Ever since I knew I was travelling to Nagpur to attend a friend’s wedding, I had started searching for activities and places for my free time.
I googled and googled until a small tiny mention in the wiki page caught my eye. Zero Mile Stone.
Every city has a zero mile stone. It is the centre point of the city. The GPO is usually considered as the centre point. Distances to other cities is calculated from the GPO.
But this wasn't any ordinary zero mile. It was the centre point of India. The Zero Mile Stone of India.
According to British calculations, Nagpur is bang in the middle of our country. They were planning to make Nagpur the capital for smooth administrative purpose but it lost to Delhi.
I never knew something like that even existed. Call it sheer ignorance!
But it wasn’t easy visiting the Stone. With the wedding keeping us busy, there was little time to actually go out and see. And plus, the Winter Session was in full swing which had many roads cordoned off.
Maybe I had desperation to visit it written all over me, or call it will power. I finally got the chance to visit it late at night, when most of the barricades had been removed
It was nothing what I had imagined it to be. Standing right in front of me. Tall. Simple. Fairly well kept. Maintaining its calm amongst the bustling main street. I walked up to it, clutching my camera tightly.
I felt what the Stone must have felt all these years. Being the centre of India. Being the centre of attention. The entire country dancing on its own tune. The entire country dancing around me. Neglected. Abandoned. Forgotten.