Noopur Badola:
The aroma of loban, the sound of ghungroos and the recitation of thumri and shayari recreated the bygone era reminding today's Delhizens of the mehfils that were once a part of the culture of Purani Dilli (Old Delhi). Dastaan-e-Dilli, organised by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) during the centenary year celebration of India's national capital, also introduced the city's architectural heritage through some rare photographs. The event included an exhibition on the architectural changes the city witnessed, a cultural performance and a celebration of Dilli's delicacies. It was an out-of-the-world experience and an eye-opener for some Delhi'ites about their legacy.
Visiting architectural heritage
"The important thing about Delhi is its civilisational evolution, which we have benefitted from as there is world wide diversity that has been indegenised in Delhi," said Tajinder Khanna, Lt. Governor of Delhi , while inaugurating the exhibition, Timeless Delhi.
Over the past 100 years, Delhi has undergone major transformations. Overall, it is a city where at one point you see narrow lanes, street food, old havelis, monuments and on the other, there is the imperial city full of spacious and tree-lined avenues, shopping complexes, hotels and multi-storeyed buildings. The exhibition showcased Delhi's change from pre-Durbar days to modern-day Delhi as the focus. It comprised of photographs and etchings of pre-1911 Delhi like Shahjahanabad, Mehrauli and presenting the monuments to architectural highlights of today. It displayed photographs of Delhi taken by the legendary Raja Deen Dayal, Dattatraya Dinkar Apte and eminent photographer Achal Kumar. While going through the exhibition, one could see photographs of Qutub Minar, Red Fort, Old Fort, Jantar Mantar to Vijay Chowk, President's House, India Gate and the most recent ones as Metro construction sites, BSNL building and LIC building.
"It took almost one year to work on this exhibition. First step was selecting the theme and then the works. I chose photos that brought the overall view of the Capital from 1911 to 2011," says Naresh Kapuria, curator of the exhibition.
While the photographs by Raja Deen Dayal reflected ancient Delhi, pictures and etchings by Apte and photos by Achal Kumar depicted the modern city. "You could also see a subtle merger of the past with the present in a few of the photos like one by Kumar where he has clicked a zebra crossing in front of the Old Fort. On one side, the fort symbolises the past, the crossing reflects the modern society," said Kapuria.
Recreating the magic of Mughal Durbar
On thumri recital, Diwan said, "Over time, thumri is losing its charm but in those days, it was an integral part of evening mehfils. In fact, when we are asked to recreate that era here so we selected compositions like Hamara kaha mano rajaji and Jamunia ki daal tod layai as these are among the most famous dadra and thumri bandishes (compositions). But with time, only a few thumri singers have been left to present these traditional compositions."
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