A 'gated community' makeover

It was in January 2010, that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had submitted a proposal to UNESCO to include Rabindranath Tagore's Santiniketan as a world heritage site. Despite efforts by the ministry of culture at the Centre and departments at the state level, the proposal was rejected by UNESCO.

For many months after this incident, however, the authorities at Visva-Bharati (the university in Santiniketan vested with follow-up for the "heritage status") continued the "has been shortlisted" pretence to try and rein in the builders' lobby from encroaching into what it called a "buffer zone" around the university area which it claimed had to be maintained.

The hotel industry and transport operators in Santiniketan continued to believe it was only a matter of time before the status would be conferred on their milch town.

But it looks as if the authorities and powers at Tagore's Visva-Bharati have finally given up hope of being included in this august list. From the changes being effected to the Santiniketan landscape it looks like for those who were feeling a trifle constrained by all this talk of "heritage", it is now time to party.

While the construction of massive multi-storied buildings - in order to create more space for the university - marred the once beautiful landscape, the latest blow to the remnants of heritage surely comes from the university's decision to landscape open spaces in the name of beautification.

One of the great things about the campus was its open spaces with its huge trees. The space below had been left alone in the appreciation that the bountifulness of the tress lent the place its character and beauty. However, those currently in charge of affairs, probably aspire for a Santiniketan that should resemble posh, gated communities that are a middle-class aspiration today.

Clearly demarcated pathways (resembling jogging tracks) have replaced foot trails, cement benches have been adopted inside the open spaces over sitting on the grass and alien foliage and grass has been planted in rows to enhance this artificial landscape. Now that the landscaping consultants are happy, plans are afoot to create "ornamental" grills to go around the gardens in order to complete the gated community experience. At night, rows of halogen lamps light up the gardens to ensure that no looks up at the night sky!

But the masterstroke of them all is to name each of the landscaped, hemmed in gardens after some luminary, with near and not-so-near connections to Tagore. Plaques with engraved names are placed at strategic locations, only to be ignored after the press has been called and photo opportunity over.

Many of us who loved the open spaces, as they were, try looking away when we pass them and wonder whether it would be ever possible to remove all the debris.

On a trip to England this June, we were fortunate enough to be driven around by a seventy-something year old friend to stop at little farms in the countryside and sometimes at the homes of her bohemian friends. One of the things that never failed to amaze us is how they wrote-off whatever or whoever was displeasing as a "right wing, suburban". We protested that the verdict was too harsh before considering all views.

But as I returned to Santiniketan and saw the progress that had happened in the intervening weeks, this label seemed appropriate.