Architecture of a road.

[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]

The balcony’s long parapet and the screen above are arrayed out into airy pores. During the afternoon, the white sunlight percolates through these tiny pores, forming similar pattern of corresponding pores on the opaque wall behind. As the daylight alters, the patterns alter.

Govind Bhawan is among the last remaining representative of Ansari Road’s old architecture.

So what if the building looks shabby, the paint has discoloured, the parapet is blighted with hoardings, and a tiny portion of the air-and-concrete lattice is lying broken.

This was two years ago.

Today, Govind Bhawan is not looking like the Govind Bhawan of yesterday. The discolouration is gone, replaced by a mild green coating of paint. The parapet is free of hoardings. The balcony ceiling is overhung with stylish lamps, still wrapped in protective covering.

The revamp took place some weeks ago—per two shopkeepers. The repair work—at least the work on the façade which is the only thing visible from the road—appears to have been executed with sensitivity. The original appearance hasn’t been violated. The place looks of another time, as always, but now also neat and pleasing to the eye.

The shopkeepers in the vicinity talk politely of the property owner, freely guessing on the motivation behind the patch-up. What concerns us citizens is that this much-needed repair solidifies Ansari Road’s architectural heritage.

Named after freedom fighter Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, the Old Delhi avenue (formerly Daryaganj Road) is famous for housing publishing houses and book distribution companies. It is also among the few remaining custodians of Delhi’s old mansions. To be sure, these relics ought not to be mistaken for the centuries-old havelis of Purani Dilli. These came up around the independence and conveys the evolving aesthetics of that era. Over the past few decades, many of these structures have been replaced by glass-and-cement fronts, an aspect of contemporary architecture that has become universal to all Indian cities. The invigorated Govind Bhawan has emerged as an exception.

While celebrating the landmark’s renewed life, it is just and proper to invoke the few other Ansari Road landmarks that continue to stand. They are Shakahar Building, Ahinsa Mandir, Nirmal Kutir, followed by an unnamed white mansion too beaten up to survive for long, Star Villa, Chakresh Bhawan (with Shri Mahavir Namah inscribed on top), Yougmaya Bhawan (since 1939), and next to it stands… the newly tiptop Govind Bhawan.

Lane of mansions

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