Subir Roy: Filthy and ugly

Indians are getting more well-heeled and trotting the world more, prompting newspapers to write on attractive destinations. One leading newspaper last Sunday carried a charming story on Copenhagen. The city came through as a delightful place to discover by walking its cobbled streets. You could also do it by hiring a bike, for which there are dedicated lanes.

The same section carried a graphic story on Agra. It has secured a renewed place in the sun by the Taj Mahal being voted into the new list of the Seven Wonders of the World. But the Taj rises before a cesspool called the Yamuna and belongs to a city that is marked by filth and unhygienic living conditions. Particularly obnoxious are the droppings of horses and camels which are plied to cater to tourists, the municipal commissioner having failed till now to get the owners of the animals to clear the mess they create.

The south of the Vindyas are much cleaner than the rest of the country but veteran judge V K Krishna Iyer lamented earlier in the same paper the state of Kochi, the once lovely coastal city. "Why is this charming Queen of the Arabian Sea such a shock and shame today?" he asks, pointing to the refuse publicly dumped, which also poses an acute health hazard.

A sight forever etched in my mind is of the outskirts of Chamba town set in the eponymous valley in Himachal. The air, after the previous night's rain, was sparkling clear, offering an almost endless view of the mountains around. But if you looked down, you saw the hillside by the road pockmarked by plastic bags which did not go away in the rain.

Indians are celebrating their country emerging as a global economic power but appear mostly unconcerned about keep public places reasonably clean and ensuring enough sanitation to make living somewhat safe. Naturally, there is also a near absence of any kind of aesthetics in the way cities and even houses in the countryside are built and preserved.

The absence of aesthetic concern, except for designating a few buildings as heritage structures, shows up in several ways. Neighbourhoods and streets with character are demolished, replaced by 'modern' structures which have made no attempt to absorb the geography or architectural heritage of the surrounding area.

The India Habitat Centre in New Delhi must be one of the rare exceptions. It is massive without being oppressive, its colour in harmony with the dry dustiness of the north Indian plains. And once you get in, it is a pleasure to walk down, with the plants all around and clear light streaming in from the top. The same can be said about the low structures of the Dilli Haat, which are in harmony with the crafts they house.

But what a great opportunity has been missed with all the money being spent to make Delhi ready for the Commonwealth Games. There is not a single architectural happening that is a talking point or a subject of controversy. Contrast this with the structures that Beijing has acquired for the Olympics. The 'bird's nest' national stadium is a subject of animated debate. Its defenders say it is contemporary, with emphasis on technology and imbued with Chinese elements. Others are not so sure.

Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, the Swiss architects who have designed the Beijing national stadium, earlier made a run down power station in London into Tate Modern, which has just overtaken, in terms of the number of visitors, the same city's venerable British Museum and become the world's most popular art gallery. The whole world is trying to make its living spaces and public buildings happy places to inhabit. When will India follow suit?

subir.roy@bsmail.in