It’s midday but, with the winter solstice just a couple of days away, the warm watery sun is casting evening long shadows across the well kept lawns of the Safdarjang Tomb. The red and white sandstone tomb sitting serenely in the quiet grounds is said to be the last of the great Mughal buildings. The large off white dome, home to sprouting grasses and a multitude of pigeons, sits atop of the square and beautifully proportioned edifice.
It is the quietest place I have been in Delhi, in fact probably anywhere during this India trip, with barely 60 people in the grounds. A few foreign tourists walk around the building with their cameras slung around their necks and one hand clasped around the Lonely Planet. The majority of the elite band of visitors in the grounds are young couples sheltering from prying eyes at the furthest points from the entrance gate, beneath the trees which are spaced out evenly across the spotless lawns.
Lying on the grass here, watching the black kites swirl over head in the deep blue cloudless sky and listening to the bird song and the chirping sound of the playful chipmunks I feel as relaxed as I think I have ever felt. The sounds of the roads, the dust and chaos is just a few hundred metres away, but like any good garden you can quickly forget where you are.
My last day in Delhi has been blessed by this beautiful clear sunny day - it is like the best of June in England - calm, warm and cloudless. Lying back with my head on my rucksack, looking at my ‘not to scale’ map, I make a decision to miss out on the railway museum several kilometres to the west and instead head east for the less geeky Purana Qila fortress.
The walk from the tomb takes me across a wide but not too busy road to Lodi Road and I dive left into the Lodi Gardens. The screaming school children, shouting picnickers and the sound of tennis balls on plastic cricket bats are in sharp contrast to the tranquility of Sadfarjangs Tomb. The gardens unlike the Tomb (5 rupees for Indians) are free but the main reason for the bustle and popularity is this is a place of meeting and play. Multitudes of large blankets are spread out across the grass demarcating each groups space, they are dotted with bright cushions and heavy bags full of food and drink for the families and friends. The fathers, brothers and sisters all play cricket games with only the stout mothers and grandparents keeping away from the games, close to the food.
The park is home to the several ancient tombs and mosques of note, but unlike those paid for sights these ‘protected’ monuments are far from looked after. While the younger children run around playing roughy and noisily through the mosque and tombs, older children have climbed up and sat on top of several of the buildings roofs and around one of the tombs lies a couple of condoms.
To be completed...
