Triveni Kala Sangam in Delhi is a place memories of which I have always treasured. Earlier this year, I happened to visit it after a gap of many years. Some of the things there have changed but there have been no major changes. An old friend of mine accompanied me and we sat there for an hour or so, talking of the times when we used to visit the place during our college days in Delhi.
It had been a very popular destination for university students those days. A cosy, serene place where you could have an amazing lunch of rice, rotis, zeera aloo and raita at reasonable rates. Not to speak of the refreshing elaichi tea to wash it down. What more could we ask forIJ The waiters were friendly and the entire atmosphere was very homely and comfortable. The greenery was what made Triveni attractive then and makes it attractive even now. It is perhaps one of the greenest spots in Delhi and has managed to retain its charm over the years.
The outdoor stage facing the lawns is a wonderful place for artists, especially dancers, to practice. Many a group of tribal dancers used to rehearse their performances on this stage when we used to visit the place in those days. The sound of drums and flutes could always be heard even while we sat inside the tea room.
The most attractive spot for me at Triveni was the little book shop in the basement which also sold audio cassettes in those days. Earlier the shop was called Chayan and later the name was changed to The Nook. This time, I did not see any name written outside the shop. It was here that I used to buy Hindi novels of well-known writers like Shivani, Shailesh Matiyani, Mannu Bhandari, Rajendra Yadav and Krishna Sobti besides audio cassettes of classical music.
Another place from which I bought these is the Shri Ram Centre in the neighbourhood. I have these books and cassettes in my collection even now. Every time I pick up a book out of these to read, memories of the days when I bought them from my pocket money come back to me , clearly. Triveni has always been a place that has promoted the arts and literature and that is why it attracts writers , painters, actors and other artistes .
One can come across well-known faces almost every time one visits this cultural centre. In those days, I saw people like Rakesh Bedi, Ravi Vaswani and MK Raina enjoying the ambience of Triveni.
The exquisite landscaping and the plants, the painting galleries, the cafeteria, the designing of the verandahs and the tranquillity together make this place a kind of an oasis in the concrete desert that Delhi can sometimes seem. If one wishes to have a quiet hour with oneself or a friend just to withdraw from the rat race for a while, I do not think there can be a better place than Triveni to do that. When I went there now with my friend, I had done so perhaps to get a taste of my golden days of college, to look for the same happiness which I used to experience in those days …I wonder what had taken me there.
Sometimes when we visit a place which had given us a lot of joy in the distant past, we land up feeling very sad. I did feel that sadness to some extent but at the same time, I felt happy to be back. Remembered joy contributed to this happiness in some way. I was happy to know that I could come back again and things had not changed drastically as they had at some other places which I had been fond of in the past.
The road outside(Tansen Marg) also looks quite like it used to, many years ago. This entire Mandi House area used to be visited by us from college frequently. We used to see painting exhibitions, look around for good books, watch plays or just have chaat at the nearby Bengali Market. So the area is not just a physical spot but it is a strong presence in my emotional make-up, having been a destination where I found many a joyous and carefree moment in my days of youth. Wait for me, Triveni. I shall be seeing you soon again.