Wednesday, October 2, 2013

More Happenings at Farrukhnagar...

Its been almost a month since we last posted ....and there's lots that has happened. It would be too much to put into one post, so do bear with me as I update you on all that we did over the next few posts. Yes, it has been a very exciting 20+ days!!!

In our last post we had told you that we had come up with the idea of conducting a "Nukkad Natak" - or a street play in Farrukhnagar to sensitize the locals on the need to actively participate in the preservation of our heritage buildings. Back at our school and in partnership with the Farrukhnagar Govt. Girls' School, we managed to get approvals and a date for conducting the street play. 3rd September 2013 it was! 

Finally, we had frozen on everything; we had our dates and our students, a group of passionate 11 year old, ready. With a couple of more approvals and checks, we got permission to show them around the monuments in Farrukhnagar, after they had performed the Nukkad Natak. After all the formalities were through, we were set to go to Farrukhnagar. So on the morning of the 3rd, we got ready. One last rehearsal, one last headcount and we were off!

The Bus Ride to Farrukhnagar

The bus ride was fun and foodie. Once we entered Farrukhnagar, the students glanced out of their windows, waiting for the long anticipated sight of the monuments. Finally, they spotted the Baoli, standing at the far end of the main road. But, as per our schedule, we were to visit the Government Girls School to perform the Nukkad Naatak (Street Play) first.


Nukkad Natak Superstars
We had already lined the event up with the principal of the school, Mrs. Rekha Kaushik, who had graciously agreed to let us perform the play for their students on their premises. After all the girls had gathered in a big circle around us, our 6th graders started their performance. It was a huge success! Must say there are some potential super-stars in our midst...See the pictures for yourselves!!!

Interacting with Children 
After the Nukkad Naatak, Mansi and I talked to the enthusiastic students of Farrukhnagar Govt. Girl's School about our collective heritage, why it’s so important to save it and the fact that they were so fortunate to have such amazing monuments just around the corner! 

It was an interactive session where we shared ideas on the steps we could take together to save our monuments. 

Interacting with Children 

At the end of our presentation, we asked the girls how they liked our interaction with them and their response was – “BAHUT ACHHA!”

Mrs. Kaushik - their Principal welcomed us in partnering with their students for the preservation of these monuments in the future as well. 

After expressing our gratitude to Mrs. Kaushik, we proceeded to our next stop- The Sheesh Mahal. There, we divided the students into two groups and started giving them a tour of the entire monument. After so many visits, tours and walks, we were talking about the place as if we lived there! 


Sheesh Mahal Visit
After finishing the entire tour, from the courts to the residences, we realized that we were running out of time- and we still had the Baoli to show them. So we hurried to the Baoli, the students very keen to see it as most of them had never seen a step-well before. They really enjoyed walking down to the actual well, while they admired the view from the roof-top as well.

Interacting with local experts at Sheesh Mahal

Yes We Can!!
Back in the bus, they told us how much they enjoyed their day and thanked us for the experience. We were equally enthused by their excitement as we realized that it only took a little effort to really get people (both young and old!) excited and involved in preserving our heritage. Its most definitely a serious issue but we could all have fun while trying to help solve it!


Look out for more posts soon on how many others have joined us on this fantastic journey.....


Thursday, September 5, 2013

Farrukhnagar- Our First Heritage Walk...



We had decided on our first Diamond in the Dust- Sheesh Mahal. Now, we had to start to freeze on certain plans on how we were to raise awareness. After hours of brainstorming, we came up with a few ideas. One of them was a Nukkad Natak, which was basically a street play. This Nukkad Natak would be performed in one of the school buildings in Farrukhnagar. To identify the school and to meet with their principals, we decided to visit Farrukhnagar once again.

The other idea was to have a heritage walk with a few interested students from Shri Ram School – so 10 of us along with our parents went down to Farrukhnagar on Friday August 16th 2013, to get to know its monuments a little better. And did we luck out! (More about this below….)

This time, we were also joined by a passionate Heritage lover – Ramit Mitra of Delhi By Foot. On getting to Farrukhnagar, we headed to the Baoli first, where Ramit Sir explained its socio-cultural significance as well as spent time helping us understand its finer architectural nuances.


Next, we identified two government schools and spoke to the principals about our project and sought their help to propagate the idea of local heritage conversation with their students through a Nukkad Natak and a presentation. That was when we got to know about a passionate, local gentleman, Mr. Raj Kanwar Gupta - who was at the forefront of all conservation efforts at Farrukhnagar, so we decided to meet him. This is when we lucked out – because he turned out to be a treasure trove of information!

Everyone called him “Masterji”, which translates to “Sir” or “Teacher”, as he was a retired primary school teacher. He took a special interest in the monuments at Farrukhnagar and even wrote letters to organizations like ASI and INTACH, to save the dying heritage there. Mr. Gupta gave us the detailed history of the Sheesh Mahal and Farrukhnagar in general and our entire meeting with him was very insightful .



Photo courtesy - Ramit Mitra of Delhi by Foot 
He explained the details of every part left of it and we were literally transported when there actually used to be hearings in these courts. After our long and detailed discussion about the courts and trials, he took us to one side of the building where there were dark stairs leading downwards. We could not see anything below. On using a torch, we saw that there was a small pile of trash at the bottom of the staircase. Masterji told us that this used to be a basement and it had its other opening on the other side of the court. Moving very cautiously, we reached the bottom. The trash pile did not extend far beyond the landing.

Photo courtesy - Ramit Mitra of Delhi by Foot 


 But the whole tunnel was pitch black; for someone who is scared of the dark, it could be a nightmare, but for us, it was fun! Using the only torch we had and feeling like explorers in a mine, we made our way to the opposite end and up the other set of stairs. 

Photo courtesy - Ramit Mitra of Delhi by Foot 
Upstairs we were shown little inserts in the ground that allowed air to go into the basement. Everything was very scientifically and logically designed.
Masterji took us up to the top of the court building. Up there, we saw a kitchen with a very modern chimney. We were told that Sheesh Mahal had seen many forms post India’s Independence. Apparently, until only a few years ago, a primary school was run here (Intesrestingly, we met many middle aged locals that day at Sheesh Mahal – who talked of being primary school children here with a lot of nostalagia – one of them even pointed out to the various sections of the palace they used for different types of games!). Before that, it served as a Chowki or police station for the Farrukhnagar Police. And before that, it was just an abandoned building while no one, not even a Monument Attendant, was there to take care of it.

Photo courtesy - Ramit Mitra of Delhi by Foot 

Masterji insisted on taking us to another one of the landmarks of Farrukhnagar. It was called the Ram-Sita Mandir. But it was no ordinary temple – this was a Hindu temple and a Sikh Gurudwara housed in a masjid or mosque. (Note: A Mandir is a place for Hindu worship; a Masjid is a place for Muslim worship and a Gurudwara is a place for Sikh worship). We found this concept fascinating and unique to Farrukhnagar.



Before we knew it, our heritage walk had come to an end and it was time to go. This time, we took an alternate route to leave. As we got out of the old city, we noticed brightly coloured ramparts of the crumbling outer perimeters of the old fort surrounding the city. We could not help but get out of the car and take some more pictures to commit to memory, since we realised with a sinking feeling that some more of this could be lost to encroachment and urbanisation. 
This time, we noticed walls that were older than others and which had the same colour and intricacy as the walls of Sheesh Mahal. It was very fascinating to see that the dilapidated building we saw inside, once stretched over all this land.



Back at school, after a lot of rehearsals and approvals, we had finally settled on a date for our Nukkad Natak at the Government Girls School, Farrukhnagar- the 3rd of September. Also, we have started an online petition with which we are going to use to convince ASI/INTACH to adopt Sheesh Mahal. Please do sign it at-http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Protect_our_heritage_and_cultural_inheritance/?fJKjOdb.


An E-newsletter is going to be sent to all the parents of our school, regarding our work on this project. Furthermore, we have presented our work to grades 6-8 in the form of a presentation. We are also making posters which will be put up at school for the steady promotion of our project among all the students. If all goes well, we will have taken a few steps towards creating some awareness within our school and the community in general!

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Farrukhnagar – Uncovering Our First Diamond in the Dust…



So, now that we had a location, we had to come up with some plans as to how we were going to go about raising awareness. For this, we had to go to Farrukhnagar ourselves.

Keeping in mind the unpredictable weather, we decided to go there on the 10th of August, which, according to the MET, was to be a sunny day with 0% chance of precipitation. For once, they were absolutely right. In fact, the sun had become almost scorching by the time we left for Farrukhnagar at 9:30 that morning. On the way to Farrukhnagar, which was not very far from the city, we could see very country-like fields, which didn’t give even the slightest indication that they were barely 10 kilometers from a metro-city. 

After driving for approximately 30 minutes from Hero Honda Chowk towards Pataudi-Jhajjar Road we reached Farrukhnagar (one key landmark on the way is the famous Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary – so should you decide to visit Farrukhnagar, you can have the pleasure of natural and historical conservation at one place!)

After we had been welcomed to the State of Haryana by the navigation boards and our mobile networks alike, we noticed the contrast in the atmosphere. The road, which till there was quite good, became narrower and muddier as the density of cars and scooters increased. It was almost like a semi-modernized town. No one would have guessed that there were monuments that dated back to the Mughal era here.

We parked at a point beyond which the car wouldn’t have been able to get through and we started walking. On entering a small lane or a “galli”, I realized exactly how old-world this place was. Merchants sat at their shops the way we had imagined them to sit about 60 years ago and if it weren’t for the cars, I could well have been walking into an old movie!

Our first stop was the Sheesh Mahal. Farrukhsiyar, who was the great grandson of Aurangzeb, built the Sheesh Mahal in 1711. Initially, this whole palace was spread over 100 acres of land, but over the years, with development and urbanism, only two buildings are left of it. One is where the court or the “durbar” was held and the other, where one part of the living quarters used to be. The whole building used to be covered with mosaics of differently coloured pieces of glass, but again, with time, these too fell off.  

We reached a gate behind which an old wall stood. If I weren’t told, I wouldn’t have guessed it was the entrance to the Sheesh Mahal. Poorly handwritten in Hindi this was the only sign to direct a tourist to a monument that has withstood the sands of time for nearly 300 years!



We knocked and an old man stepped out. After checking our credentials and confirming that we weren’t locals, he let us through. This struck me as a little strange but when the man, who introduced himself as the Monument Attendant, explained the reason for his behavior, we were shocked. He told us that locals would come into the monument and vandalize it and this was why he had to be extremely cautious. 


It was nice to see someone who cared so much but the overall irony of it struck me the most. The locals, the very people who should be protecting monuments in their vicinity, were the main culprits of its current condition! This meant that before we could sensitize people in our school or our city, we had to sensitize the people here. This was slightly unanticipated but our hopes did not go down. 


We entered through the archway to a kind of lawn. Only, this lawn was very big and very overgrown. The Sheesh Mahal’s “durbar” side stood at a distance. Its walls were reddish maroon and an old fashioned fountain led to its entrance. But this fountain did not have any water. In fact, it was extremely dusty and dirty. Right next to us, stood the living accommodations for the then-residents of the Sheesh Mahal. It was a crumbling sort of building with a completely broken down and extremely dangerous staircase to get to the first floor.

Before moving towards the court building, we decided to explore the living quarters. We saw that the rooms were all littered in and there were names etc. scribbled on the walls. It was very disheartening to see.

We came back down and moved towards the court. We saw the jails where the prisoners were kept. We were told that those who committed serious offences were hung in quarters behind this building itself, though they have to shut these places down during the monsoon as there may be snakes etc. there during this time of the year.

We saw the “Deewaan-e-aam” and the “Deewan-e-khaas” as well. Those who are well versed with Mughal history will understand these terms, but for those who are not: the “Deewaan-e-aam” was the court where the King dealt with issues of the common people or with less confidential issues and the “Deewan-e-khaas” was the court where the King dealt with maters of high confidentiality or importance and this court only allowed a select group of nobles. These concepts were introduced by Akbar. The women of the palace were allowed to see the proceedings of the courts through a “jharokha”, which is the kind of architectural design of a wall, especially designed for women, through which they can see but cannot be seen.

Looking through the monument, I realized that   if people did start to come here, they would really see a lot of fascinating things. But before that, some major things had to be put right. For example, the grass was overgrown- a snake or any poisonous insect could be in there. Yet why wasn’t anyone cutting it? The Monument Attendant’s job was to keep the place safe from vandals and he tries his best, which more or less works out but he can’t cut the grass or do things like that. There should be some assistance for him. He also told us that one of the roofs was going to fall. Why wasn’t anyone sent to repair it? The simple answer- no one cares. And why? – No one knows.

Our next stop was Ghaus Ali Khan’s Baoli, commonly known just as the Baoli, which is basically a step well. This monument, being situated on the main road itself, had a much easier access as compared to the Mahal. We moved in through a gate, which read that this monument was under the protection of the ASI (The Archaeological Survey of India). Evidently, this monument was a lot better protected than the Sheesh Mahal, which wasn’t under ASI as yet.


On entering, we found that the Baoli was quite spic and span unlike most step wells in India. The Monument Attendant for here told us about the ASI maintaining the cleanliness of this monument. Apparently, they had initiated a vigorous cleaning procedure. He said that he had completely restricted the access of the locals to the monument and unlike Sheesh Mahal; there were no alternative routes into the monument.  He told us, however, about an underground tunnel existing from here directly to Sheesh Mahal. This tunnel was used by the Queen and her maids for entering the Baoli for their baths. It is said that this tunnel was closed down about a hundred years ago and not opened again due to the fear of the existence of any kind of harmful gas or insect.At the current time,  it seems to have become a store for unused bamboo sticks!

Our next stop was an unknown monument known as the “Sethani ki chhatri”, which was made by a merchant (merchants are called “seths”) for his wife (merchants’ wives are called “sethanis”). This monument did not have much historical relevance but we decided to see it anyway. It stood just opposite the Baoli in an extremely dilapidated condition; to the extent that we could not even locate a way to go in, that was easy to go through or which wasn’t surrounded by thorny bushes. There wasn’t a single person around it and a monument attendant seemed out of the question. We decided that we should leave this building to the professionals, as it was not something we could set right. We are planning to write a letter to the authorities about the Chhatri, as it did not look like we could do anything about this one without help.

The result of this visit was that we froze on our first Diamond in the Dust- Sheesh Mahal. The impact of urbanization was the most on this particular monument and looking at its vast history- it did not deserve the kind of neglect it was facing. The Baoli is already being protected and being kept quite clean by the ASI and therefore it does not need our help. The Chhatri, yes, does require help, but that kind of help had to be given by someone professional and we will get in touch with them. 

So, Sheesh Mahal- our first Diamond- here we come!

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Diamonds in the Dust... How we came to be...

As summer vacations were fast approaching, two girls were really looking forward to their time away from school. One was me, Maanya Saran, a thirteen year old, eight-grader and the other was Mansi Jain, a sixteen year old, eleventh grader. Both of us went to the same school, had similar interests and also had pretty much the same plan for the summer. Yet, we did not know each other well or the fact that both of us were headed for Europe two weeks apart on different cruises and the impact this summer vacation would have on both of us...

Visiting the old cities there, we both realized how much we, Indians, were missing out on in terms of our historical heritage. All of us know the big names of historical Indian architecture- The Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar, Red Fort, India Gate, Gateway of India, Sanchi Stupa, etc. but no one has ever heard of the smaller names such as- Sheesh Mahal, Ghaus Ali Khan’s Baoli etc. Had you? For, we surely hadn’t (more about this later).

All over Europe, monuments – castles and palaces, cathedrals, even old official and residential buildings are carefully preserved and regarded as pieces of culture no one wants to lose. But looking at our own country, even monuments with maximum historical importance are rarely treated with the respect and reverence they deserve. The lesser known places are rapidly falling to pieces – often regarded and used as dumps!

The shocking thing is that if the government was not preserving the few monuments that they can, every single monument would either be destroyed or in the process. And even as you read this, so many monuments are absolutely unprotected and so many are disappearing by the day. We just don’t know about it.

Recently, some media organisations like The Times of India and The Hindustan Times have taken up the cause of the preservation of lesser known monuments and have highlighted just how alarming the situation has become. To know more, please follow these links:
Mansi, on her trip, also realized the importance given by Europeans to their culture as well as the increase in tourist influx due to the upkeep of the monuments.

For me, the eye-opener was that for a culture that goes back several millennia, we have so little to show for it in terms of monuments, other than the already protected and fairly well known places. And this is so much in contrast to Europe – especially Italy which had well preserved monuments from every era in every city that we visited.

We both felt the need to do something about this and we decided to team up to find lesser known monuments of India and help spread some awareness about them as well as assist in getting these places the attention they deserve. Thus was born – Diamonds in the Dust – Rediscovering India’s Heritage…One Monument at a Time.
 

Our Vision:
A story long forgotten,
A legend untold…
A building now just lies there,
While no one cares for the secrets it may hold.
“A waste of space” someone may say,
And break it down for lowly pay.
Or leave it there to let it grow to be,
A garbage dump no one wants to see!
But once it was a building alive,
A piece of history, a worthy archive.
And we are here to make it stay,
To ensure that it is not pushed away.
To make the jewel that it deserves to be,
To make it a place for the world to see.

-- Maanya Saran
August 18, 2013