Amidst the maddening crowd of Nizamuddin Basti lie some quaint monuments. Whereas the area can boast of its rich monumental heritage, the dwellers are faced with poor living conditions. Their state is as dilapidated as the monuments while they remain uninspired by their affluent neighbours across the road. Now thanks to an urban renewal initiative by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the people as well as the monuments are being cared for.

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture has teamed up with the Archaeological Survey of India, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Central Works Department in its endeavour of clubbing heritage conservation with development. Besides Aga Khan Trust and its other arm the Aga Khan Foundation, the Public-Private Partnership project is being aided by the two Tata Trusts – namely Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust, the Ford Foundation, the World Monuments Fund, JM Kaplan Fund and the US Embassy. In a one-of-its-kind project, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture is busy giving facelift to the neighbourhood monuments while shaping the lives of its vulnerable neighbours. As the result, a world class city park – studded with monuments – is in the making that has created numerous opportunities for labours and artisans and would fulfil the needs of many school-going children and culturists once it is completed.

Even as the project is underway, the Trust has been able to carve a niche for itself. Thanks to these initiatives, once the neglected and abandoned Chausath Khambha played host to the Jashn-e-Khusrou, which had qawwals from India and Pakistan enthralling the august audience.

Not just the cultural spaces thus created, but stones too have sprung back to life. Who would ever believe that this was once a haunted spot? The neighbouring tomb of the legendary Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib has also undergone a sea-change. The baoli adjacent to Nizamuddin’s Tomb has been reinstated and the people who had their dwelling units over and above the historical stepped-well have been relocated. Further to the conservation activities in and around the Humayun’s Tomb complex, the restoration of Isa Khan’s Tomb, a beautiful monument of the Lodhi period, has also been taken.

Nevertheless, this ambitious project is not as much about the monuments, as it is about the people to whom these belong. With an eye to make the people culturally-inclined, the Trust organizes heritage walks around Humayun’s Tomb. The idea is not just to make them aware of their cultural heritage, but also to bring them closer to the roots from which India sprouts.

If the project motivates them to adore their past, it also inspires them to mould their future. It is a unique project to connect the past and the present through community driven initiatives. Introduction of Spoken English has been a major stimulation. In keeping with the aspirations of the people, a well equipped gymnasium has also been developed. Makeover of educational as well as health infrastructure, laying of the sewer lines and building of community toilets have been done with the view to construct a more humane environ. The project is all about enabling and educating people for improving their lifestyles.

During his visit to the local school, the Vice President of India Honourable Shri Mohammed Hamid Ansari applauded these efforts in as many words:

The message that comes across loud and clear is that if you co-operate with the community, then the community responds in a very good measures…and then so much can be done. This is a transformed school…the children are transformed, the parents are co-operating. The efforts put in by the Aga Khan Foundation and all the agencies involved is tremendous. We need more such initiatives in every corner of Delhi.

It may be heartening to learn that those who were initiated into learning English and were trained for heritage walks merely a few years back are now sound enough to take the visitors onto the cultural trail all by themselves. Isn’t it not a great transformation of the area known by the name of Nizamuddin Basti?