Heritage on our minds

Lady Flora. File pic

A few weeks had passed since Lady Flora had seen her friend and walking companion, Pheroze. She was worried, and had decided to head towards his pedestal to check on him. The moonlit night gave her enough direction to spot his silhouette from a fair distance.

"Ah! There you are. For heaven's sake, why haven't you been showing up for our walks?" Lady Flora's voice was noticeably shrill, as she called out to her friend who was stepping out from his former office. "Busy, busy times, Lady Flora. My sincerest apologies," he tried to explain his absence. But Lady Flora was having none of his lame excuses.

"But Pheroze you should've at least sent word via Percy, our (heritage) community pigeon messenger; there is a reason why he's on your payroll. So tell me what the reason was for this disappearance?" Sir PM settled himself in a corner near this former office, caught his breath, and decided to come clean.

"Well, you see, there were several reasons - work and leisure…err, I meant, research. So, as you may or may not have heard, the BMC recently released their budget for the city, and as ALWAYS [he loved to emphasise that word], I was called upon to see off the papers. After all these decades, my bosses still feel reassured when I sign off things. The research, the studying of current needs, especially in light of the pandemic and its impact on our city - all of it had to be studied closely and taken into consideration," he elaborated.

"You have been busy, I believe you. I am glad to report that as a citizen of this great city, I was happy to see a higher allocation for health care. Better late than never…it had to take a pandemic to shake things up, clearly," the last line was a sarcastically delivered jab, and audible enough for her friend to hear it. "But apart from that, Pheroze, why didn't you push a bit for our upkeep, you know more funds for our ilk? Look around, apart from South Bombay, the rest of the city and the 'burbs, sure need help. Friends and informers - unlike that good-for-nothing Percy - have been sharing news of all kinds of shocking developments. From neglect of important milestones to tearing down of key Art Deco buildings. Guidelines and fund allocation should have been spelt out to keep them safe. I mean, if you say every paper was passed by you, surely this could have been slipped in," she argued.

"I tried, Lady…I really did. But there were so many even more critical areas that needed extra funding so finally, when we did the maths, heritage didn't get what it deserves," Sir PM explained.

That's when it struck him to share about the ‘leisure' part of his absence to take off some steam from her relentless interrogation.

"Lady, I was also away on a study trip. I wanted to see the temples of Belur, Halebidu and Somanathapura that were built by the Hoysala dynasty in Karnataka. Did you know that they will be India's official nomination this year for UNESCO World Heritage Site status? After hearing so much about its architecture and craftsmanship, I wanted to visit these sites that date back to AD 12-13 centuries. In any case, a trip with the missus was overdue. She too is a lover of history, and so I killed two birds with one stone…" Sir PM was sure this would extricate him from the inquisition.

"Are you calling Ms Mehta a bird?" Lady Flora teased. "No, not at all. But you know what I mean. Trust me, those temples were splendid. What stunning artistry and detailing! I heard that even a former Prime Minister had put his weight behind these sites to ensure that they were India's official nomination," Sir PM continued. "Well, at least some politicians are looking at heritage with the right intent and the big picture. More importantly, tell me how the upkeep was from a visitor's eye?" Lady Flora enquired. "I was surprised to see that it was spotlessly clean, well-maintained and there was fantastic management with tourist inflow. The best part - thanks to controlled commercial interests - there were smaller crowds, no crass, or big-budget five-stars and not even glitzy souvenir shops that are always around most of India's tourist attractions," he shared.

"How wonderful! Now, why don't you share this data from your ‘study visit' with your former bosses and babus if they are open to some constructive feedback, and be inspired from these sites to help rescue our UNESCO World Heritage Site - the Elephanta Caves? It needs to be in better shape considering its historic significance. I overheard some terribly upsetting accounts from tourists." Lady Flora had a knack for dropping a sharp yet pertinent line when Sir PM was least expecting it. And, she was always right. Her heart was in the right place after all, and it always beat for her favourite city.

mid-day's Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the city's sights, sounds, smells and stones...wherever the ink and the inclination takes her. She tweets @bombayana

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