Preserving a piece of proud past: For posterity!

The Udaipur airport (Maharana Pratap International Airport) is actually located 22 kilometers from the city – in a village called Dabok. Situated on the National Highway 76 which leads you further on to the legendary fortress town of Chittorgarh. The Dabok aerodrome, as it was once popularly known, had to be outside the rugged side of the Aravali (one of the oldest mountain range in the world) which houses the Lake City.

Not too long ago you would only see on this stretch occasional trucks, buses, a rare car, bullock-carts and even cyclists. It evolved into a two-way over time – while this was happening – not only did the gradient reduce but the green cover got sparser. Sightings of small wildlife came to a naught, too.

The widening roads and vanishing foliage brought the driver and driven proximate to many an interesting way-side architectural creations. Some of them now in a precarious state of existence.

As the National Highway 76 gets ready to transform into 6 lanes – many lesser known structures dating ancient and medieval period – are in all likelihood going to turn from fragile to rubble. Including something I stopped by, earlier today.

Needless to mention that the erstwhile kingdom of Mewar (Udaipur was latterly its capital) stiffly defied central rule all throughout the turbulent medieval times. Before the brutality of ‘modernity’ takes a complete toll – these relics which epitomise a rare chivalrous past and do us all proud – deserve a chance to be preserved for posterity.