(The original article appeared in The HINDU Vignettes of Old Delhi - The Hindu read the unedited version here....)
Delhi
is a city built and re-built over time, a city with myriad influence spanning
centuries and culture. Lutyens Delhi has been much documented and written
about. It is however the building of modern Delhi, a change from the British
Era to the Indian one, which gave it its own particular character symbolising
growth and development. Modern Delhi, 1950s onwards saw the influence
of a number of renowned architects, each leaving his own unmistakeable imprint
on its buildings. Several iconic buildings emerged. INTACH has come out with a
list of 62 buildings which deserve the modern heritage status and needs to be
preserved as modern heritage. It includes office complexes, cooperative group
housing societies, cinema hall, shopping complexes all designed post 1950s each
is a study in itself with its own charm. What made it all the more interesting
for me was our residential abode was in the list as the first cooperative group
housing society in Delhi.
A
common factor or thread in all the buildings listed by INTACH was that majority
of the buildings were shot by one man, the legendary photographer – Madan
Mahatta. Working in an era where there
were curbs on importing equipment, doing with the little infrastructure that
was in place, the man worked with some of the finest architects involved in the
design and building of modern Delhi. Documenting their work and at the same
time documenting the growth of the city.
He understood architecture and was able to compose his shots showing off
the buildings splendidly. As leading architect, Kuldip Singh, says, “My
association with Madan Mahatta started in 1960s, He was highly dedicated who
would go to great extent to get the right shades, colour and textures, show the
composition to us before shooting. At times if the ambiance was not right, a
second visit was arranged. The distortions were corrected through his Linhoff
camera.” The architects with whom Madan Mahatta worked reads like a
literal whos who – The architects with whom Madan Mahatta worked reads like a
literal whos who – Raj Rewal, Kuldip Singh, Charles Correa, Habib Rahman,
Design Group - Ranjit Sabiki and Ajoy Choudhury, J K Choudhry, J A Stein, Achyut Kanvinde…
The
sheer volume of work is mind boggling. Madan Mahatta had single handed shot
almost over a lakh images of modern Delhi. He worked with over 60 of the top
architects in Delhi documenting their work. A peek into Mahatta Archives makes
me forget the hot afternoon trudge to Connaught Place to the upstairs office of
Mahatta & Co. Mahatta’s closed their retail last year, they continue with
their commercial work and studio above their showroom which used to be their
darkrooms. What comes through is a mad passion to photograph with uncanny
precision the growth of a city. The love for modernity, architecture, keen eye
on the composition comes through in each of the photographs. It might have
taken hours, days or months to document. The cameras he used
from childhood to his professional life , baby brownie by Kodak,Zeiss
Super Ikonta, Rolleifex, Nikon (35mm )the F, F2 , F3 , Linhoff (medium format),
Hassalblad (Medium format). The photographs are still being documented and
digitised. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, and it is indeed true
here.
Pavan
Mahatta who now runs Mahatta with his brother Pankaj and son Arjun says, “there
have been several outstanding buildings in Delhi even in the recent past. But
the finest of them were done from the 1950s to the 1980s. It is not to say that
architects today are not good, but those who created the buildings then had
vision, they used a wide spectrum of materials and each design philosophy is
different from the other. The sheer vibrancy and the depth of work was very
different.” Adds Singh, “It was an exciting phase. This was a period of better
patronage from the Government, where they tried to involve private architecture
to raise the standards and add a new dimension to building. Once the actual
construction of the building started one did have the feeling that one is a
participant of an evolving city.”
And
did the city evolve? Yes, it certainly did, the pictures are
incredible. There is an aerial shot of the Jantar Mantar, Park Hotel area,
all lush with a few buildings, the NDMC building yet to be built. There are
shots of the American Embassy designed by Edward D Stone, there is a black and
yellow ambassador parked right at the entrance. Yes, it must have been possible
to drive so near the place. There is a photo of our apartments, Yamuna Apartments
by The Design Group being built. The front of the society without any roads is
a barren sand area. I am stunned to see the open space, today the road outside
takes me a good 10 minutes to cross! There are many such gems. There is a shot
of a plane landing at night, when the first night landing commenced at the
Palam Airport. The runway lit by plethora of lights with the plane. It must
have been some determination to document the changing face of the city so
methodically. There are shots of the Safdarjung Tomb beautifully reflected in
the water surrounding it. A shot which made me nostalgic – of bunking school
for movies and ice-cream, was that of the inside of the famous Nirula’s
restaurant next to Chanakya cinema. There is a shot of the “once happening mall
of Delhi” the Super Bazaar where everyone shopped before the mall explosion
occurred. The Bahai Temple, an architecture marvel, as Pavan says, “my father
was involved with it from the time the model was built.”
There
are shots of the Centaur, Akbar, Maurya, Oberoi and Ashoka Hotel. Raj Rewal’s
Hall of Nations is well documented as are Kuldip Singh’s NDMC building and
Palika Kendra. There is Charles Correa’s Jeevan Bharati, Stein’s Habitat
Centre, India International Centre, The Design Group’s YMCA Staff Headquarters
and Yamuna Apartments... As Pavan says, “my father was partial to Stein’s work.”
There
is a beautiful shot of 19th January 1961, of an open
cavalcade in which Queen Elizabeth rode with Dr. Rajendra Prasad around
Connaught Place. There are crowds lining the streets and the aerial shot shows
the tranquillity of the place. He recalls how when Palika Bazaar was being
built, they would shoot it every month so the growth of the bazaar and the
entire area would be known. The Odeon cinema, Supreme Court…what is
poignant is as Pavan says, “my father had cancer but even in those last days he
would insist on being driven out. He used to mentally document the progress of
the Metro through its pillars.” I ponder how would he have reacted to the
demolishing of Raj Rewal’s architectural beauties at Pragati Maidan?
