An old obsession

Written by Gopalkrishna Gandhi

“My name is Ozimandias, King of Kings: / Look at my works, dear ones, despair!” / Nothing was left beside her. About decay / From this huge debris, without limits and shame / The lonely and flat sand stretches away. “

Sonnet Shelley did not deter the futility of what could be called the powerful “stone ego” from building, rebuilding, demolishing and removing the debris of what had fallen. Only to find their place by the wreckage of an heir, the arrogance of an heir.

Some have done it with great taste and their creativity has continued. Such as the magnificent Brihadisvara Temple in Tanjore, the Sun Temple in Konarak, the Monuments Collection at Hampi, the majestic forts at Gwalior, Jaisalmer, Mehrangarh, Golconda, Sinhagarh, the magnificent temple at Orchha, the dreamy Peri Mahal of Dara Shukoh overlooking Dal Lake In Srinagar and of course the Taj Mahal Shah Jehan.

The British Raj followed this tradition and left us the Victoria Memorial in Calcutta and New Delhi Lutens, where Parliament House is the Scepter and Rashtrapati Bhavan as a crown. Others are less famous but no less impressive such as the High Court Building in Bengaluru, the Viceroy’s Lodge in Simla, and the Governor’s Houses in Ooty and Darjeeling (delicately rebuilt under Governor John Anderson’s supervision after the disastrous earthquake of 1934).

These not only survive, they are alive with an external and internal life of their own. Independent India has some notable examples of public architecture along with more catastrophic examples. Somnath Temple (arose under the pioneering KM Munshi initiative), the Gandhi Mandapam Temple (built in traditional stone architecture) in Chennai, and the Buddhist Fijian Bhavan in New Delhi (rebuilt, after a fierce fire, under the supervision of the late Uttar Pradesh Civic, M. Varadarajan), Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru (under the guidance of Kengal Hanumanthaiya), the Muziris Heritage Project (Architect: Benny Kuriakose) in Kerala are fine examples.

And so, if one can share Shelley’s disdain for the stone ego, then one can also see and acknowledge a beneficial style of good taste and common sense in many building initiatives.

There has never been, in India, a time when public funds could not be used to raise or restore a building better for the public good. Poverty has been and remains widespread in India, and it is expected to be so for the foreseeable future. And one can imagine someone somewhere (if not the audit and accounts department) teaching every single time and saying, “Can we afford this?” In this regard, there may have been the strange sage who in the time of Shah Jahan denounced the extravagant spending from the treasury for the tomb of the Empress. Famine ravaged Deccan, Gujarat and Khandesh afterwards as a result of three major crop failures that resulted in two million deaths due to starvation. However, when India was in such a state, Shah Jahan thought about the grand mausoleum. That famine lost in memory, the Taj Mahal in all its glory. The paradox is the story of India.

And so, today, when there is a pandemic, calling for unprecedented expenditures, with visible signs of recession, acute distress among farmers, and the potential for tensions along our international borders to ignite war, it has been reported that Rs. 22,000 crore has been allocated to the new Central Vista in New Delhi, including the Rs. 971 crore spent building the new Parliament Building, is ludicrous.

Is this the time to spend scarce public money on demolishing existing structures and building new public monuments? The matter has been taken to the Supreme Court. How it will get rid of, no one can know. You may choose not to interfere with what is, everything said and done, a long-standing executive privilege. But while doing so, she can also do something more.

Judge MC Chagla and Judge ST Desai, in a major ruling on corporate financing of political parties in 1957, ruled that today’s law permits this, and said that the Bombay High Court (which had the matter before) would not intervene. But the House of Lords did something more than that. “Before separating from this issue, we believe that it is our duty to draw the Parliament’s attention to the great danger inherent in allowing companies to make contributions to political party funds. It is a danger that may grow rapidly and may overwhelm democracy in this country and even stifle it,” they said in Najmiyya. The two honorable judges fulfilled their duty under the law and their duty with their conscience.

Stone vanities are as old as the hillside on which the great forts I mentioned stand. What the NDA government plans today is not different, in essence, from what others have done – for example, the 2010 Commonwealth Games spending which involved huge expenditures on construction and renovation. The proposal for the new Central Vista system reflects an old obsession with archaeological use to “leave a footprint” without realizing that not every such project becomes a Prihadisvara or a crown-crown. The project is seen and shown as necessary and, in fact, visionary. Really?

Our iconic Parliament Building, a marvel of architecture and now a site of historic effort, has become realistic and we admit it is very crammed with functional efficiency. Honorable deputies sit crammed into Lok Sabha. The office space granted in her district to parties is self-defeating, and due to the division and the little potholes, it is difficult to hold. The number of members of the House of Representatives is set to increase due to the extremely late increase in women’s representation and after the delineation scheduled in 2026, the current building will simply be unable to adapt. India’s Parliament needs another location. Don’t run away from it.

But it is shortsighted to find another “site” in Delhi. If Parliament Building is overcrowded, the national capital will be even more so. The air went clear for a short time when the city was under complete lockdown. But with the lock open, it’s “back to normal,” which means it’s suffocating. Delhi will suffocate without closure, and will starve with it. Delhi needs fewer, not more buildings. Air quality aside, we’ve forgotten something totally basic and vital. The seismic zoning map of India divides India into four seismic regions (Zone 2, 3, 4 and 5). Zone 5 predicts the highest level of earthquakes. Delhi, heroically precariously, is standing in Zone 4. The time has come, the time has come, Delhi has begun to transform not only the Parliament Building but into other parts of its busy self but to other parts of India. Not after an earthquake shook the light of day, but before that. The people of Delhi deserve this salvation.

South Africa – not a small country – has one executive capital (Pretoria), one legislative capital (Cape Town), one judicial capital (Bloemfontein) and one commercial capital (Johannesburg). Why should the Republic of India remain a slave of the Mughals and the British Raj for geopolitical mapping?

What is needed is a five-year plan to reduce the capital to four different places, while also moving the diplomatic corps in a safe place for the lungs of its privileged residents. Anything less than that would be both cosmetic and soothing. By virtue of ignoring environmental and seismic facts, it is also dangerous. Looking to the future, the Supreme Court will see that this is true.

Doesn’t this cost more than we can afford? It will cost less than what we may have to bear.

India does not need a new center Vista, but rather a new vision of decentralization, and the turning of the page of India’s political history. In this way, he will save India’s national capital from becoming Ozimandias.

This is the introductory article published by The Telegraph.

Subscribe with us on

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos