Perspective : Heritage: how much of the past should we carry into the future?

i live in a heritage city, a city that has several of the most beautiful heritage buildings of the world, the city of the Taj!!

we also have a different kind of somewhat amorphous heritage, a cultural identity, an aesthetic sense, a multilingual, multifaceted sense of the self, that comes from this peculiar geographical location.

everyone i know, who doesn't live here, wants to visit, indeed expats,no longer close yearn fervently to breathe in the air, the sights the smells the sounds. my uncle who left for Europe when he was 17, gets teary eyed every time he catches the scent of smoke when here, in winter evenings, of earthen pots baking in a fire kiln...

then why is it that the denizens of the city should harbor mixed feelings toward it all?

i walked in yesterday evening, obligation bound much like the captive audience i had to talk to, people gathered by the archaeological survey in order to 'do' something to mark the day, to observe the formalities and get it done with.

it was hilarious really to see the drooping shoulders and the apathy, so apparent from the body language, it was a holiday after all, marred by the mandatory observance decreed by the authorities that be!!!

official attitudes apart, the problem really is one of finding utility of the past and making it relevant, indeed desirable in the future.

the Taj, as well as the numerous monuments the city is dotted with, indeed the entire city deserves to be declared a heritage city, could have been the objects of love if they were treated with love and respect. if the people were made equal stake holders in their management and upkeep and if ways and means of partnership were found between the residents and the government to share resultant benefits and revenues.

tourism and the related ancillary services, languish from want of official attention, infrastructure is weak, attitudes, official attitudes inhospitable. poverty often results in  hardheartedness, despite the rampant glorification of the largehearted impoverished, and that in turn generates nefarious practices

the linking of environmental concerns, with the yellowing of the marble on the facade of the Taj, has brought about the displacement of industry from the city, a city already impoverished, is dying for want of livelihood.

we are all creatures of our pasts, our personas  reflect the lives we've lived, we cannot escape that reality.
our only hope to happiness and satisfaction, and by that i mean both material well-being and contentment of the heart, is in finding peace with that past, indeed in this particular case, finding economic worth and utility as well as aesthetic appeal.
art is not for empty stomachs, Bernard Shaw said, the stomach has to be satiated before the senses can be gratified. that for me is the great dilemma that this city lives with. Were that it were otherwise!!!
as for me, every visit to any of these monuments makes time bend, i am transported, blissfully at that, to a world long long gone...of kings and queens and everlasting love..
if that is not magical realism , then what is ? Eh Marquez !!!!?
vinny jain
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