Chrrrrrrr…
What’s that sound that I heard after ages? Has someone unlocked the voluminous Sagwaan door that has been trying hard to guard what little is left inside me? Who has cared to peep inside my crumbling walls and withering doors Today? Have my prayers been paid heed to, that they have set foot on my filthy, dust-laden, twigs-strewn courtyard? Oh, my decaying pillars and putrid corners feel a surge of ecstasy to have felt human presence amidst them after a long, long time. Here, my attics seem to be rejoicing in the expectation of finally getting human touch, to be cleaned of the droppings of pigeons and sparrows that have been their tenants all this while. Shoo.. Go away you nasty birds and make some room for the ones who truly belong here.
Gopal! Is that really Gopal that I’m looking at? Oh, this poor vision of mine won’t let me behold him clearly and dearly! My little Krishna Kanhaiya, my Gopal! What a muscular lad he has grown into! The same flawless, milky complexion, those raven-black curls have grown bigger yet they still mesmerise me so much. Look at his black mole that accentuates his upper lip, won’t you call him the re-incarnation of Lord Krishna? Aah, my heart swells with pride to see that my Gopal came back to take care of me. Finally, he couldn’t contain himself and had to rush back to his childhood love. Though late, he realised that his ancestral haveli longs for him; its legal heir, to reclaim it, once again, to give it a new lease of life. All these years of wait and hopefulness didn’t go waste, after all, that he is at last, back to his abode.
How I wish I could take him in the embrace of these dwindling walls of mine, to never let him go again.. Oh, Gopala, your haveli still remembers your giggles and song of your running feet after you would play pranks on your maa, and she would come running towards you to give you a tight smack on your back. You were always a mischievous child but you were the sunshine who would illuminate each corner of this haveli.
I can heave a sigh of relief that I’ll be given a rejuvenating restoration at last, that you’ll give me back my days of glory finally.
“The condition is too poor to do anything with it, saab.”
“Hmmmmm, dismantle it then, will get a hotel erected on this land. Unbolt this Sagwaan gate, will use it somewhere.”
Gopal had instructed the group of daily wage labourers who had accompanied him to check the condition of the almost decayed haveli. The decision was made.
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Here in Rajasthan, along with the popular havelis that tourists throng all year long, there stand the abandoned havelis in the hearts of the old cities. These havelis have been locked for ages for the generations that got them built are long gone now, and their heirs have settled in the metro cities and have no time or interest whatsoever to either look after them or to rent them away. These ancient pieces of architecture are decaying and have almost succumbed to their doom. An utter human indifference towards these marvellous buildings…..
Image: Minor Sights
