My connection with VV started in 1968 when my father in law, Mr.Prem Sheel Bhatnagar, retired Chief Engineer Designs, Bhakra Dam, built his house in C-block. Theirs was one of first three houses to be constructed in VV. Subsequently, my father, Mr.Nagendra Bahadur, also built a house in E-block. It is interesting to remember how both my fathers happened to be here. Both were similar in their disinterest of property acquisition. But just before their retirement, this Govt Servants Cooperative Society had been formed which acquired this land from Govt and was leasing it out to Govt employees. On the one hand my mother-in-law urged my father-in-law, and on the other hand my fathers’ brother-in-law encouraged my father, to buy the land for what was then a tuppence. It is interesting also to note the costs at which the houses were constructed. My father constructed a two bedroom house for Rs.75,000 and my father-in-law made a two floor house for Rs.125,000. So this is the economic timeline of VV which has turned it from a simple Govt Servants colony to a cosmopolitan and one of the richest colonies in India.
The Vasant Vihar colony that my parents and in-laws moved into was then more or less barren, with no markets, just a handful of houses, and almost nothing around. In fact we could see Qutub Minar from our window. There were no slum clusters, no Vasant Enclave, no Vasant Kunj etc.
My association with community work in Vasant Vihar when we wanted to convert our neighborhood empty ground from a garbage dumping area into a park. It all began in 1997 when Brig.Ajit Singh, a very respected C-block representative, met me while walking one evening. He mentioned that it was his heart’s desire to turn that dumping ground into a park for C-block senior citizens to be able to walk in. But he was getting old and there was no one else to take over the task. I was so touched by his desire to do this for the C-block community that I told him I would do it. And that was the beginning of my involvement in VV community work for the next 10 years. We contributed the initial amount of Rs.1 lakh – it was the first rent that we got from my E-9/16 property after my father’s death which I put into this cause in his memory. Using that amount along with Rs.50,000 that we collected from C-block residents, my husband and I got a walking path way constructed. This was the first time that such a pathway had been constructed by the residents own contributions and initiative. The others came later with MCD’s support.
Soon after that, the C-block Association was formed to prevent a gate being constructed by Tagore International School on the C-2 lane side. The first president of the association was Mr.Gombhar of C-3/1 and my husband was its first Secretary. The Committee worked very hard to develop the Association. The only other association that had grown prior to this was the B-block Association.
Meanwhile, the C-block park was also developed by us into one of the best small parks in the colony and we started having Diwali and other get-togethers there. Twice we organized melas also. Cultural programs were also held there.
During the same period I also became a member of the Executive Committee of the VV Govt Servants Cooperative Society. Due to some financial irregularities detected at that time, most of the members were asked to quit by the General Body. In this process by default I became the Secretary and had to handle all the enquiries, audits related to the investigations, apart from the usual administrative work.
Another development was related to colony’s water supply. In the early years of the colony, the water supply had only been from the cooperative’s own tube wells and through its own pipeline network. As the water was not treated, it was called unfiltered water supply. A few years later, the Water Supply Department started supplying ‘filtered’ (or treated) water supply through its own pipeline. With this, the unfiltered water supply started being used for gardens only. However, over the years rising consumption levels, heavy pressure developed on both the water supply systems. Due to heavy withdrawal of groundwater, and consequent drop in water table, it led to drying up of the tube wells run by the Society. At the same time digging of private tube wells became very common. It was at this time that I started a campaign for water harvesting and in the face of considerable opposition, got water harvesting done on all tube wells of the cooperative society in the parks. Simultaneously, we tried to get a water treatment and recycling plant for the colony – which has unfortunately not seen the light of day.
Our homes and lives in Vasant Vihar were simple. My mother-in-law was very fond of gardening. In the initial years, she developed a kitchen garden, which provided us some home grown vegetables. Nobody objected then because there was no shortage of water at the time, nor any shortage of space to park cars (given how few they were!). There was ample space to walk, unhindered by traffic. My mother who lived in E-block, loved walking. Morning and evening walks were a regime which normally nothing could disturb. My father on the other hand, preferred walking in the driveway; but all his visits to the market, bank etc. were done on foot. Their social life consisted of calling on friends/ relatives in the neighborhood, since they had all retired from govt service and loved reminiscing their service life.
My father’s favorite time was sitting in the verandah in the morning, with his cup of tea and a newspaper. Outings often consisted of picnics or visits to India Gate, Connaught Place etc. There were hardly any restaurants – one of the few that my parents visited very occasionally, was Udupi restaurant in Munirka. The evening was usually spent watching TV – Chitrahaar, the new serial ‘Hum Log’ and of course the News were the mainstay of TV viewing.
When we visited our parents during the summer vacations, the children would play around in the driveway or make drawings in the verandah. The garage at my parents’ house was rented out to known youngsters – mostly my son’s friends. Later after marriage, my son and daughter-in-law moved into this annex. Everybody who visited or stayed in the house loved it and still talks about it with nostalgia. Both our houses have since been replaced by a multi-storied structures, but the memories of our homes still stands largely in its original form.
By VEENA BHATNAGAR
C-2/9, Vasant Vihar