A love affair with Sunder Nursery, faults and all

It was a perfect November day. Narayani Basu and her friend found a spot under a tree, next to the lake at Delhi’s Sunder Nursery, where they placed a dhurrie, spread out their picnic basket, pulled out a book each, and just “flopped.”

- Jasjeev Gandhiok, Ashna Butani

From 10.30am to 5.30pm, the two women napped, indulged in people-watching, played with other visitors’ dogs, and devoured their picnic spread – sliced vegetables and hummus, home-made brownies, Lay’s magic masala chips, Britannia fruit cake, and a flask of iced tea. “It was the nicest day at Sunder Nursery. We just lay there like potatoes, with no agenda and no plan,” recalled the 36-year-old historian and author, with a laugh.

On December 30, to bid goodbye to 2023, Basu returned to Sunder Nursery – waited for 15 minutes to buy the entry ticket, another 10 minutes in a queue to get the ticket checked at the entrance, and then wandered looking for a place to sit before giving up and settling for a coffee at the Fabcafe next to the lake.

“There was no space to sit in the park. It was like an open-air party. Small and big gatherings, picnics, families and their extended families... Basically, all of Delhi was there, just like us. We expected the crowds to thin by 3pm but we were wrong... Still, I am glad that people are discovering this green, open space,” Basu said.

A traffic snarl awaited the visitors outside, as car after car tried to get inside the lane that leads to Sunder Nursery. Many chose to surrender to the rush and walk instead – 500 metres, even 800 metres. In November last year, 83,110 people visited Sunder Nursery. In December, that number rose to 187,601 – the highest footfall in 2023. In 2018, Sunder Nursery – with its 15 Mughal-era monuments, including six Unesco world heritage sites, such as Sundarwala Mahal and Lakkarwala Burj, a lake, a lotus pond, an amphitheatre – opened to the public after a decade-long restoration project by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC).