There is a quiet peaceful charm about Lucknow as one enters the city. Traverse its roads in an auto, a cab or even on foot when the sun is gentle and the wind generous and one shall feel the city pass like a calm incessant stream. However, the city is as diverse as a veteran artist.
While famous for its culinary specialties and chikan kadhai among folks who are not from the city, there is exquisite old architecture too that the city boasts of. The two protagonists of the genre in the city are Chowk and Hazrat Ganj. Go to Chowk and the grandeur of the Gol Darwaza beckons you. Standing tall and broad, with a sharp arch, it is the entrance to long bylanes bustling with shops – utensils, food, chikankari clothes, trinkets and what not. It is in and around the Gol Darwaza that the heart of Chowk resides with people and activity thronging the area in equal measure. Typically what one may call old Lucknow, Chowk is the central hub of all that oldness in essence. One will also find people as warm as the jalebis straight out of the kadhais. There is time at hand and many a tales and sometimes gossip too to share while sipping lassis and devouring a sweet meat. Chowk preserves oldness in its squares and time there runs carefree.
Come to Hazrat Ganj and one shall see the city high on style and elegance. There are places in Hazrat Ganj that are old but old as the old wine in a new bottle kind of way. The many restaurants and eating joints in the locality have existed since immemorial time but have caught up with the changing times, which keeps them relevant, attractive and running. Several well established and one of their kind brands line the roads of Hazrat Ganj and as one strolls through the walking paths, the area is lit up by the opulence of the stores. Cafes and bookshops which are old and new and new and old give Hazrat Ganj its magnanimous presence.
Lucknow also has places that are steeped in History. Imambara and Bhool Bhulaiya are the celebrated ones and people visit and know of these in abundance – the main monument of Lucknow and the maze offering childlike adventures, respectively. Apart from these, is The Residency – the seat of the British while they were in Lucknow and which saw the local occurrence of the revolt of 1857. Small buildings, especially mosques, built by the then rulers of Lucknow stand as testimony to the bygone times and the resilience of Lucknow. The historical monument also has a museum that houses unique pictures from the time of the revolt as well as letters that were exchanged between the British, the British and the Indian rulers and among the Indian princely class. The museum is quite an attraction and one is transported to the historical times, living it through pictures, documents and artefacts as one goes from gallery to gallery.
No city can thrive if it does not match up to the changing times and Lucknow is no exception. Lucknow is known for its old world charm but the present times have pushed the city to keep up with the ‘new age’. Areas like Gomti Nagar, Indira Nagar and the likes are the New Lucknow. Residential as they predominantly are, they are inhabited mainly by the new younger generations and their people who have aesthetic houses, amenities for a life of luxury and several options for recreation – from malls to restaurants to clubs to supermarkets. This is a Lucknow that is so alive and kicking that it carries the old Lucknow on its back, making sure the latter remains pertinent and relevant. This is a feature of living and life style that only a cultured Lucknowite can be proud of!
Lucknow also still preserves its many cultural traditions which is the city’s great strength. Be it Kissagoi or recital of tales and anecdotes, classical music and Kathak presentations and workshops, the Lucknow book fair, the art and crafts festival at Sanatkada in Qaiser Bagh, or various plays and kavi sammelans – Lucknow continues to uphold its soil of culture and etiquette. This also signifies the finesse in taste, sukoon in the being and fursat in the nature that the people of Lucknow wear as badges of honour.
There are places that are like rock music – fast, loud and so strong, one can get a headrush by just being there. Then there are places that are like jazz music – going at their own pace and having nothing much to do with where the rest of the world is heading. Lucknow, true to its spirit, is like a ghazal – deep and profound with a rhythm to which everyone can tap their toes to.
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