My Visual Travel Experience: Philadelphia

My association with Philadelphia goes back a long time. I grew up hearing about Philadelphia, because way back in 1951, my father finished his graduation from Wadia College, Pune, and went to the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, as a Full Bright Scholar for his Masters in Political Science. In 2003, I visited the East Coast of the USA. I made it a point to visit Philadelphia on that trip. Later, I went to New York on a company workshop in 2006, and this time too, I visited Philadelphia. Then in 2008, my company sponsored me for a 5 day workshop at Wharton Business School in Philadelphia, and that was my third visit to the city. Staying at the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, I managed to visit the street (Spruce Street) where my father had lived for 2 years, more than 5 decades earlier! From there, I phoned him back in Delhi, very excitedly, to tell him about it, and it was a moment of great connection between father and son!

Philadelphia is the largest city in the US state of Pennsylvania, and has a population of over 1.5 million. This makes it the 6th largest city proper in the USA, after New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Phoenix. Philadelphia has a very interesting history, and is one of the oldest cities in the USA. It was founded by William Penn, an English Quaker, in 1682. Philadelphia is Greek for “brotherly love”, and Penn signed a peace treaty with the local American Indians, with “brotherly love” being the theme of the treaty. Being a Quaker, Penn believed in religious tolerance and this led to the city being a peaceful one and it saw rapid growth and development. The city was an important place in the American Revolution. The Declaration of Independence was signed here in 1776, as was the Constitution in 1787. Till 1790, Philadelphia was the largest city in the USA, before New York overtook it. It was also briefly the country’s capital from 1790 to 1800, before it shifted to Washington DC. Philadelphia has many landmarks that commemorate its rich historical legacy.

Independence Hall is the building where the US Declaration of Independence and US Constitution were debated and signed. The Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4th, 1776 and read out to the public. The date is celebrated as Independence Day in the USA. The Constitution was completed in 1787 and came into effect from March 4th, 1789. The building itself was completed in 1753 and served as the Pennsylvania State House till 1799, when the state capital was shifted to Lancaster.

Independence Hall

Liberty Bell lies opposite Independence Hall. It is a symbol of American Independence. It was once situated inside Independence Hall. It was commissioned from London in 1752 by the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. It was one of the bells that were rung on July 8th, 1776, to celebrate the reading of the Declaration of Independence. The bell acquired its large crack in the early 19th century.

Liberty Bell

Philadelphia City Hall is the seat of government for the city. It was completed in 1901 and stands at a height of 167 meters. The tower is topped by an 11 meter bronze statue of William Penn, the city’s founder.  

Philadelphia City Hall

The Masonic Temple dates back to 1873. The grand structure was designed in the medieval Norman style. It features the Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania. It has seven lodge rooms and the Free Masons still conduct their meetings there.

Masonic Temple

City Tavern is a 20th century building that is a replica of an 18th century building which stood at the site. It currently serves as a restaurant, with staff dressed in period costumes. The tavern was used by the founding fathers of the USA, and was used for important events, like the first anniversary of the country’s independence.

City Tavern

Betsy Ross House is the house where Betsy Ross (1752 – 1836) lived. She was a seamstress who stitched the first flag of the USA. Historians are not sure if she lived in this exact house or if it was one of the houses adjacent to it.

Betsy Ross House

First Bank of the USA was set up in 1791. It was a national bank, set up with a charter of 20 years by the US Congress.

First Bank of the USA

Second Bank of the USA was set up in 1816, again with a charter of 20 years.

Second Bank of the USA

Christ Church was founded in 1695 by members of the Church of England. The structure with its 60 meter tall steeple was completed in 1754. In later years, the church underwent major changes. The church has the original baptismal font where William Penn was baptized. 

Christ Church

Benjamin Franklin’s Grave lies in Christ Church Burial Ground. The versatile and talented writer, politician, scientist, inventor died in 1790 at the age of 84.

Benjamin Franklin's Grave

Philadelphia Museum of Art was completed in 1828. It lies along Benjamin Franklin Pathway , at a circle called Eakin Oval, which has the Washington Memorial Fountain (featuring a bronze equestrian statue of the leader surrounded by native Americans and animals). The museum has over 240,000 exhibits. There are collections from China, Japan, and India. 

Philadelphia Museum of Art

The museum has an impressive collection of European paintings (including the likes of El Greco and Rubens), impressionist art (featuring artists like Van Gogh, Renoir, Cezanne, Lautrec, Manet and Monet) and modern art (with artists like Picasso and Dali).

Monet's Japanese Bridge at the Water Lilly Pond,
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Cezanne's The Bathers, Philadelphia Museum of Art
Public Domain, Credit: Google Art

Renoir's The Large Bathers, Philadelphia Museum of ArtPublic Domain, Credit: Google Art

Van Gogh's Sunflowers, Philadelphia Museum of ArtPublic Domain, Credit: Google Art

Rubens' Prometheus Bound, Philadelphia Museum of ArtPublic Domain, Credit: Google Art

Rogier van der Weyden's Cricifixion Diptych,
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Public Domain, Credit: Google Art

Rodin Museum opened in 1929 and has the largest collection of the artist’s sculptures outside Paris. The museum has works like The Thinker, The Kiss, The Burghers of Calais and The Gates of Hell.

Rodin Museum

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts was founded in 1805 and is the oldest art museum and art school in the USA. The museum features works of art by famous American artists like Thomas Eakins.

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts

Washington Square is a large park in the heart of the city. In 1954, a decision was taken to construct a monument which had the remains of an unnamed soldier. The monument was called the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and it has a bronze cast of Houdon’s statue of Washington at the centre. The monument was dedicated to the soldiers of the Revolutionary War. There are a large number of bodies buried under the park.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Washington Square

Love Sculpture at JFK Plaza is inspired by pop art made by Robert Indiana. The original was featured in a Museum of Modern Art Christmas card in 1965. It was the symbol of hippie free love in the 1960’s.

Love Sculpture, JFK Park

Liberty Place is a skyscraper complex in the heart of the business district. It consists of two towers. One Liberty place has 61 floors and a height of 288 meters (945 feet). Two Liberty Place has 58 floors and a height of 258 meters (848 feet). The towers were completed in 1987 and 1990 respectively, and went against a gentleman’s agreement that no structure in the city would be taller than the City Hall. They house office complexes, a hotel and a shopping mall.

Liberty Place

Logan Circle is a circle in the city centre, that has the famous Swann Memorial Fountain. The fountain is dedicated to William Cary Swann of the Philadelphia Fountain Society. The fountain has Native American figures symbolizing the regions major rivers. The fountain also features sculptures of frogs and turtles.

Logan Circle

University of Pennsylvania is a private ivy league university founded in 1740. Benjamin Franklin was the university’s founder and first president.

Benjamin Franklin Statue,
University of Pennsylvania

Benjamin Franklin Statue at Locust Walk,
University of Pennsylvania

I enjoyed visiting Philadelphia and learning about its fascinating history. Along with Boston, it is the city that is most closely linked to the American Independence movement. It's barely a one and a half hour train ride away from New York, so that makes it very accessible for anyone visiting New York.

My Visual Travel Experience: Gurgaon

My initial memories of Gurgaon, now called Gurugram, go back to the early 1990s, when it used to be a relatively unknown suburb of Delhi that my family used to drive past on our way to our little farm in Sohna. Back then, it was a small town in the North Indian state of Haryana, just like thousands of little towns spread across the country, and its only real claim to fame was its proximity to the national capital. The late 1990s saw rapid development in Gurgaon, triggered largely by Delhi’s lack of space, its population bursting at its seams, and its sky-rocketing property prices and rentals. Industries started coming up in Gurgaon, corporate offices moved from Delhi and other parts of India, and housing started being developed (thanks largely to DLF initially). What followed in the next few years were high end condominiums, malls, restaurants, entertainment centres, swanky corporate offices, and very soon, we had this sleepy little town transformed into a bustling, prosperous metropolis. The only international parallel that I have seen in such a short period is Shenzhen in China, which grew from being a small market town of 30,000 people in the early 1980s into a mega city with over 10 million inhabitants in a span of just three decades, after it got the status of a Special Economic Zone! As per the 2011 census, Gurgaon had a population of around 876,000, and it was growing exponentially! It also has the third highest per capita income among all cities in India. Not bad for a town that was nowhere on the radar just 2 decades ago!!

Cyber Hub and Gateway Tower

Amphitheatre, Cyber Hub

Cyber City

I have been closely associated with Gurgaon since 2006, when I joined Nokia and my office was in Cyber City. I subsequently moved from Delhi to Gurgaon in 2011, and have been staying in Gurgaon ever since. If you asked me what I feel about the city, it would be a mixed basket - there are things I really like about this city, and there are things that leave a lot to be desired.

DLF City Court

Let’s take a look at some of the real positives that Gurgaon has to offer. The city has some great accommodation in the form of its numerous condominiums, whether it’s the very high end condominiums, or the not so high end ones. Even the not so high end condominiums have the basics well taken care of – safety, security and basic amenities like electricity and water (these are all things one can’t otherwise take for granted in the city). Some of the prominent condominiums include Aralias, Magnolias, The Icon, The Pinnacle, Richmond Tower, Regency Park 1 and 2, Oakwood Estate, Ridgewood, Laburnum, just to name a few.

The Pinnacle

Regency Park 2

The sheer number of malls is quite staggering, and some of them have a lot to offer in terms of shops, restaurants, cafes, pubs and entertainment zones. Ambience Mall is a personal favourite, but there are also other attractive malls like MGF Metropolitan Mall, City Center, MGF Metropolis and South Point Mall. There are also popular markets like Galleria and DLF Supermart. The concept of Hyper markets has caught on in Gurgaon, and there are stores like Big Bazaar and Spar, where a staggering number of products and brands are available under one roof. Gurgaon also boasts of some really fine hotels, like The Oberoi Gurgaon, The Trident Gurgaon, Taj City Centre, The Westin Gurgaon and The Leela Ambience. Just outside the city, there's Taj Gateway at Damdama as well as ITC Grand Bharat. Gurgaon also has a world class golf course - DLF Golf and Country Club - and some of the city's most expensive condominiums (like Aralias and Magnolias) are around it. The Biodiversity Park is a welcome green space in the concrete jungle that the city is, and Leisure Valley is another one.

Ambience Mall

MGF Metropolitan Mall

The Oberoi Gurgaon

Pool at The Trident, Gurgaon

Taj Gateway at Damdama

ITC Grand Bharat

In recent times, congestion in certain parts of the city (around Cyber City and Golf Course Road in particular) has come down immensely because of the construction of underpasses. The commercial complexes housing corporate offices boast of world class infrastructure. The proximity to the airport makes the city very accessible, and adds to it being a preferred business centre. Recent years have seen a vast improvement in public transport, through the Metro, the Rapid Metro, auto rickshaws, and the likes of Uber and Ola – till a few years ago, having one’s own mode of transportation was an absolute must, but this has now changed. The city has some great schools, including Shri Ram School, Shiv Nadar School, Heritage School and Pathways. Big hospital brands like Fortis and Max have a presence. So overall infrastructure in the city is good.

DLF Golf and Country Club

Biodiversity Park

Now let’s take a look at the areas where one wishes more was done. Though development has been rapid, one wishes the town was a little better planned. Development has been a little haphazard, and traffic jams can be annoying (despite considerable recent improvements through under passes). During rains – even light showers – water-logging is a huge problem, and traffic just stops moving! One has living models like Chandigarh, which too is a modern city and has been planned exceptionally well, with green open spaces, wide avenues and a quality of life index that is very high – perhaps something could have been taken from that book. Crime is an area of concern in the city, though the condominiums – with their in-built security systems – have been largely untouched by it. Pollution and smog are concern areas, but those are prevalent across Delhi and the National Capital Region, so Gurgaon is no exception.

Horizon Center

Bull Statue, Horizon Center

Though residents have enough recreation options, for tourists and visitors there isn’t too much to draw them in. There are of course the malls, food joints and movie halls (Kingdom of Dreams, with its Culture Gulley and auditorium that houses impressive Bollywood style shows, is one notable exception). One wishes there were more places to visit (by way of museums, art galleries, well maintained parks or even beautiful religious institutions like many other cities boast of), and one also wishes there were places where one could get more exposure to cultural programmes (Epicentre came up a few years ago, and added a welcome dash of culture to the city, but it unfortunately closed down). Being a modern city, one can’t expect Gurgaon to have a host of sites having historical importance, but there is enough and more that the concerned authorities can do to bring in visitors who are not just business visitors. Lohagarh Farm is another exception that stands out. It is an interesting place and is a recreation of a village experience. One can have a traditional meal, one can go on camel rides / horse rides / bullock cart rides, one can hear folk music, and one can play traditional games.

Auditorium at Kingdom of Dreams

Bollywood at Culture Gulley, Kingdom of Dreams

Mumbai at Culture Gulley,
Kingdom of Dreams

Cannon, Lohagarh Farm

Camel, Lohagarh Farm

Musicians, Lohagarh Farm

For people who enjoy eating out, one is really spoiled for choice in Gurgaon. Cyber Hub has restaurants like Soda Bottle Opener Wala, Made In Punjab, Nando's, Burma Burma, Oh! Calcutta, Italiano, Cafe Delhi Heights, The Wine Company, Hard Rock Cafe, Farzi Cafe and Circus. There is also a food court there. Horizon Center has restaurants like Whisky Samba, Artusi Ristorante, Townhall, Caffe Tonino, Shophouse by Kylin, Khan Chacha and Sagar Ratna. Ambience Mall has restaurants like Asia Kitchen, Cafe Delhi Heights, Chili's, Haldiram's, Nando's, Zambar, Punjab Grill and Fresco. The other malls also have good dining options, as well as food courts. Well known quick service restaurant brands like McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, Domino's, Taco Bell, Subway, Starbucks, Barista, Cafe Coffee Day and Costa Coffee are all well represented in the city. Some of the prominent restaurants at the five star hotels include Thai Pavilion at Taj City Centre, threesixtyone at The Oberoi Gurgaon, Cilantro at The Trident Gurgaon, Prego at The Westin Gurgaon and Spectra at The Leela Ambience. The Clock Tower is a popular pub on Golf Course Road, and it also offers good food options. So the city has options to cater to just about any type of cuisine - North Indian, South Indian, Bengali, Chinese, Burmese, Thai, Pan Asian, Italian, Continental or Mexican.

Genovese Salad at Artusi Ristorante

Pizza at Italiano

Ramen at Asia Kitchen

So that’s a pretty mixed basket, but over the years, I have grown to like Gurgaon more and more. When I shifted from Delhi, I wasn’t particularly happy about moving, but over time, Gurgaon has grown on me. Delhi is close enough, so the few things I really find missing in Gurgaon can easily be accessed. What’s great is that a lot of people from my generation and people who are younger than me, all stay in Gurgaon because of the work related opportunities here – it’s so strange that despite being largely a Delhi guy, I now have just a handful of friends in Delhi, and a vast majority of my friends reside in Gurgaon. My extended family is right next door in Delhi, so because of that and because of my work, I travel to Delhi a fair amount. When my father and mother were around, my Delhi visits were every other day to spend time with them. Sadly, they are no longer with us, but even now, I find myself going to Delhi at least a couple of times a week. All in all, the quality of life is pretty good in Gurgaon, and with recent steps in infrastructure development, I think things are certainly looking up!