The City's Forgotten Pause - Maidan
People often tend to call the vast spreads of Maidan the lungs of the city. I tend to
disagree. Should we really bind a piece of history to something so banal, a mere
biological function?
Spanning over 400 acres, the Gorer Maath, translated as Fort's Ground, sleeps like the oldest history book covered in dust at the eternal library without walls that Kolkata is. Every morning since 1773, Maidan has been the silent observer of the city's expanding, ever-changing life. Today, it is almost unimaginable that once a 'tiger-hunted jungle' existed in the very same spot where a handful of tortured horses drag around carts for a meager sum every evening. After establishing Fort Williams in 1773, it became necessary to reform the widespread marshy forest intersected by creeks into Parade Ground for the British forces. However, even after independence, as Calcutta slowly slithered into Kolkata, the uneven yellowish green vacancy of Maidan remained unchanged.
Today it forms the centre stage hosting a myriad of plays. On a blurred January morning, Maidan slowly wakes up to the sound of a young cricket enthusiast's footsteps, sips on the tea seller's first spill of lemon tea, and stares back blankly at the heap of dreams that have sprouted on its dust. Soon the ground will be filled with elderly couples coming for morning walks and photographers hungry to capture the first foggy morning of the year.
While Kolkata becomes the most congested traffic city in the nation, Maidan remains the place where the rushing, gasping city stops for a moment to breathe and silently observe the ghosts of the past slowly fading into gradually descending mist, where the blazing horses of Lord Hastings have now given way to the yellow chariots in all their glory.
