Mansi

Dear Chitranjan, Hope you're doing well. I recently was in Chandigarh for a two
hour brief stop, between journeys. Our shatabdi back to Delhi was at six and we
were in town at about four which called for some 'drive-through' sight-seeing.
Since we were very short on time and it was 43 degrees out, we decided to just
go for the 'famous' rock garden. My visit there was spectacular. Starting with
the dedication to the 'creativity of Indians', to the design and navigation,
the rock garden not only met but exceeded it's fame. Where most Indian cities
have our old heritage on display, Chandigarh's rock garden was a refreshing
treat to our collective future. As with most exhibitions, monuments - the sum
total of our past and present national heritage, however, I fear that the lack
of a clear administrative vision is the most glaring impediment that keeps our
experiences of such sites from being fulfilling. Respect: To start with, let us
talk about respect. Wherever we go these days, I am shocked at the lack of
respect for our national heritage. Graffitti work announcing how much Pappu
loves Kavita enclosed in perfect shaped hearts ( practice makes perfect?) to
throwing waste (wrappers, plastic bottles etc) to inappropriate usage (couples
galore!) - - Witness to all of this and more at the Rock Garden (a tribute to
recycling) is indeed the most ironic blow I have experienced till date.
Whereever I went in the Rock Garden, I saw boards announcing a fine of Rs 100
for anybody who trashes the premises. Yet, not even these boards were spared
the graffitti treatment. Every other corner represented a mini dustbin in the
making. Kids and parents alike were walking around with bottles and bags, all
of which I feared would end up on this wonderful premises. As is obvious, the
fine is not a deterrant. Instead, I believe that it has in some ways encouraged
visitors to trash the premises purely on spite! ( Yes, we are a frustrated lot,
aren't we?) I believe that it's time to implement another strategy. Let us go
back to that inspiring dedication to the creativity of Indians, and start
afresh. Let us trust that every visitor to the Rock Garden will maintain the
highest of respect for the premises. If we know such individuals already, who
nurture good doses of respect with themselves and others, what do we think
these individuals would want to experience at the Rock Garden? Here are some
ideas on the top of my head: 1. Tell the story. Share the story of the man who
created this rock garden AD NAUSEUM. Have boards strewn all across the garden,
telling his story in pictures, audio files, video files and plain text even.
Sharing the story will, I believe, inspire respect in the hearts of the
visitors. 2. Educate visitors about recycling: Put up boards ( Mix and match
with text boards, cartoons, pictures, audio files and video files) educating
the visitors about recycling. Access the trash on the premises and put up
boards like '10 Ways you can re-use your empty plastic containers' which target
the items that people want to litter the most. 3. Include competitions at the
back of the tickets to ensure that kids and adults get to participate in some
recycling activity. As the King from King & I would say - -etcetera
etcetera etcetera. The information design here will need to be short,
multi-lingual and cross-media as possible (cartoons, text, pictures etc). I see
these boards as not permanent fixtures but as a project that is updated every
six months or less with more useful, educational information. Let us engage
with schools and colleges for material that can be considered to be put up at
the premises thus involving the community at large. Moving away from fee
deterrants (that I recommend we remove all together), I think we can also
encourage people to pick up trash as and when they see it. We can encourage
people to alert officials of trash (food that was spilt over, etc) In parallel
to my concern about respect, I would also like to address my concern on noise
pollution. In the middle of a hot summer afternoon, I see no reason why
visitors need to be put through punjabi songs blaring out of speakers that
would put a rock concert to shame. While I loved the experience of the mela at
the very end, with swings and stalls, I saw no reason for the extent of noise
pollution. Last but not least, the state of the toilets at this venue was
appalling. I fail to understand why we have absolutely no clue on how to
maintain clean toilets. The blame game (visitors blame officials, officials
blame visitors) needs to stop. While we're on this educational ride, I would
recommend we put some boards on cleanliness and 'how to use a toilet' for
example inside the toilets as well. I understand that all of this will require
a minimum amount of investment. This is where, Chatty, I see your firm come in.
As an upcoming profitable firm, I believe that should your employees be equally
concerned about the Rock Garden, you could look into investing time and money
towards implementing this initiative. Companies in Chandigarh need to come
forward and foster a culture of respect and honor the tradition of recycling
that is so splendidly executed at the Rock Garden. I do hope that you will be
able to take this initiative forward with the concerned officials of the Rock
Garden. Let the dedication of this wonderful park - to the Creativity of
Indians - NOT be in vain. warm regards, Priyadarshini R. Banati