I had fond memories of Lucknow a city I had visited in my younger days when I was doing my MBA it was almost twenty-five years back. I had come here with a few college friends to attend the IIM-Lucknow management festival. We did not win the festival, but we won all the marketing and advertising games. Now after ages I was retiring to explore the city and its wonders once again along with my friend Tiwari. We decided to take the Vande Bharat fast train to Lucknow from Varanasi.
I was also traveling by train which has its own charm. We packed our bags and grabbed a bag full of munches, potato chips, cold drinks and pop corns and boarded the train at six in the morning. I slept though out the journey which was comfortable, we were served breakfast, tea and coffee and the seats where relaxing as well.
Lucknow
I was fairly impressed with the facilities and cleanliness of the Lucknow rail station when we arrived their where trolleys for the handicapped and facilities to drink fresh water. We were advised to stay at Amina Bad and duly checked into Pal International, the room tariff was Rs 3500 with breakfast, there was wifi, TV and air conditioning. I quite liked it we were in a affordable place yet it was quite luxurious.
First thing that I noticed about the city was that it was large and spacious and many of its marketplaces reminded me of Delhi. But I was amazed to see broad streets and a bustling traffic. We used the electric rickshaw as our primary mode of travel inside the city, that’s how the locals travelled, and we wanted to do the same.
Our First stop was the Lucknow Zoo after paying the entrance fee we meandered into the Zoo. I was quite enthralled by the tigers and the foxes that robed the green pastures of the zoo. The pythons and the snakes are a major attraction along with the Macau and the colourful pheasants. The zoo is full of gardens and had dinosaur sculptures, I paged to get a few pictures as well. It is the end of September, but the city was still wet by a shallow consistent rain that would start in the morning and go on till the night, a very consistent shallow rain.
I decided to walk the city anyways and after the zoo we went to the Bara Imambara. This was the real heritage and face of Awadh culture. Th huge buildings had paintings of ancient Nawabs and Kings who Ince ruled the city. The portraits seemed almost life like, there was one large picture of the Nawab Wajid Ali Shah.
Mirza Wajid Ali Shah was the last ruler of Awadh and ruled for nine years after his coronation in 1847, Awadh was protected by the East India Company but in 1956 it was annexed by the British who exiled the Mirza to a mansion in Calcutta where he lived out the rest of his life on a generous pension. He was a ruler known as the patriot of the arts, he was a poet a play writer and a dancer. The man had over 375 women in his harem and some of them where high class courtesans who served his sexual appetites.
It was lord Dalhousie who disposed of the king accusing him of misrule. The Mirza was shown as an enthusiastic man who, over art, dance and music in the famous Satyajit Ray Film Shatranj ke Khiladi. Every auto driver knows the famous story of the Nawab that when the British came to annex the city and their army reached the fort the Nawab remained in his bed and chamber playing chess. Hew a asked to run for his life but all he said casually was “How can I run I can’t wear my shoes without the help of my servant and gulam, I am waiting for someone to help me with my royal shoes.”
The Bara Imambara was built by the Nizam of Awadh Asaf Ud Daula. It is place of prayer build by the Shia Muslim sect of Islam. The place also has the Asfi Mosque the Bhool Bhulaiya and the Bowl which is a huge reservoir of water like a pond. The Imam Bad is a religious site for the Muslim’s and is used for prayers during Muharram.
There is also the Roomi Darwaza just outside which is a building 18 meters tall. One can take a tour of the entire area, the best way to do that is to take a horse carriage which will take you around the entire monument
