Imagine a place, filled with lush greenery around, big glass windows from where you can peak out, sipping a good coffee from your mug, and hold a book in the other hand, scrounge into a comfortable couch with dim lights around. Sounds like a plan isn’t it?
The British after taking over India and making it a jewel in the crown were involved mostly in these activities. In order to make extra comfortable houses, which makes them feel like homes, is when the last city of Delhi built, which was named as New Delhi for the lack of creativity on the British part. Today, Amrita Shergill marg, Chelmsford Road, and erstwhile Aurangzeb Road exuberate the royalty of the British, with wide roads, walking pathways lined with trees which constantly provide shade, big, luxurious cars passing by.
At its best, Amrita Shergil Marg, in central Delhi, expresses the aspirations of humanity – the hopes of a good life. With its broad avenues, tree-lined streets, and elegant bungalows, the quiet neighbourhood is like a fairy tale. Living here is the pinnacle of upper crust existence. In 2006, a bungalow here was sold for Rs 137 crores. If you aren’t super-rich, however, it’s difficult to break into this world. But we can dream for it. And there is no fee to take a walk in Amrita Shergil Marg.
In the old days, Aurangzeb Road was the address of historically important figures such as Pakistan’s founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah and the ‘Iron Man’ Vallabhbhai Patel. Today, it is peopled by industrialists and ambassadors. The 17th century monarch after whom the avenue was named was said to be brutal but we are perhaps missing the point. Aurangzeb Road is (was?) now no longer about Aurangzeb. In our present-day Delhi, it is a state of mind.