‘We just lay there, watching birds': Barred from India Gate lawns, Delhiites recall lost traditions

Indian Express

3 days ago

On a Friday afternoon this month, 50 guards stationed around India Gate constantly blew their whistles — sometimes sharp, sometimes soft — each time someone crossed the chain bordering the lush lawns, sat too close to the boundary, or tried to walk on the grass to escape the heat.
From the underpass near Kartavya Path, a family of six stepped out and walked toward the lawns to head to the monument — only to be stopped by a guard. He pointed to a green board listing restricted activities.
Among the do's and don'ts — including rules against littering or plucking flowers — one stood out prominently: 'Walking, playing, sitting, and eating on the lawn is prohibited'.
Seeing this, one woman in the group was furious, 'Why are they making us take a roundabout route?' she demanded.
For the past two months, the India Gate lawns — Delhi's favourite picnic spot — have been out of bounds for visitors. This comes amid the ongoing Central Vista redevelopment project, which stretches across the Kartavya Path and the lawns surrounding India Gate.
It has been one of the Capital's major tourist attractions for decades, often filled with people spreading mattresses and unpacking tiffin boxes under the shade of jamun trees.
Stopping for ice cream here has long been a cherished tradition for Delhiites, regardless of the season. In a 1970s archival photograph by Baldev Kapoor, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi are seen enjoying ice cream from a vendor in the inner circle of India Gate one afternoon, with their cars parked nearby.
Asked by The Indian Express at a press conference on August 5 why picnics were disallowed now, Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Srinivas Katikithala said the office of the CEO, Kartavya Path, who is a joint secretary-level officer in MoHUA, and the local police, were assessing 'who comes for what purpose, what are the various activities'.
Even as the Central Vista redevelopment is likely to take at least another two years, the secretary said the daily footfall was expected to be 1.5 lakh once the revamp is complete.
'The whole Vista has to be designed to enable citizens who are coming either for recreational purposes or to access the Central Secretariat or to visit the museums… All of this area is going to become a very large public plaza. So basically, we are assessing the footfall, ascertaining where consumption is happening currently,' the secretary said.
He added that the aim was to make the Central Vista a 'plaza for the people'; however, he did not say when the India Gate lawns would again be open for the public to picnic.
'Felt like an extension of home'
The decision, meanwhile, has left several prominent city residents, whose lives are closely tied to the area, incensed.
Arpana Caur (70), one of India's leading contemporary painters, known for her evocative, figurative style and layered spiritual and social narratives, was shocked to learn about the restrictions.
She said during her childhood — spent in a working women's hostel where she lived with her mother and sister — visits to India Gate with her family in the evenings were an outlet into the 'green world.' 'Staying at Curzon Road, the spot was just 500 metres away,' she said.
She fondly remembered how her mother used to cook and pack aloo paranthas, with what little they had, and they would sit and eat them on the lawns.
'We used to just lie down facing the sky, watching the birds, seeing the water — and soon enter a magical world. The orange (ice cream) bar, which I used to buy from the vendors, is still fresh in my memory,' she said.
She added that those moments gave them relief from the struggles they were facing.
Arpana's mother, Ajeet Cour, author and writer, and a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Padma Shri, said that back in 1965, she was struggling to make ends meet as a government school teacher.
'Apart from teaching in schools, I used to translate Punjabi work into English to earn money. To find respite, all three of us used to go sit in the lawns. I used to describe my day in school, and then the girls used to describe their day at school,' she said.
'It felt like an extension of home for us. Middle-class families looked forward to going there because there was no other affordable place. I used to feel satisfied just being able to buy chocolates for my children and watching them wander about the grass,' she said.
'Though the India Gate still stands, its charm has gone as everything is crumbling now.'
Feizal Alkazi, a noted theatre director based in Delhi, said he shifted to the Capital when he was 9. And for him, crossing the India Gate was an everyday affair as his school was on Barakhamba Road.
'Many afternoons and evenings were spent chatting, eating jamuns, dancing, and listening to songs with friends. Some days, we used to pack dinner and head to India Gate… after which we would savour kulfis,' he said.
He said the iconic spot was a significant part of his school years and remained just as special during his college days.
'… We never had landline phones back then, so many of my theatre friends would choose a spot beforehand — sometimes marking a tree — and meet there in the evening, around 6 or 7. You didn't need a phone; you just had to show up…'
Alkazi said people are now confined behind barricades.
'Our meetings happened in a very different, informal way. Now, people are kept away from these places, and they're missing out because they're not growing up in iconic spots like these,' he said.