Delhiwale: Five civil steps
Gurugram trended due to heavy rains, highlighting the city's vulnerability. Explore Civil Lines, a peaceful area with historical sites and local eateries.
Gurugram was trending yesterday morning on X, the former Twitter (it was trending by its old name!). Reason: the ferocity of the Wednesday evening rains. Many citizens were yet again astonished at the recurring vulnerability of the so-called Futuristic City. In such a weather, best to stay safe in secured interiors. But when it rains England style—not a heavy downpour, like the one on Wednesday, but a steady light drizzle—then, like every monsoon, you ought to yet again make a rainy season stroll through the town’s Civil Lines. Like all its cousins spreads across India, Gurugram’s Civil Lines was set up by the British to house the local administrators. Certain parts of the area are extremely peaceful and sparse, spattered with old bungalows and tree-side tea stalls (see photo of Parvati-Mahadev’s chai stall under the neem tree, snapped in an earlier monsoon). Follow the following steps.
First, step inside the old wing of the Church of Epiphany. Its 19th century interiors include an elegant ceiling crisscrossed with dark wooden beams. During a downpour, the tall lancet windows sometimes get misty. Take off the shoes outside the door.
Second, step into a lane just beside the Church of Epiphany. It teems with peacocks during the rains. The birds are not always visible but the wet air frequently fills up with their “main hoon, main hoon.” Avoid stepping into weedy tall grass, for peacocks are said to hang around in grounds full of snakes.
Third, step into Yudh Smarak, the War Memorial, tucked in a corner of the Swatantrata Senani Zila Parishad Hall. Raised in the year 2000, the tower lists the names of Gurugram’s army men who sacrificed their life in the many wars—from the First World War to the Kargil War. During the rain, the water runs over the inscribed names, before falling down into the pool.
Fourth, step into Civil Line Walla, the roadside chhole bhathure shack. No need to sing for this eatery. It enjoys a cult following, and is favoured by cricketer Virat Kohli.
Fifth. It was nestled in a corner of Civil Lines, attached to the fence of a private garden, close to the Church of Epiphany. The chai at Ramvilas’s tea stall used to be strongly flavoured with adrak, and was popular among the area’s rickshaw pullers and labourers. The stall no longer exists, but as time passes, it is necessary to invoke our vanished landmarks, for a place is also made of its remembered and unremembered past.