An Indian mystery in suburban Wellington

Hidden in the labyrinth of thick zigzag lines amidst green patches,a surprise is waiting for Indian eyes on Page 11 of the Wellington Rural Road Directory.....

Hidden in the labyrinth of thick zigzag lines amidst green patches,a surprise is waiting for Indian eyes on Page 11 of the Wellington Rural Road Directory. Following the map outside the urban city limits,the word Khandala written in bold rings a bell. But,despite the fine print,its two names next to it that stand out. Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev are tiny dots on this suburban landscape because,mysteriously,two streets are named after them.

The trip to Gavaskar Place and Kapil Grove is a short,scenic journey to a posh,hilly locality where the affluent have moved to be away from the Capitals rush-hour frenzy. But an attempt to unravel the origins of these names is a ride with several diversions and roadblocks. The receptionist at the City Council directs us to the information department in the building,where the lady at the busy visitors counter,almost apologetically,expresses her ignorance but gives three possible sources of information. Somebody at the national library,the museum,or the archives will be able to help you, she says,handing a photocopy of a map with three signs highlighted by a red fluorescent marker.

Its an open-and-shut case at both the library and the museum,so we head to the archives,with hope fading. A helpful,eager man there spends half-an-hour on the computer and his Gavaskar search gets him a few links to gazettes and public notices. But it isnt a eureka moment,because these are about some firm called Gavaskar Holdings that has folded up,and there is an entry about some building problem at Gavaskar Place but nothing about the thought behind Wellington immortalising two Indian cricketers. The last hit is from the 90s,meaning that these names have been part of Wellington life for quite a while now.

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With the residents living on these streets the only real hope left,Khandala is next on the agenda. About 50 metres separate the signboards with names of the two one-time world record holders. Most houses are deserted because its office time,and the few residents at hand cant shed much light on the subject. We know they are famous cricketers but dont know who named these streets and why, says a youngster on a skateboard.

But there were some clues on way to Khandala,suggesting that there was something distinctly Indian about the place. The landmark near Gavaskar Place and Kapil Grove is a railway station called Simla Crescent,and one spots a Lucknow Lane nearby. Moving around Khandala this is a hill station too soon becomes a walk along an up-and-down maze with names of Indian places and people.

Among the hills,there isnt just Kohima but also Andaman,Baroda,Punjab,Cashmere,Amritsar,Delhi,Bombay,Patna,Agra,Kanpur,Nagpur,Pune,Kerala and Orissa. Even small-town India has its representation as Ambala,Satara,Nalanda,and even Jaunpur make an appearance. Giving the ultimate pan-India touch is a street called Bharat. Besides the cricketers,the other streets with other famous names here are Indira,Lohia and Shastri.

One finally meets an old man who partly solves this mystery,telling us how pre-Independence Indian soldiers with the British Army were stationed here and they started calling the streets with familiar names in order to feel at home. Makes sense. But it still doesnt explain the origin of Gavaskar Place and Kapil Grove.

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