top of the dome with areola of a woman’s bosom. 

There is one gate like structure stand alone in one corner of the garden, tucked away from common gentry’s visibility.

Though the structure to be a part of old era but its yellowish finish make it different from others. The description put up by ASI, displayed near the structure suggests that it is the part of an entry gate to a mosque which is visible on the right side of the gate. 

I checked my watch before exiting the garden. It is exactly six o’clock, half an hour before start of seminar on Rakhigarhi excavation. But it will be a part of my another blog.

Debadatta 

10/10/23