For kids like us who grew up in the 1990s, our impression of the word 'heritage' represented a very different meaning from the real picture. It was a generalised term for India's art, culture and its monuments; some kind of a hotchpotch of imagery from across India. The Taj Mahal, Gateway of India, and forts, temples and museums; all of it conjured a generic meaning. There was no real classification between heritage structures, natural and manmade heritage, and tangible forms of it. We recall a history teacher being unable to answer our question about the exact term for a jharoka during an AV on Ahmedabad that was part of an 'activity' class on the subject. At the time, a Malayala Manorama yearbook (thank goodness for those tomes of knowledge!) was able to whet the appetite of the impatient, piqued mind.

Clearly, the education system in those days had never bothered to consider the subject's relevance to impressionable students. Years later, and very gradually, might we add, thanks to their work across the country, international organisations like UNESCO and World Monuments Fund, and India's INTACH began to find mention in newspapers. It provided for initial fodder in the early days of the Internet, and opened our minds to information worth its weight in gold. The curiosity has never ceased since then.