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Why Punjab ignores heritage

Punjab woke up late to the idea of heritage tourism because of a lack of sense of pride... it has remained a dream more than reality
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The Baradari Palace, Patiala. Tribune Photo: Rajesh Sachar
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Why has heritage tourism in Punjab remained more of a dream than reality? Perhaps, because the Punjabi has long imagined that the grass is always greener on the other side. Men from Punjab were among the earliest to go out for the World Wars and to see the contrast of lifestyles between the East and the West, even though it was a very tragic moment of human history. The Punjabis were also among the first sizeable diaspora to America and Canada. So, the state has lived for long on the dream of being on the edge of migration.
Rajasthan has similar parallels, but the Marwari population migrated more for the opportunities within the country. This gave them the chance to constantly look back and see their strengths rather than weaknesses. Broadly, the Rajputs stayed on because of their attachment to the kingdoms. The very feudal history of Rajasthan added to the respect for hierarchy and thereby of the amazing ancestral properties created in a very different context of history.
Punjab woke up late to the idea of heritage tourism, because of this lack of sense of pride. Former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had asked me once to come and speak to a large group of PWD officers in Chandigarh. I spoke to them in Punjabi and showed through pictures how it was better to restore old buildings rather than knock them down and build ugly substitutes. I came to understand that it suited governments and the bureaucracy to knock down old buildings because everybody made money out of it, and then when they built monstrosities, there was again room for commissions and cuts! That was a sad situation, but it was not irretrievable.
When the Punjab government finally decided to tender an ancestral palace of the erstwhile maharajas of Patiala, Rajinder Kothi, which housed the State Archives, was chosen. Neemrana Hotels, being a fore runner in the field, was asked by INTACH to bid for this. After elaborate studies and drawings, we did bid, but were surprised to discover that we were the only bidder from India. This bid was therefore disqualified on the strange grounds that people could raise a finger of suspicion that nepotism had decided the winner. So, like so many government projects, this too was shelved for some five years. When the process was revived, we decided to keep away. We were coaxed and reassured that 14 hotel groups were bidding, and we must put our best foot forward, which we did. Strangely, again, there was not a single bidder, but the provision for a single bid to qualify for the project had been incorporated.
Then began our trauma of dealing with the system. We were assured that a highway that cut across the property, touching the main portico of the palace, would be diverted to a circular road that already existed. This was not done and the citizens of Patiala rallied against the government to block this initiative. There was also a dhaba within the property which it was the job of the government to evict because this was a public-private partnership (PPP) project. Later, we understood that PPP actually stood for ‘private parties’ problem’!
Their contribution had never been outlined, so they began to behave as governments often do in India. A large study table and one standing clock lay within the property, but one of the officers insisted that it should not be given to us, so they carried them away to the office of the DC, where it was put in the garden, till humidity first spoilt the furniture, and then white ants made many meals of it! This is the attitude with which Punjab hoped to develop heritage tourism.
Neemrana turned to the southern states where the atmosphere was welcoming, and the results very rewarding. We have gone on to restore some 30 properties in 12 states.
As for the current AAP government in Punjab, it thought it could invent taxes retroactively, to apply from the past two decades or more. So, Neemrana were asked to prove that the hotel that we run in Patiala is more than 100 years old, or pay taxes! The government’s own advertisements seeking restoration clearly stated that it was a late 19th century property. So, where were we to begin explaining what they already knew in print?
The future in Punjab can only be bright when the ‘we and they’ attitude comes to an end, when the powers that be begin to appreciate that there are many jewels which could be de-notified from the state list and put to tender, as UP and Madhya Pradesh have done. Only the private sector can give a proper experience of tourism, which governments in all states are aware of that they have failed to do. Our half-baked love for modernism has already ruined the skylines of cities, and when the awareness does come, it will be too late to raze the ugly present down to its foundations.
— The writer is a renowned hotelier and architectural restorer
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