Tuesday, November 8, 2011

The Mansion

When I got off at the Pul Bangash metro station (which thanks to Kavita and Unmana I know got its name from the when the Bangash tribe settled near a bridge) that I glanced out of the station and saw this tower.

I thought it was a church and walked out to see it. Its not.

It is the Roshanara mansion, and that is all I could find out about it. I would love to know when it was built and by whom. But while I don't have any factual information about it, I know this: its residents are warm and friendly folk.

I walked in the approximate direction of the tower, and found myself in a narrow road with high walls on either side. I stood there, craning my neck to catch a glimpse of that lovely iron dome when a young policeman came along and raised an eyebrow at me.

I saw a lovely tower, I told him, and I came looking for it. Is it a church? Would he know where it is?
That was no church, he told me, and instructed me to follow him. He turned into a narrow opening in the wall and up a steep flight of stairs.

And there I was, inside Roshanara Mansion. looking at a beautiful weather vane over a set of roofs. The building is now divided up into several small apartments, of maybe one or two small rooms each. I was ooh-ing over the weather vane when a woman came out of one of these apartments. We got to chatting, and it ended with her inviting me over for tea.

I am not sure if I would do that if I found a stranger gawking at my house- I hope I would.

4 comments:

nadi said...

I would .
if that stranger was this beautiful woman with eyes that saw beauty in the ordinary. Who walked a narrow road with high walls, went through a narrow door, up a steep flight of stairs.
And when this stranger told me how she mistook for a holy place,
this house in which I had a two-room home,
To make her stay a little longer
I would put the kettle on.

GrumpyGranny said...

Of course you would, because it might be me!

;-)

I fully expect that one day we will share a pot of tea. I look forward to it!

jay said...

Hi, I came across this blog post of yours on Roshanara Mansion. To give you more information, it used to be a German brewery which got converted into a residence for the owners of a furniture factory called Hyde & Company. My grandfather was an employee there who took it over after the owner left after the partition.

The residence was converted into 10 different houses. We had a lovely childhood there. There were great open spaces and three generations of neighbours lived and intermingled. No people have moved on both in time and space.

Chicu said...

Wow. Thank you so much, Jay. Such an interesting building with a fascinating history. Thank you for sharing!

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