Delhi is incomplete without colonialism, and that is not a prejudiced, elitist statement, it is now a hard fact. Especially if one was to wander around the Central Delhi area, now famous for the parliamentary ongoings of Raisina Hill as well as the consistent deluge of tourists around the Connaught Place area, which is the favorite of the writer of this article as well, he has spent many occasions in this area, occasions pleasant and mundane, as life is.
Connaught Place, named after the erstwhile Duke of Connaught has always been recalcitrant in it’s colonnaded architecture, come national decisions or hail, it keeps on standing, a little less white with time, but the might has assumed larger than life proportions over the years, inviting both praise and comparison( the Hazratganj shopping district often seems like an unintended copy of the same, although the Lucknowi mithaas( sweetness) is impossible to duplicate anywhere.
Naturally when the British stayed for so long, they brought their religion with them, the famed Christianity and along with it came the churches. Anywhere in India except Goa and Pondicherry, which were annexed by the Portuguese and the French respectively, you can go up to any other corner and find a church and then further find British history behind it. That also happens to be the essence of today’s article. The current Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena has opened the 187 year old St James Church to the esteemed public now.
Having had Scottish origins, for it was started by a mercenary fighter named Frank Skinner in 1821, the religious services started in 1836 but it was long hidden from public view for a variety of reasons. After a long struggle with the bureaucratic red tape as is an evergreen problem in India and the support of INTACH, the reputed conservation organization for heritage conservation, the Delhi Denizens will now finally be able to discover another new chapter of this city, nearly a 1000 years young.
Long live the lord, Hallelujah.