Dreams of a park-facing house to stark reality
Apark-facing house is a luxury. I fell for the lure of residing in front of a lush park, brimming with resplendent blossoms and rows of scarlet bottlebrush and fiery Amaltas trees. I had to stretch my resources to be a proud owner of a park-facing house a decade ago.
But the joy of living in a serene atmosphere was short-lived. It took a few years for the verdant garden to metamorphose into an ugly mess of concrete and steel.
Cronies of a local leader were the first to invade the park, to build a temple. None dared to object for the fear of earning the wrath of the Almighty. Even the local administration chose to look the other way as it was a matter of faith. Soon, a double-storeyed abode for God came up in the park.
An overhead water storage tank and a tubewell were the next to be set up in the park to ensure round-the-clock water supply to residents. It’s another matter that a few years after its construction, the water tank became redundant and is now standing tall as a towering example of wasteful expenditure. With the water table falling further, the tubewell also dried up, leading to its relocation to another park but the structure built to safeguard the water pump continues to exist in a dilapidated condition.
In the name of development, concrete pathways and a rain shelter were built by the newly elected councillor and that paved the way for uprooting the magnificent trees and levelling of the few remaining flower beds.
Sanitation workers were next to occupy a corner of the park. They even had the gall to widen its entrance to make way for their vehicles and equipment.
When everyone was making the most of the opportunity, the humble press wallah also decided to take the plunge. He didn’t take long to put up a canvas tent to save the ironed clothes and himself from the vagaries of the weather.
Meanwhile, an NGO decided to make hay while the sun shone and built a room to impart knitting and sewing skills to needy women. The project, launched with much fanfare, could not be sustained for long but the illegal acquisition continues.
In the name development, the park has been reduced to an ugly assortment of metal, concrete and fearless encroachers.
A lone peepal tree has remained mute witness to the painful transition as it stands in a corner of the park, while a pack of dogs hover around to relish the offerings made by worshippers of the tree. I wonder if worshipping the tree, a sacred symbol, is of any consequence as the devout didn’t bat an eyelid when the lungs of Mother Nature were being severed bit by bit by the unscrupulous.
THE JOY OF LIVING IN A SERENE ATMOSPHERE WAS SHORT-LIVED. IT TOOK A FEW YEARS FOR THE VERDANT GARDEN TO METAMORPHOSE INTO AN UGLY MESS OF CONCRETE AND STEEL