My daily walks have increased as I use my time leisurely walking though the famous Chander Shekhar Azad Park in Allahabad. It’s an easy ride, I take an electric rickshaw to Eat On Biryani for lunch and then ride to the park across the roads straight to gate number three of the park. After buying the ticket I enter the huge park, in central Allahabad. The first thing that one sees is the towering statue of the great man himself in dhoti, with a bare torso twirling his splendid mooch, a sacred thread running across his upper body. This is a monument at the entrance of the park, which is circular in design, with tar road to do brisk walking. There are benches and trees all across, as one can see young college students engrossed in their study books, preparing lessons for exams. Old couples in their gym shoes take rounds of the park as the young stroll by eating popcorns and ice creams. There is a huge structure inside the park itself with huge patches of green grass for people to sit and enjoy the sun. You do get people taking their dogs out for a stroll, and families can be seen to be enjoying a picnic as the sun sets in. There are public toilets and drinking water facilities inside the park, which is blessed with trees and a lot of greenery. The good thing is the neatness and cleanness of the park, which is spic and span at all times. There are ice cream vendors and popcorn makers hovering around the various gates of the park, an average family can enjoy these treats as they stroll around the park, surely trying to get fresh air and try to remain fit.
The electric rickshaws have made it very easy for a tourist like me to navigate through the city, they are convenient, quick and very affordable Rs 50 and you can move from one corner to the other inside the city. The park has to Use Me and dustbins all around, so there is hardly any litter problem. It also has it’s on the music system and speaker system, each tied to a light pole blaring old songs as people stroll around the tarmac tracks of the park. In the night as the sun sets in the lights come on and there is good visibility os people can walk and enjoy the greenery of the park after dark also.
Civil Lines and the park area’s are the elite areas of the city, with homes of IAS officers, ministers, and lecturers, most influential people of the city stay in and around this area. The city has one of the best Non-Veg street food money can buy, with a couple of huge and Morden cinema halls keeping the city dwellers entertained with a heavy dose of the latest Bollywood films. Fast food joints like Pizza Hut and Domino’s have also arrived in the city are doing good business. The city has a steady stream of ATM machines and also has modern malls and branded show room’s.In cities like Allahabad, one realizes how India runs on two-wheelers as most people use scooters and motorbikes to drive around followed by bicycles for slightly less well off.
