So what would we show and tell a guest or tourist who has come to our City? That the only local tourism is Medical? Or perhaps talk of the locations around the City – at Sultanpur (Bird Sanctuary), Farukhnagar (Heritage structures), Damdama (Lake), Sohna (hot Sulphur Springs) and Pataudi (Palace) - but back off, realising that the infrastructure stinks? There must be somewhere to take our guest…
The new millennium darshan of a city should perhaps do away with history (and therefore historical monuments). Lifestyle should be the theme…Lifestyle Monuments, Lifestyle Infrastructure (residential and commercial) and Lifestyle Moments. Is the defining monument the Condo? Should there be a Condo Circuit for guests and tourists, riding Non-Motorised Transport? Or should the focus shift to ‘soft’ areas, our soft wares? But what is the Gurgaon culture? It clearly is in the making…at best. Perhaps the current school-kids will define it a generation down the road…if they stick around. How does one glue together the diversity here…the locals, the expats, the blue collars, the white collars, the collar-less, along with the hordes of construction labour, domestic help and drivers…and of course pets?
Let’s start with the ‘conventional’ 16 ‘darshans’:
The ‘take-them-down’ Toll Plazas – Sirhaul and Kherki Daula. One is down..one to go. Sirhaul is the largest toll plaza that doesn’t now toll.
The ‘we’ve reached home’ ‘Ship’ Building
The ‘my way’ NH8 Highway
The ‘24x7’ Cyber City & Cyber Park; and ‘new destination’ Cyber Hub
The ‘Mall-mile’ MG Road
The ‘Rapid-rate-hike’ Metro
The ‘Mata’ Sheetla Mandir
The ‘foundation of modern Gurgaon’ Maruti factory
The ‘one-cultural-stop’ Epicentre
The ‘blockbuster class’ Kingdom of Dreams
The ‘healthy path’ to Vedanta
The ‘still not encroached’ Bio-diversity Park
The ‘in your face’ Liquor vends
The ‘global-local’ Schools
The ‘you have arrived’ ‘…alias and …olias’
The ‘throw a stone and you will hit one’ Builders
Don’t forget to ask your guests – and tourists - to bow their heads
as they approach each. It is, after all, a ‘darshan’.
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