An artificial plain of roughly two square miles between Fort William and Chowringhee, kept clear because a fort needs a field of fire.
Description
An artificial plain of roughly two square miles between Fort William and Chowringhee, kept clear because a fort needs a field of fire. The jungle and the village of Gobindapur were removed to make it. It is not a park that happens to be near a fort. It is a glacis that people ride on.
Riding, drill and promenade at both ends of the day, and nobody on it at noon.
Notable Features
- Sophia rides alone in the early morning. The timeline puts Freddy’s first encounter with her here on Day 3. Easy conversation, no names exchanged, thought about once and forgotten. Play it that light.
- In October it is waterlogged in patches and violently green, and it steams once the sun is on it.
- Everything is visible on it. Two people talking in the middle of the Maidan cannot be overheard and cannot avoid being seen, which is an unusual and useful combination.
The Senses
- Smell. Wet earth, cut grass, horses, and coal smoke drifting off the barrack fires.
- Sound. A bugle from the fort, and under it the flat irregular knocking of a hundred men working on something.
- Colour. Saturated green standing in silver sheets of water, the low green ramparts on one side, a white line of classical frontage on the other.
Connections
- Fort William on its west side
- Chowringhee to the east
- Government House to the north
- Scene: Scene 08 Spokes
Appearances
Relationships
- Part of Calcutta 1814 — The open ground at the city's heart
- Adjacent to Fort William — Cleared as the fort's field of fire