April 13, 1919, the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre, ranks amongst the highest events that galvanised India towards being unified. I, like all Indians have grown up feeling goose pimples when the horrific story is narrated about this site. Over 300 people died and 1500 injured. This event then is followed by the heroics of Bhagat Singh, Satguru and Sukhdev, and remains a part of history that has become the pinup story of the freedom movement.
With this imagery in mind, this week I visited the Bagh - 6.5-acre (26,000 m2) garden site of the massacre, located in the vicinity of Golden Temple complex in Amritsar. The path to the garden was narrow as I had imagined and recreated in the movie "Gandhi". Thereafter it was a shocker…
I expected the same mood inside as one experienced in the Holocaust Museum in Washington that moves you out of our convenient zone of comfort.
The entire Bagh has been turned into a park. Yes agreed it was always a park, a “Bagh”, but this is no more just another park. In the centre of the park is a 20 feet tall structure that looks like the menhir of Obelix. Around it fountains that are dry and dysfunctional. The park is dusty and drab. The lawns are patchy and muddy.
Is this the place that effectively stirred the world into action against the tyranny of Brigadier General Dyer? Where are all the tell-tale pieces of the incident?
There are about 3 pieces - 2 walls and a well. Behind these walls, probably sharing the same common walls are shops or offices. If you don’t believe me then have a look at this photograph.
The wall on the left is the bullet ridden one. The one on the right is now replaced by the walls of an office with aluminum frame and windows over looking the park. See the overgrown weedy lawns at this point.
The original bullet ridden walls are open to rain and hail, and are slowly but surely disintegrating and falling part. The well is covered by a concrete roof and does not allow a proper view. There is but a one line writeup of this well, on a stone piece at ankle level.
It is said, “One who does not learn from History is condemned to repeat it”. This is one way of remembering history. This Bagh is not an exception in what we end up doing to our glorious or forgettable past - drive tigers to extinction, monuments to ruins, and rivers to sewers. Why is the Louvre, over 900 years old, still in pristine condition? And every piece of history in Italy?
It was heart rendering and sad. What I saw was the death of Jallianwalla Bagh.
But wait. Just 500 meters away is the golden temple, older. It was such a wonderful experience, the sanctity, holiness, organisation, and cleanliness. It was soul stirring. Why? Why do we keep our heritage in ruins and places of worship (not all) in better shape? Could it be our innate nature of being inward looking, where we tend to keep our homes clean but streets dirty? I can’t say.
This piece is out of place in this Retailing blog, but I see it everywhere. This callousness stands the danger of creeping into the innate character of our workmanship. A certain lack of pride in doing work that shows excellent craftsmanship. It has for ever been held against me that I try for too much perfection, but it is a crime I would willingly confess to and bear without remorse.
With this imagery in mind, this week I visited the Bagh - 6.5-acre (26,000 m2) garden site of the massacre, located in the vicinity of Golden Temple complex in Amritsar. The path to the garden was narrow as I had imagined and recreated in the movie "Gandhi". Thereafter it was a shocker…
I expected the same mood inside as one experienced in the Holocaust Museum in Washington that moves you out of our convenient zone of comfort.
The entire Bagh has been turned into a park. Yes agreed it was always a park, a “Bagh”, but this is no more just another park. In the centre of the park is a 20 feet tall structure that looks like the menhir of Obelix. Around it fountains that are dry and dysfunctional. The park is dusty and drab. The lawns are patchy and muddy.
Is this the place that effectively stirred the world into action against the tyranny of Brigadier General Dyer? Where are all the tell-tale pieces of the incident?
There are about 3 pieces - 2 walls and a well. Behind these walls, probably sharing the same common walls are shops or offices. If you don’t believe me then have a look at this photograph.
The original bullet ridden walls are open to rain and hail, and are slowly but surely disintegrating and falling part. The well is covered by a concrete roof and does not allow a proper view. There is but a one line writeup of this well, on a stone piece at ankle level.
It is said, “One who does not learn from History is condemned to repeat it”. This is one way of remembering history. This Bagh is not an exception in what we end up doing to our glorious or forgettable past - drive tigers to extinction, monuments to ruins, and rivers to sewers. Why is the Louvre, over 900 years old, still in pristine condition? And every piece of history in Italy?
It was heart rendering and sad. What I saw was the death of Jallianwalla Bagh.
But wait. Just 500 meters away is the golden temple, older. It was such a wonderful experience, the sanctity, holiness, organisation, and cleanliness. It was soul stirring. Why? Why do we keep our heritage in ruins and places of worship (not all) in better shape? Could it be our innate nature of being inward looking, where we tend to keep our homes clean but streets dirty? I can’t say.
This piece is out of place in this Retailing blog, but I see it everywhere. This callousness stands the danger of creeping into the innate character of our workmanship. A certain lack of pride in doing work that shows excellent craftsmanship. It has for ever been held against me that I try for too much perfection, but it is a crime I would willingly confess to and bear without remorse.
Its a shame...but no shortage of memorials and statues for mayas, kanshi rams and assorted gandhis and nehrus...
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