Delhi has a trendy new cultural space in the Mughal-era Sunder Nursery

The verandahs have disappeared. As have the ledges. And so the house sparrow, which was once commonly seen hopping on them, is fleeing our cities for the countryside where it can still find nesting places of its choice in the nooks and crannies of traditional homes. Now if we don’t want this little bird to turn its back on our homes for good, we need to give it, well, a home. 

Sparrows like to nest in holes stuffed with vegetation and made snug and comfortable with feathers, paper and other such warm, soft material. You can buy such a nest online — what’s the fun in that, though? — or if you are in Delhi, you can head to Sunder Nursery adjacent to Humayun’s Tomb this Sunday morning and build one at a special workshop that teaches you how to.

‘Know the Bee’ workshop by Golden Hive Foundation

And while you are there, you can also check out the organic market for fresh farm produce, microgreens, groceries, jams, beverages, natural fertilisers, essential oils and a lot more. The market has been organised by the Earth Collective every Sunday, and starting today every Saturday too (8 am to 1 pm).

Sparrow nest building workshop. 

A 16th century heritage park complex sprinkled with protected Mughal-era monuments, Sunder Nursery is an idyllic getaway from the city within the city. It’s a place where yesterday walks hand in hand with today, and where the wilderness and immaculately landscaped gardens lie side by side. In the last year or so, it has also emerged as Delhi’s hippest new cultural space.

Silent book reading. 

The winter months gone by have been particularly busy in this city garden, which has two amphitheatres: one with a capacity of 500 and the other, a more intimate one, that can seat about 50 people.

Besides heritage walks, farming demonstrations for city-born and -bred children and workshops on birds and bees (literally), the sprawling 90-acre complex has hosted fashion shows, qawwali evenings, textile fairs and dance performances such as kutiyattam and most recently an interpretation of the feminine form in sculptures through Odissi. 

School heritage walk

In October last year, Kathakar, an international storytellers’ festival, chose this open space as the venue for its 12th edition. Some of its earlier editions were held at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, the India Habitat Centre and the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi. “The amphitheatre was packed with 1,400 people,” says Ratish Nanda, the CEO of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture that is behind the restoration and revitalisation of the garden, along with the Archaeological Survey of India and the Central Public Works Department. The rambling space, earlier called Azim Bagh, made it possible to accommodate the crowds that turned up for Kathakar.

Kutiyattam performance organised by Unesco

The space is let out to artists and schools for annual functions as well. Also hosted here are silent reading sessions, wherein you can sit by, say, one of the many waterbodies in the garden alongside strangers with your book. It’s a kind of an invitation to soak in a sense of community and companionship even while you are lost in your own private world.