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H I N D U STA N T I M E S , N E W D E L H I
02 | S AT U R DAY, J A N U A R Y 0 1 , 2 0 1 1

new delhi 100

CENTENARY OF THE CAPITAL

■ A view of South and North blocks from Government House (now Rashtrapati Bhavan). At the Delhi Durbar of 1911, King George V declared the capital of India would be shifted from Calcutta to Delhi. The foundation stone was laid at Kingsway Camp (near

1911-2011: Journey
Delhi University) but later the rocky ridge areas south of Shahjahanabad (now old Delhi) was chosen for the Imperial city. The new city, which cost R13.07 crore to build, was inaugurated in 1931. COURTESY: ‘NEW DELHI, MAKING OF A CAPITAL – LUSTRE PRESS, ROLI BOOKS

Growing up with
New Delhi
of a new capital
POWER CENTRE The 8th capital city Delhi has hosted through ages was a
Muslims who had formed 40% of
the population fled to Pakistan. New
colonies came up and New Delhi's
population trebled or quadrupled.
New Delhi I knew like the back of
my hand has become an alien city
in which I have lost my way.
My father had many interesting

western-style metropolis carved out of ancient villages and a medieval walled city K H U S H WA N T S I N G H

I am almost as old as the city I have

■ On February 13, 1931, the Hindustan
Times carried an editorial expressing
reservations about the show of the
celebrations when India’s struggle for
independence was at its peak. HT said
– “...it must have been obvious... that
a display like the present was by no
means in keeping with the distress in
the land... a huge deficit budget is
anticipated... crores that have been
spent... constitute an extravagance
for which we can find no parallel.”
lived in for most of my life. When I
came to live in Delhi I was barely
five years old and there was no New
Delhi.
I recall there were herds of deer,
Nilgais and wild boars to be seen in
what is now Sunder Nagar, Kalindi
Colony and Maharani Bagh.
I saw the new city go up day by
day as my father Sobha Singh got
contracts to build the South Block,
India Gate and much else. Most of
the contractors were Sikhs and lived
on Jantar Mantar Road.
A railway along what is now
Sansad Marg was called Imperial
Delhi Railway. It brought stones and
sand from Badarpur to what is now
Connaught Circus. We often got free
rides on the I.D.R.
As New Delhi began to grow it
began to change its flora and fauna.
Keekars, Neem and Pipal gave way
to Jamun, Sausage Trees (Kigelia),
Gulmohar, Banyan and other exot-
ic trees were brought from Africa
to line the wide avenues. Vultures
disappeared. Soon after so did
Sparrows. Many varieties became
scarce.
During monsoon we heard frogs
croaking all night and fire flies flit-
ting about in bushes. Now we have
no frogs or fire flies. We heard the
wailing of Jackals at night and
Choukidars calling Khabardar ho.
They too have been silenced.
Living in New Delhi was gracious
till the influx of Hindu and Sigh
refugees from Pakistan flooded the
city.
tales about the building of New Delhi.
When King George and Queen Mary
came to India in 1911 and announced
the decision to shift the capital from
Calcutta to Delhi they laid two foun-
dation stone in what is known as
Kingsway Camp, where Delhi
University is now.
After World War I ended a team
of specialists came from London and
examined the site. They were of the
opinion that Kingsway was not a
suitable place to build the city.
They spent a few days riding
around the countryside and decid-
ed that Raisina hill would be the best
place to build the Viceroy's palace,
the Secretariat and Parliament
House.
My father got his first job as a con-
tractor to shift the foundation stones
from Kingsway to Raisina.
He hired a bullock cart, pulled out
stones and rode on a bicycle along-
side the cart and planted the stones
at the base of Raisina hill.
The operation was done in the
dark so that superstitious people
would not take it as on ill omen. For
this job he was paid the princely sum
of Rupees Sixteen.
When tenders were called for, he
got the contract to build the South
Block, India Gate and much else. He
built himself a house, which he
named Baikunth (paradise).
He later sold the house to the
Kerala government and built him-
self another house on 1 Janpath and
gave it the name Baikunth. It is today
the Hungarian government's infor-
mation office. He spent his last years
in a cottage attached to the new
Baikunth.

■ The cover of 'New ■ This map shows the two possible sites for the proposed Imperial City. The final
Delhi, Making of a site selected was five miles from the foundation stone laid in Kingsway Camp. The
Capital — Lustre footnote to the map by one John Duncan says: “This area will be subject to the…
Press, Roli Books. very questionable air of native Delhi…. To obviate this…, Sir Bradford Leslie has
The book was pub- put forward the benefits of the other site… with improvements such as the forma- ■ The royal procession, which marked the beginning of the Delhi Durbar celebrations, leaves the Walled City to reach the King’s
lished in 2009. tion of a lake,… supplied by the glacier fed stream of the Jumna.” pavilion at Kingsway camp. The five-mile procession started from the Red Fort and went towards Jama Masjid and Chandni
COURTESY: ‘NEW DELHI, MAKING OF A CAPITAL – LUSTRE PRESS, ROLI BOOKS Chowk. The Durbar, held on December 12, 1911, cost £9,00,000 then. COURTESY 'ALKAZI COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY'