Both Gurgaon and Gurugram are a myth where it all began

GURGAON: In a place without a past, the Mahalwada is a rare piece of history.
Built at least three centuries ago as a nawab family's mansion, it stands in the middle of Gurgaon, the village that lent its name to the buzzing city that sprang up in the Nineties. The derelict structure with brittle walls and a dank air is today a phantom of its once impressive facades.Rooms colonised by bats accentuate the ghostly aura. Parts of the building still habitable have been rented to construction workers, who build the glass and chrome wonders on the other side of the city.
Mahalwada is also the sole remnant of the past, strictly historically speaking, in the village whose origins have been teleported to mythology and fuzzy tradition to justify its renaming as Gurugram. The argument is that Gurgaon village is the same one that Guru Dronacharya, teacher of the Pandavas and Kauravas in the Mahabharata, got as a gift from his disciples. Hence, Gurugram. The truth, however, is that no Haryana government has cared much for the past or present of the village called Gurgaon, the dazzle of the city by the same name on the other side of National Highway-8 hogging most of the attention.
Babli Devi (60) puts it aptly. "We are the first residents of Gurgaon but the most neglected ones too. Gurgaon city came up around the village but the government forgot about Gurgaon village and focused on urban development only."
So, as Gurgaon the city has grown into a cosmopolitan melting pot with people from across India pouring in for jobs, Gurgaon the village has seen a steady drain of youths moving out in search of a better life.
Pointing to the dilapidated chaupal building, where the elderly would meet to resolve disputes and discuss civic problems, Babli Devi adds, "Twice or thrice, funds were allocated for renovation of the building. But work never started." Four Huda sectors — 4, 5, 7 and 12 — did come up around the village, though.
Lying adjacent to New Railway Road in the old city, Gurgaon village has a population of around 20,000 with a boys' and a girls' school and a primary health centre. Water supply is a major concern, sewage disposal is another. Nothing has changed over the past couple of decades. "The government will spend some money to change Gurgaon's name to Gurugram. They can use that money to solve these problems," said Sanjay Kataria, a local resident.
"Due to the sewage accumulation problem, newly built houses have developed cracks on walls and floors," says Mahender Sehrawat, who has been living in the village for 30 years.
Gurgaon MLA Umesh Aggarwal, who is from this village, says he is working to get the schools upgraded. "Mahalwada is a private building, so it cannot be renovated by the state government (It was taken over by local residents over the years and then rented out). Government agencies will also work to resolve the civic problems," he said.
Mythology alone can't sustain Gurugram. The Khattar government will have to work hard to save its new face.