Date:  3rd March 2019
Venue: Nizamuddin, Delhi

2019 was one of the very rare years when we actually could not make it to Mughal Garden. We attempted but once we were late and another time it was so crowded that we actually gave up. But on our last visit we were adamant on a day picnic and it just struck us that there is a new Waste to Wonder Park in Delhi that we hadn’t visited.

Waste to Wonder Park is South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s latest venture where they have converted 150 tons of waste material to recreate the Seven Wonders of the World. We had read about in the newspaper but we had no idea where exactly is this place in Delhi. We tried to Google up to figure out the route map for this park but since it was very new then, Google Maps was as clueless as us. Nevertheless we knew this was close to Hazrat Nizamuddin metro station and we just started driving towards this area. Once we reached the Hazrat Nizamuddin metro station we asked around but nobody knew about Waste to Wonder Park. We had to explain to the rikshawals and the local shopkeepers that there is a new theme park near where they have created all Seven Wonders of the World with waste material. Then they hazarded a guess and guided us towards the park. We realised we were just few steps away as we saw a lot of cars parked on the road and the entry gate was also visible from a distance.

A pro-tip: this place can actually be found by typing Rajiv Gandhi Smriti Van on Google Maps but since this post is a little late we hope by now Google maps can locate it by its name.

There is a dedicated parking area which is very small for this spot and it was very full. A lot of people had parked on the road. Left with no choice, we also managed to find a slot and parked here. The Entry ticket for kids was Rs 25/- and for adults Rs 50/-. Sadly they do not accept credit card or digital payment. Well so much for Digital India.

The moment you enter the park just move towards your left and a beautiful landscape coupled with fountains welcome you to the park. Right from the beginning, shutterbugs take out their cameras and mobile phones to click.

As soon as you start walking you spot one Wonder after the other. The first one was the Pyramid of Giza. The structure was completely made of waste metal sheets and scrapped automobile parts. We like the fact that they kept it as rustic as possible and there was no effort to unduly beautify it by painting it in color. The rust look also added to the charm of these structures.

One moves around the park in a sequential manner in a way that you cannot miss any Wonder. There was some basic information printed on the signage along with every Wonder of the World and it actually helped us know these monuments better. There is a small distance between every two installations.

Just a few steps and we saw the second Wonder – Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was amusing to see cycle rims, old vintage style typewriters and other junk materials being used as the building blocks of such beautiful monuments. The kids were elated as well to learn about these places that they had seen in movies or read about in books.

We walked a little to reach our next Wonder and between two Wonders we saw a lot of flowers in full bloom. That provided the perfect opportunity to click more pictures.

Next in line was the Colosseum of Rome. Very impressive and totally click worthy. It looked like the set of Gladiator movie and we visualised Russel Crowe fighting to win the games. That is the movie buff in us.

This was a fun project. If you have a selfie stick with you, it is a perfect place to use this device. Since replicas are huge and the distance to click picture is not a lot, selfie sticks come in very handy.

A little walk and we were at Paris’s famous Eiffel Tower. A favourite with love birds and we saw couples lined up to click pictures for their Facebook and Instagram. The structure looked beautiful and was one of the most impressive wonders of the world here. Film buff in us couldn’t help thinking of Sleepless in Seattle here.

While moving from one wonder to the other one, do look out for artificial bears and monkeys that have been hung on the trees. This was a favourite activity with kids and they started spotting one after the other.

And then we reached our very own home grown wonder of the world – Taj Mahal. Oh my what beauty! It looked fantastic. Especially the premises of Taj Mahal and those perspective lines looked stunning. This Taj Mahal was definitely better than what we had expected. Instead of a movie, this time we were transported to our visit to the original Taj Mahal in Agra a few years back.

While we were still spellbound by the beauty of the Taj Mahal replica, we were already standing in front of Christ the Redeemer. By now we had almost forgotten that all these wonders were made of tons of waste junk material. Everything looked like a piece of art. All of us unanimously voted Christ the Redeemer as the best sculpture that we had seen till then.

By this time, we had already covered 6 Wonders and the only one left was the Statue of Liberty. This Wonder was a little underwhelming as we realised it wasn’t tall enough to create the impression. Had it been taller, it would have looked as good as the other replicas. But we were happy that we covered all the Wonders in just 40-45 minutes. It is not a lot of walk and the path is not undulating so it is very safe for elders to enjoy this as well.

Towards the end we saw an artificial water body with a small Japanese style bridge on top. Did someone say more selfies… yes please.

We were hungry after this but there is no cafe or canteen in the park. This is actually a good idea because once done, people start moving out and it enables more people to come and visit the park.

The theme park is a unique concept at least for Delhi NCR and we were happy to have discovered this nice little place for a day outing. Great time spent with family at something which is informative as well as entertaining. We welcome the idea of converting a lot of waste into art and love Nekchand’s Park in Chandigarh. We would highly recommend Waste to Wonder Park for everybody. You can actually have a glimpse of all the Wonders of the World right here in Delhi for just 50 bucks.