Advised to make my visit to Delhi’s iconic Red Fort early, at 8.30 am I wedged myself into an
constructed in 1648 by the Mughal Emperor with style influences
both Moslem and Hindu. Covering 250 acres, outer walls extend an approx. 2 kms in
perimeter. It was at the main Lahore Gate in 1947 that Prime Minister Nehru
raised the flag and declared Indian national independence. Included in my
foreigner’s ticket price of 25 times the local entry fee, was admission to the
on-site Indian Independence museum. Surprising to me as an Englishman, was the official tone of deep Indian hatred for all things Empire. It was my feeling that
balance was missing, with no mention at all in the exhibits, of the possible
positives that UK colonisation may also have contributed: a legal system, a democratic
parliamentary constitution modelled on Westminster, a national railway network and an overlay of
internationally spoken English language, to name a few.
As a
pre-eminent national shrine, I was surprised that the entire massive Red Fort
property appears quite jaded & generally run-down, with clear under
investment in maintaining the structures, buildings and grassed areas between
buildings. With such obvious strong national pride and a massive supply of
under used human labour, could not the government, that has recently placed an object in
Mars orbit, organise a renovation & clean-up crew, so that this
treasure really shines viz. Palais de Versailles et al.?
With tired legs and comfortably seated
on a shaded bench, I watched the growing stream of visitors. With very few
foreigners to be seen, I was asked, perhaps a dozen times, if people, seeking a
trophy pic could sit with me for their cell phone portrait. Perhaps my ‘exotic’
image will be transported back to distant villages as a holiday memory—or
perhaps, quickly deleted!  |
| Lady lawn weeding crew..... |
No comments:
Post a Comment