Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, June 12: Within weeks of the inauguration of the creation that was to attain world fame, Punjab’s young IAS officer Ravneet Kaur accompanied by some artists from the Punjab Drama repertory Company that she was looking after as Director, Culture, happened to visit the Rock Garden.
The inaugural stone was not the usual one that is custom made for the government structures. Some stones had been kept there with the biggest being on top. The top stone carried the name of the IAS officer from the Chandigarh administration who had the honour to inaugurate it. The name of its creator Nek Chand had been written on a smaller stone which was little towards one side. She was furious. She said she felt like that throwing that stone at the person whose name had been inscribed on the biggest stone and had nothing to do with the creation. The creator came into the limelight much later.
Nek Chand, a road inspector with the Chandigarh Administration would roam around the city looking for junk that he could shape into his ideas. He worked in obscurity at a place which otherwise was the dumping ground for material of some departments and had overgrowth. This also provided him the cover. For the first time this writer visited the marvel, it was yet to be inaugurated and cement was still to be used to provide pucca base to the creations. It left one awe struck; such was the raw beauty of his creation. He used to work from his thatched hut.
Now rock garden is synonymous with Chandigarh.
