India, June 3 -- Echoes of discontent are coming from Chandigarh members over the takeover of the renowned Gymkhana Club by the government for defence purposes. Chandigarh has as many as 150 registered members of the Delhi Gymkhana Club, and many see the move as a loss to the history and heritage of Lutyens' Delhi. The eviction order has stunned many who view it as 'being thrown out of their second home'. City-based Gurpreet Singh, from a Delhi family of technocrats that has enjoyed membership for three generations, says, "It is ironic that while the country across the border is going all out to preserve its colonial and Hindu-Sikh heritage, we seem to be erasing it." Sukhvinder Singh, a senior retired Indian Air Force officer, looks back with nostalgia, having become a member of the club in the mid-1960s. "It is disheartening to note that an institution that has been there for hundreds of years is abolished sans specific reason," he says. Retired bureaucrat Robin Gupta, who served for many years in Chandigarh, recounts his long association with the Gymkhana. "I was thrown into the club's baby swimming pool by my parents when I was just three years old, and now I am 78. It feels strange to be giving up an old acquaintance," he recalls.As an author and a man of letters, he also expresses concern for the club's excellent 100-year-old library. He adds that four of his books are part of its collection. Ronnie Hoon, a city-based businessman, says, "I fulfilled all the credentials and was thus given the membership, and now I am being told that I am not required. What amazes me is that Gymkhana seems to be chosen for dismissal. They should eradicate the entire club culture from the country." Furthermore, he adds, "I am surprised that it is being referred to as an elite institution. It is for the first time that I have been told that I am elite, while all I have done is earn a livelihood for myself and my family the hard way." Similar protests are emerging from the capital as well, but the situation appears to be one of que sera sera - whatever will be, will be....