From rasina to Raisina Hill: A 100-year history of New Delhi

New Delhi: Inside one of the thousands of tiny shops that line the streets of the bustling business district of Old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk sits Sheel Chand at his gold and diamond jewellery store, patiently watching the city as it travels through time. As New Delhi observes the centenary year of its Capitalhood, thanks to King George V who made the surprise announcement at the royal durbar at Coronation Park on 12 December 1911 that the Raj’s headquarters would be shifted out of Calcutta, Sheel Chand completes 92 years. “We would go for strolls in rasina. That is how we called it back then, not Raisina,” says Sheel Chand, talking about growing up in the Delhi of the 1930s, a time when it was being transformed into ‘India’s new imperial capital’. It was a time when architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker had created a brand new city on Raisina Hill, which would become the new address of the Government House (now Rashtrapathi Bhavan), the Secretariats (North and South Block), the Council House (Parliament House). A little history: “Several locations were considered and rejected… For reasons of health, for its undulating land, for the space it provided and for its relationship with many historic sites, the Raisina Village area and hill were what appealed to the Viceroy (Lord Hardinge): “From the top of the hill there was a magnificent view embracing old Delhi and all the principal monuments situated outside the town, with the river at a little distance. I said at once…‘This is the site for the Government House.’” (Quoting from Delhi University professor Nayanjot Lahiri’s Delhi’s Capital Century (1911-2o11): Understanding the Transformation of the City). [caption id=“attachment_153423” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Dressed in the traditional white kurta, black coat and a Gandhi cap, Sheel Chand has many fond memories of the British era. Naresh Sharma/Firstpost”] [/caption] Dressed in the traditional white kurta, black coat and a Gandhi cap, Sheel Chand has many fond memories of the British era. “Our women had a lot of respect in those days. The British would take off their hats to greet them. Life was very relaxed. There was no crime. People lived in harmony with each other.” Deeply critical of the dishonesty that has come to characterise public life now, Sheel Chand, who is president of the All India Sarafa (Bullion) Association, is all praise for the times when business, he says, was conducted with integrity. “During British rule, people were honest and sincere.” That is not to say he was not involved in the freedom movement. The sun would never set on the British Empire. So went the popular belief. But less than four decades after the royal couple transferred the seat of government from Calcutta to the ancient Capital of Delhi, India became a sovereign republic. “I have always been in the Congress. I would go to listen to the speeches of Jawaharlal Nehru and Gandhiji,” says Sheel Chand. What are his memories of Delhi during Independence? The compelling memory of that time for Sheel Chand remains the assassination of Gandhi in January 1948. “When I heard that Gandhiji was shot dead, I lost my senses. I immediately took a tonga to Birla House, where he had been shot. But I wasn’t allowed inside. The next day, I was there at his funeral. Lakhs of people had gathered. It was a time of great uncertainty.” He recalls the partition riots that left Delhi’s streets strewn with bodies of neighbours and friends. “Just a few shops ahead, there was a shop where gold coins were made. When the riots broke out, people threw his belongings on to the street. A lot of injustice happened. Hindus and Muslims had always lived like brothers. But times change.” He tells of stories of how some Hindu families helped many Muslim families during the riots and also of instances of how Muslims businesses were looted. “Dead bodies were thrown on the streets. There was a flood during that time. It swept the bodies away. I saw it with my eyes.” Sheel Chand’s earliest memories of Delhi are that of a walled city that had scant population. “The population was very low. Trams ran through the streets. There were hardly any cars. There was very little money in circulation and prices were low.” Sheel Chand bought his first car – Hindustan - in 1953. “I bought it for Rs 7,000. I bought an Ambassador in 1960 for Rs 9,500. The dealer would bring the car for a test drive. There were no showrooms. A gallon of petrol came for Rs 2 and 4 annas. Now the government is simply looting the people,” he says. He remains an ardent admirer of former prime minister Indira Gandhi for her role in trying to abolish the Gold Control Act. (Introduced in 1962, it prohibited citizens from possessing gold bars and coins. It was finally abolished in the 1990s.) “She saved our trade. We are indebted to her,” says Sheel Chand who took over as president of the All India Bullion Association in 1966. At a time when gold prices are hitting record levels, it hard to imagine a time when, as Sheel Chand recalls, “A tola (10 grams) of gold used to be Rs 40, and silver 8 annas.” Asked about life during the Emergency, he says: “Emergency cost Indira Gandhi her prime ministership. After she came back to power, we (members of the association) went to wish her. She said, ‘Jain saab, your blessings are always with me.’ Whenever I pass by her samadhi, I salute her.” Sheel Chand’s association with the Gandhi family ended with Rajiv Gandhi. “After the gold control was lifted, there was no need for me to meet people from the government.” At 92, he climbs up and down his three-storey house at Daryaganj to spend a couple of hours every day at his gold and diamond jewellery store that he set up in 1940. It is now largely managed by his sons. The political culture in New Delhi inspires little faith in him now. He says, “Anna Hazare has managed to shake up the government. He is doing the right thing. There should be honesty and sincerity in public life. The Congress is not what it used to be. People are thinking about themselves and not about the country.” In its 100th year, as New Delhi finds itself beleaguered by allegations of massive corruption, all eyes remain fixed on Raisina Hill as Parliament prepares to keep its date with a certain anti-graft bill.