Blog

At the centre of the India Gate Radial Road, Facing Janpath

An iconic Delhi image, the 140-ft high-arched war memorial called India Gate commemorates the roughly 7,000 Indian soldiers who died fighting for Britain in World War 1. Designed by Edwin Lutyens, who also planned the Rashrapati Bhavan and much of New Delhi, it was built in 1921. The names of more of more than 13,000 soldiers who died at the North-West Frontier are engraved on the walls. An ‘eternal flame’ the Amar Jawan Jyoti, lit beneath pays tribute to the soldiers who dird in the Indo-Pak War of 1971. Visitors feel the poignancy of these deaths for a while, and then move on to the immortal pleasure of street-food vendors, the children pleased with the balloons and fishing toy helicopter, the elders posing for instant photo  (Rs. 40 delivered in a minute). On the lawns around.

Vast green stretches sprawl besides the almost entirely pedestrian road, Rajpath that connects India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhavan (about 1.5 km). Nothing impedes the triumphal progress of a toddler goggling her way down the Rajpath lawns, putting the imperial majesty of both buildings into perspective.

If you are a tourist, having an ice cream from the scores of vendors here on summer nights would practically make you a local.