“Listen guys, meri shaadi hai Lucknow mein………aur tum sabko aana hai. Koi bahana nahi chalega……warna tumhari khair nahi”, said Manisha, my old school mate, inviting us in a gathering of school friends for her marriage. The threatening words said in a cute manner had the desired effect on us and resulted in five commitments on the spot. Nitin, Tulika, Partho, Nisha and I gave her our word. Others remained tentative for they were not sure how they would be placed at the time of marriage. But, Manisha was content as she knew that five confirmations weren’t too bad to start with, especially when there were still good seven months to go for the marriage.
February 11, 2011 – The day had come when we had to honour our word. We had a train to catch at 11:30 in the night. Everybody was gearing up for the journey except for one guy – Partho. Unfortunately, we had to cancel his ticket just at the eleventh hour. Though he was in Bangalore on an official tour, he tried his best to make it to Delhi in time so that he could accompany us for the marriage. But as luck would have it, he was to reach Delhi not before it was too late to think about attending the marriage. Anyways, four of us – Tulika, Nitin, Nisha and I – reached the station in time and boarded Lucknow Duronto Express. Tulika’s parents had come to see off their daughter. While bidding goodbye, Tulika’s mom told me with a touch of Bengali accent, “Ae sun......hamada Tulika ka khaayal raakhna.’’ I was itching to reply in the same amusing accent but settled with much sober and convincing words - “Ji Auntyji”.
Before we could settle in properly, a middle-aged snooty woman (co-passenger) came to join us. She was carrying scores of luggage and got them shoved, with the help of a porter, in and around our berths. Even at the cost of exaggeration, I would say that she had so many luggage that we could stuff an entire warehouse on a 50-acre land with them alone. She, unabashedly, made herself comfortable by unsettling everybody around her. Though heavily cheesed off with her (mis)conduct, we tried to keep our cool and made light of the situation by continuing our usual banter. Strangely, it didn’t go down well with the woman and she expressed her displeasure at not being welcomed well ever since she entered the coach. She straightforwardly said that she felt offended with some people (us) as they didn’t look too happy with her presence and gave her the cold shoulder. Even to this day I don’t know what whimsical thoughts drove her to say what she said. I so wanted to attend to the psycho woman and return the crap but changed my mind at the last minute. I guess my sanity prevailed over my impulse. We immediately cajoled her out of her displeasure, or else she would have ruined our mood even before the train had moved an inch from the station. The train departed from the New Delhi junction at 2330 hours sharp and we got busy in making our bed, doing our best to ignore the fretful woman all along. In the meanwhile, the train gathered speed and – much to our delight - soon the gentle movement of the coach lulled the woman to sleep. Phew!!!
We had made our respective beds but hitting the sack was far from our mind. We sat around facing each other and the ‘gup-shup’ session started in no time. By and by we graduated to discussing serious stuff. A gamut of emotions flashed before our eyes as we relived our school days, first encounter with each other, blunders, jubilations, madness etc. All four of us took turns and shared many a things that we felt about ourselves and each other. This exercise brought us even closer to each other and the bond of friendship strengthened. We happily chatted our way to glory till the wee hours. All of a sudden, our considerate selves awakened and we realized that we had a long day ahead. So, we decided to catch the much necessary forty winks before reaching Lucknow.
Day 1 – 12/2/2011
At 7 in the morning, we found ourselves waiting for our taxi outside the Lucknow station. Nisha had pulled a few strings and made arrangements for us in a cosy guest-house (in Dali Bagh) and a taxi that was to be at our beck and call for the next two days. The taxi took us to our haven. Trust me, an unknown city looks much familiar and receptive when you have a decent place to stay in and a cab at your service round the clock.
After sprucing ourselves and having our first meal of the day we left for Manisha’s place. Our dear friend had been expecting us since morning. She kept calling us to give directions, thereby making sure that we did not lose our way. Nearing her place, to our pleasant surprise, we found her waiting for us on the highway. Gosh! It took us a couple of minutes to realize that ‘the bride-to-be’ herself had come to receive us.
We got a very warm welcome at her home which, for a few seconds, made us feel like cricketing heroes who had won over the rest of the cricket-playing nations and brought the much-awaited World Cup back to India after 1983. We also happily rejoiced in the moment. What followed was usually expected of friends who meet up after a while - fun-filled discussions, leg-pulling, turning nostalgic and a lot of catching up.
After a couple of hours, we took leave from the bridal family and left for Hazratganj – better known as the Connaught Place of Lucknow. Hazratganj is a major shopping area of the city. It houses showrooms and retail stores of almost all major consumer-goods manufacturers in India. From car-dealers to jewellery stores to antiques, one can shop for almost anything at Hazratganj. The place lived up to its image and had us enchanted with its surroundings. We were enjoying ourselves thoroughly while checking out the market. Tulika and Nisha scouted for a local mehendiwala and got their hands embellished with the color of skillfully-applied henna designs. Sporting the colored hands, the girls looked every bit of bridesmaids.
As we had to attend the marriage in the evening, we thought of going back to our guest house and taking a nap before we get into action again. In the evening, I got a call from one of my close friends – Upasana aka Khargosh – who happened to be in Lucknow, her hometown, at the same time. She was to leave for Jaipur in a few days. And since both of us were not too sure about our schedule for the next day, we decided to meet up the same evening. So now, I was to meet her at Hazratganj on our way to the venue of marriage. Gearing up for the marriage, Nitin and I got ready in no time but Tulika and Nisha took longer. Girls being girls usually spend considerable period of time in decking up. And, believe me, when it comes to getting ready to attend a marriage, it takes eternity and still at the end of it they would end up feeling that they could have looked better. Ditto was the case with our very own Nisha. :-)
Looking at the silver lining, this episode made us (Nitin and me) realize how patient we are with girls. Also, it gave us enough time to sneak out of the room for a stroll and we had an interesting man-to-man discussion over the facts of life.
Finally I met Upasana at Hazratganj in the company of her friends – Garima and Saurabh. Meeting Upasana always turns out to be a memorable rendezvous. As expected, Khargosh was in her elements that day too. After settling down, post the exchange of greetings, she examined me from head to toe and said, “Yaar Negi, tu toh bilkul ande (egg) jaisa ho gaya hai. Khana kam kha aur exercise shuru kar!” Don’t know about the exercise but I have stopped eating egg altogether since that day. ;-)
We introduced our respective set of friends to each other and spent some quality time together before we set off for the marriage venue.
Manisha looked very beautiful in the bridal dress. It is quite a feeling when you see your friends getting married. We were waiting for the bridegroom and the procession in anticipation. In the meanwhile, Nisha and her obsession with camera came to the fore. Her insistence on being clicked on every occasion turned Nitin into a full-time photographer. Though feeling a bit riled up in the beginning, I brought myself around to understand and accept her love for getting photographed all the time. Nitin did a very decent job with camera and captured some great moments. Suddenly, we heard some firecrackers and boisterous voices in the street…..the baraat had arrived. Manisha and her man, Mr Som Prabh, made a very good couple together. The happiness that comes with being together was writ large on their faces. We gave our best wishes to the couple for their new innings and then submerged ourselves completely into the party mood. Nitin and I danced like hell that day. With some pretty girls joining us, the dance routine carried on a little longer than intended. Around midnight, we took leave from the couple and retired to our guest house.
Day 2 – 13/2/2011
Tired from the previous day’s activities, we woke up a bit late in the morning and had no intention to leave bed for another couple of hours at least. But Tulika wanted to see Manisha at her Bidaai ceremony. After a quick thought, we also relented and hurried to Manisha’s place.
Bidaai – This is one moment when most of the eyes are usually moist with emotions. Being thoughtful about the situation, we also played to the gallery by being uncharacteristically quite for a short while. The prized moment was when Manisha clung to her dad saying, “Papa…. (sob sob cry cry)…papaaaaaaa…(some more sob sob cry cry)….papa nahi jaana….aap logo se door nahi jaana”. I am telling you it was said with such intensity that even the strongest of characters in the world would have cried buckets that day. And I was wondering as to how the event would have unfolded if Manisha had continued with the traditional drama for a bit longer. There is every possibility that the bride’s papa would have taken it literally. Losing his cool, he would have told Manisha in no uncertain terms, “Kya baat kar rahi ho!!! Aur kaise nahi jaana tumhe….ek toh dono partiyo ka itna kharcha karwa diya hai aur ab kehti ho nahi jaana. Ye bhi koi baat hui bhala...mazaak samjha hai kya!!!” Jokes apart, with everybody’s blessings in tow the newly-wed couple left to begin a fresh chapter of their life.
With half a day still in hand (we had to return in the night), we decided to go for Lucknow darshan. Being driven around the beautiful city of Lucknow was quite an experience. Gomti Nagar, situated on the bank of river Gomti, consists of both residential and business settlements and is one of the largest and upcoming areas of Lucknow. Gomti Nagar is an organised settlement developed by Lucknow Development Authority (LDA). It is home to high-end premium residential projects, Malls, IT parks, Commercial property, SEZs, Plots, Business centers, Multiplexes, Clubs, Banks, Food courts, Entertainment centers and Finance institutions. To me, Gomti Nagar with its modern touch appeared to be the face of emerging Lucknow.
As Manisha suggested earlier in the day, we first decided to visit Bara Imaambara - a historical edifice situated on the bank of Gomti river. We hired an official guide who showed us around the historical building. We were told that the Bara Imambara was built by Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula in 1784 and its designer was Kifayat-ullah who was said to be a relative of the architect of the Taj Mahal.
Looking at the marvellous architecture, all of us were wonder-struck. The main imambara consists of a large vaulted central chamber containing the tomb of Asaf-ud-Daula. At 50 by 16 meters and over 15 meters tall, we were surprised to learn that it had no beams to support the ceiling. It is one of the largest such arched constructions in the world. There were eight surrounding chambers built to different roof heights, permitting the space above these to be reconstructed as a three-dimensional labyrinth with passages interconnecting with each other through 489 identical doorways. This part of the building is better known as ‘bhoolbhulaiyyah.’ It is possibly the only existing maze in India and came about unintentionally to support the weight of the building, constructed on marshy land. The guide, while sharing the details about the historical monument, was constantly chipping in with cheeky humour. Though the information provided by the guide was more or less correct, he was ticking us off with his I-am-smarter-than-thou attitude.
The cocky guide then showed us a blocked (tunnel) passageway which, according to legends, leads through a mile-long underground passage to a location near the Gomti river. Other passages are rumoured to lead to Faizabad (the former seat of power of the Nawabs), Allahabad and even to Delhi. They still exist but have been sealed after a period of long disuse as well as fears over the disappearance of people who had purportedly gone missing while exploring. The guide made it sound quite spooky and mysterious….huh!
Feeling a bit hungry, we left for Aminabad that has existed from the times of the Nawabs of Awadh. The market in Aminabad is a very large and congested one made up of narrow lanes and bylanes. Traffic movement is next to impossible in the interiors of the market. But this is the real beauty. We took a rikshaw ride and negotiated well through the bylanes of the market. We saw small and medium sized shops selling items of daily usage, ornaments, jewellery, fashion garments, fancy dresses, chikan kurta, chikan sarees and ladies wear, chikan mens wear, footwear and other fancy items. The market is also famous for its eateries. Many a non-vegetarian stalls, sweet shops, baker's shops and Paan shops adorned the market. We stopped over and had our lunch in the famous non-veg eatery of Aminabad known as ‘Tundey Kabab.’ After eating to our fill, Tulika and Nisha wanted to shop some chikan kurtas and sarees for their moms. So we checked out a local shop and bought some fine stuff.
After the shopping binge we called it a day. On our return to the guest house, we packed our luggage and settled the accounts with each other before having dinner. Carrying our stuff and lots of unforgettable memories, we rushed to the railway station to catch our train in time. We spent the last few hours reflecting on the two eventful days spent in the city of nawabs. While in the train, everybody in the group was ecstatic as they were going home carrying a lot of memories from luck now. Strangely enough, my happiness was mixed with a tinge of sadness. I knew not why it was so until a few moments later when I finally figured out the real reason……Although I took with me some wonderful memories from Lucknow, I HAD LEFT A PART OF ME BEHIND.
