Bhopal: One of Bhopal's most loved icons is tottering at the knees. The Khirni (rayan) tree — which was around when the Prince of Wales visited Bhopal in 1912 and is called 'Tree of Life' — is left holding up a half-broken streetlight pole that might crash on it any day.
Often referred to as the symbol of Bhopal's heritage, the tree gives Iqbal Maidan its sobriquet of 'Khirniwala Maidan'. The open ground is named after the poet and scholar Muhammad Iqbal, who wrote 'Sare Jahan Se Achha Hindustan Humara'. Tarane-Hind of Iqbal is engraved on the original platform. And the Khirni tree should be the crowning glory of this slice of history. Instead, thanks to civic apathy, it is being treated as a prop for a junked pole that looks destined for the scrapyard.
Asked why a streetlight pole has been tied to the heritage tree, Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials said that a large branch crashed on the pole and broke it. The tilted pole was then tied to the tree "for support, just ahead of a musical concert". "Once sanction is granted, the street pole will be repaired," said a BMC engineering wing staffer on Monday.
The BMC account doesn't match what you see on the ground. It's clear the pole was struck from below. "It is quite likely that a speeding vehicle hit the pole and caused the damage. Ahead of the concert, a part of the tree was cut. The other damage is a result of the tiled floor at the Maidan," said Khalil Sadiq, a local resident.
Khirniwala Maidan was the meeting point for royalty and commoners. Most of the sepia-tinted photographs from the visit of the Prince of Walls in 1912 have one constant backdrop — the Khrini tree. It has not grown taller, but appears lush green as it spreads itself during the winter.
Most of the other greenery around it has been lost. "It seems that the government, at the behest of local politicians, has a fetish for taking away green spaces and replacing them with tiles. You don't have to be a scientist to understand that water penetration in the ground decreases due to tiles, resulting in slow death of the surrounding greenery," Sadiq said. A few years ago, a local politician had an artificial lighted palm tree installed at the site. It is thought to have cost the government a few lakh rupees. Today, you can see the plastic shreds that remain.
Over the years, various interventions have adversely impacted the Maidan. The most controversial was a Bhopal Development Corporation (BDA)-funded project, which provided 'marble walls' below Shaheen curated by Robin David and legendary J Swaminathan.
The changed aesthetics to give a 'modern' look to the public space led to the loss of some extraordinary calligraphy. To make things worse, the remainder of the art work has been painted over. Four couplets were in brass. The very couplets were also engraved on the walls near and around the Memorial in Devnagri script. The inner walls around the maidan were engraved with eight couplets of Iqbal in Devnagri and Urdu. The Urdu calligraphist was nationally renowned Khaliq Tonki, considered among the best post-Independence. Devnagri calligraphy was made by Bhopal's Zafar artist. The engraving was by Khursheed Khan, Radhey Shyam, Chand Khan and Wajeehuddin, all fro