Thursday, January 28, 2010

Lodhi Garden


The lodhi garden is the pride of Delhi. A lovers’ hotspot, a joggers’ paradise, it offers verdant lung space …much required in the teeming madness of the capital city.
Spread across 90 acres, the lodhi garden is virtually a treat.
I was walking along quietly on the cement pathway. Quite predictably my mind skips to various ‘sites’, kind of window shopping a gallery of thoughts till I feel like looking closer at one of them. Aaah! That’s worth more time ….. and I am forming a story or an opinion …
It’s easy to have opinions. We Indians have opinions about everything and feel no qualms at expressing them at the drop of a hat! That’s a stupid expression in India. No one wears hats here. So let’s say we express opinions at the honk of a car!! Naaa that is way tooo frequent. Ok. How’s this ... at sound of a sneeze? At the tweet of a mynah? Or at the tinkle of a cell-phone?
Anyway. I am digressing. What I wanted to say is that, I am walking along the cement pathway, there are trimmed green hedges, soothing patches of grass, sturdy trees with gnarled trunks and wham, suddenly you see an amazing architectural beauty ….. standing there … just dwarfing everything around it. It’s a magnificent tomb, built in the 15th or 16th century. A student of history would perhaps identify whether it was the tomb of Mohammad Shah built in 1444 or maybe the tomb of Sikandar Lodi built in 1517 or even the much younger Sheesh Gumbad. For me they all looked the same. But they have a strange mesmerising quality and as I gazed at the tomb I could imagine the grandeur of their lives…. Well the life of the man for whom the tomb was made … and the man who got it made.
Suddenly a large cluster of pigeons swooped around and flew over the dome ……. whew the sight was breathtaking.
The lodhi garden is doctor’s prescription for fitness of body and soul.

4 comments:

  1. Oh that's a lovely water painting! I din't know you liked painting too. Feels great to see your art and the story side by side! :)

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  2. I have not been to the Lodhi Garden, but have eaten at the restaurant there called the Lodhi Garden restaurant.. It's LOVELY. After listening to what you have to say about the garden and seeing the painting, I definitely want to go and see the park :)

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  3. Hey Ratna athige

    I enjoyed all these write ups about Dilli.
    'Pakshinota' anthaaralla haage
    Adrak ki chai na naanu pepper kooda haaki kedisbidthidde ansathe, nimma recipe nodi.

    and what paintings again!!!

    I must say, the 'Ganesha' painting is my life time favourite though :)

    Keep painting and keep writing

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