When Nek Chand cried his heart out

THE controversy over the demolition of a wall of Nek Chand’s iconic Rock Garden in Chandigarh made me recall my first meeting with him back in 1984.

I was then with the CBI as an SP. The probe agency was taking up cases of corruption against employees of the Central Government. This vested the CBI, Chandigarh branch, with the jurisdiction to investigate matters connected with allegedly corrupt practices of officials of the UT administration.

One fine morning, the office peon handed me a slip of paper with the name of Nek Chand scribbled on it. I asked him to usher the visitor into my room.

I instantly recognised him as the well-known Nek Chand, an erstwhile employee of the engineering department who had utilised waste and recycled material for building statues and sculptures of great artistic value at almost no cost. I had visited the unique garden built by him and knew how good it was.

I offered him a cup of tea; he politely refused. I then offered him nimbu-pani, but his reply was the same.

Then he started narrating his woes. He had plenty of grievances against the top brass of the UT administration. Officers were impeding his expansion plans and harassing him, he alleged.

After he had finished speaking, I found him overwhelmed with emotion. And then, all of a sudden, he started crying. Tears rolled down his cheeks copiously. I tried to pacify him and offered him a glass of water, which he took. Soon, he cooled down and regained his composure.

I expressed sympathy for him and his cause. However, I regretted that I would not be able to intervene in the matter as it was an administrative affair. He understood the ground reality. I then escorted him to the door.

Since then, a special bond developed between him and me. He would frequently visit me not only till I was in the CBI but later also when I returned to my state, Punjab. As my residence was near the Rock Garden, he would drop in, mostly on weekends. On occasions, he would present me with his creations, which I have still preserved.

Nek Chand and eminent writer Khushwant Singh were my guests at a dinner in January 1997. Writing about the memorable meeting in his weekly column, ‘With Malice Towards One And All…’, Singh referred to Nek Chand as “the pioneer of Cup-n-Saucer Sculpture of Chandigarh”.

The great architect of the world-famous Rock Garden passed away a decade ago, but his soul would certainly not be at peace after witnessing the recent unfortunate developments that have outraged heritage lovers.