Feb 8 @ Lucknow:
We Puneites landed at Lucknow in the evening. We got in our tour van after collecting our luggage & headed for our hotel. Clarks Lucknow is a five star hotel in Narpatkhera, Hazratganj. Anubhav our tour operator score a browny point & succeeded in creating a positive impression about them. Frankly speaking none of us expected such an accommodation on a conducted tour.
Chetan Risbud, our tour guide greeted us in the lounge & introduced us to our four other members from Mumbai.So now we were 10 ki Toli. Gents, only two of us, were outnumbered,Yes by 8 ladies. We both realised that “ Silence would be the best policy on the tour”.
We returned to our rooms after a sumptuous dinner and soon hit our beds.
Feb 9 @ Lucknow:
We all assembled in the dining area for breakfast. Excellent spread welcomed us. Idlies were soft & delicious & so was the dosa on the live counter. We Puneites mostly had these items, some fruits & tea. Mumbaites were on a separate table, quite understandable in the beginning. Or, was it silence before the storm? Well there are no prizes for the right guesswork, when you know 8 ladies would be tother for almost 8 days.
Our site seeing began with a visit of bara ( big ) Imambara. It was built in 1784 by Asaf- Ud- Daula, Nawab of Awadh. The design of the complex was obtained through competitive process. Kifayatulla, An architect from Delhi was the winner. He also lies buried in the main hall of the imambara.
It’s also said that the Nawab started the construction work during period of draught to help the poor earn their living. It’s also said that the well to do people too were involved in the construction. However, their work used to be demolished the next day because of poor quality of workmanship and other poor but skilled labour used to construct it again.
Red soft stones and marble were used in the imambara. Another attraction there is the bowdi, a step well of sorts. One can not see down beyond the steps but once you descend one can see the main entry. I personally felt the Rani ki Vav in Ahmedabad is much superior in architecture and intricate & fine craftsmanship.
The main hall though is a piece of marvel in architecture & construction. Similarly the Bhool Bhulaiya is another attraction there. It has about 1000 passages and 489 gates. It’s fun to be there and find out your way out once you are there, but without a guide. However I did not opt to visit for my personal reasons.
It was already time to move out & make way for the community to perform namaz.
Our group then divided in two smaller groups, one opted for non veg food and the other who opted for vegetarian food. What the veg group had for their lunch is not known.
For the Non Veg delicacies, I had done some homework and made a bucket list of sorts and places to go to. The Veg Group had galuti kabab, parotha, veg biryani etc. Seems they enjoyed the veg delicacies.
As regards the non veg group, Our local guide took Anushri Tai, Smita Tai, Anita Tai & me to Raheem Kucha Nihari , at Akbari Gate first for nihari ( breakfast dish). We ordered 2 plates, as i recommended to all to opt for one by two or two by three to do justice to all the delicacies. It was a mouth watering dish. we all could have had more, but restrained ourself from the temptation.
Next we went to Tunde Kabab, a hundred year old eatery. Tunde kabab, or mutton galauti kabab is a famous mutton preparation normally eaten with rumali roti like a bread roasted on a reverse conical pan. the galauti kababs lived up to Tunde kabab's reputation.
The Ladies went for sopping of perfumes near the tunde kabab hotel. We got pans packed at the famous Pan Shop in Chowk area then topped our stomach with mutton biryani at Idris. The eatery is not hygienically maintained, Biryani too was just above average. though it ranks amongst the op biryani eateries in Lucknow. Probably Mashi biryani or the waheed's biryani would have been better.
Finally .we all took luckhnawi paans. The other group made frantic calls as they had finished much early. It was decided that we all would meet at the Residency after we finish our biryanis. So we headed for next attraction called residency. The other group joined us soon.
The residency also called as the British Residency has ruins of many buildings in a common precinct in Lucknow. It served as the residence of British Resident General who was a representative in the court of Nawab. It was constructed between 1780 and 1800 by Asaf - Ud - Daulah and later completed by Nawab Sadat Ali Khan.
The Residency was subject to siege during July to November 1857. it is also called the Sepoy Mutiny or the First war of Independence. started because the Hindu & Muslim sepoys refused use of greased ( with cow and buffalo tallow ) bullets.
The revolt then spread like wild fire. What disturbs me most is that the velour of Begum Hazrat Mahal who lead in Lucknow. Rani Laxmi Bai in Zhansi. Nana Saheb Peshwa led in Kanpur, Tatya Tope & Man Singh in Central India and Kunwar Singh in Bihar, and Bahadurshah Zafar in Delhi are not glorified in our history books, much like Shivaji Maharaj. Bajirao Peshwa & Maharana Pratap.
Indian History glorifies and presents distorted facts about all these freedom fighters. what a shame.
Our group enjoyed seeing the ruins reflecting the revolt by Begum Hazrat Mahal.
We came out and headed for a place after Rumi Darwaza, had Chat which lacked inquality, only blemish on the part of Anubhav. Then we had special kashmiri chaay followed by Makhan Malai, a specialty of Lucknow then came bace to Chanakya a kulfi outlet near our hotel. Kulfi was really different and tasty. Many of us then skipped dinner and went to bed.
Our stay lucknow thus ended on a sweet note ( that of Kulfi )
More about our trip some other day.
No comments:
Post a Comment