What do Korea, India, Fiji, Bangladesh, and BC have in common? A place and a story named Dilkusha, Hindi for ‘my heart is happy.’ And the B.C. version is right here in Salmon Arm (Orchard House, Minos), and slated for demolition.
All of this information was gleaned from the Internet, and fascinating it is. The house in Soeul Korea is being restored and its American builder honoured as the initiator of Korea’s emancipation from Japan in the 1920s. The Lucknow, India, version was a hunting lodge of the Nabobs friendly to the British East India Company, bombed out during the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857. The Dilkusha Palace in Dacca, Bangladesh, was the military posting of Lt. Col. Bernard Scott and the place where his family grew up. Settling in Salmon Arm in 1912, the Scotts were inspired to name the home they built on 22nd St NE Dilkusha. In Fiji, it is the name of an orphanage. And in the UK, many different houses pop up on the net with the name, Dilkusha. The riveting question for me is why was this name such a global phenomenon? This is a ready-made marketing campaign for our local tourism businesses and needs to be capitalized on.
So why are we so ready to throw away a heritage building and the amazing story of its tulip fields, famous across Canada? It’s clear that the site isn’t needed for a swimming pool, because we can build it better adjoining the existing Rec Centre. If it’s about parking for a future ice sheet, the location needs to be rethought too.
Everyone knows that you have to spend money to make money, and this is no exception. If you agree, please to take the time to let Mayor Cooper and Council know, and ask them to reverse their decision. It’s up to us.
Frank Bugala