Adaab from Lucknow. Wow, I have to admit that all I knew about this city 3 years ago was that it was famous for Lucknawi chikan…so unique that my mom would hoard my sister and I across Ahmadabad all the way to the Income Tax area every hot summer just to buy specialty Lucknawi salwar suits. And now I am here – surrounded by chikan. For eight months. So far it’s been just great – a very nice break from hyper-touristy Jaipur where every day was a battle against throngs of “hellos, from which country, and that will be 100X the cost for you – miss foreigner.” Granted it’s not as “modern” but just two weeks here and I feel like I am actually living in the city rather than temporarily visiting it.
I’m living directly above a sabzi and gosht mandi with an elderly Hindu/Muslim couple. The two are purana Lucknow vaalas and have (the Lucknow that was) stories to share for hours upon end. They give me all the love that my grandparents give me and all the privacy that my grandparents are incapable of J My place is not even 2 km from the AIIS institute and I’m looking into purchasing a bicycle of my own. Some of my classmates are even buying scooters…def not brave enough for that feat. So because there isn’t any tourism here, even though I carry myself differently than the typical “Indian” woman and speak with (let’s face it) an obvious American accent – I manage to blend into the masses quite easily!
This place is teeming with such a rich history – take any walk in any direction of no less than 3km and one is guaranteed to stumble upon several beautiful old buildings even a couple that are abandoned and not even marketed to local residents.
Now my main purpose here is to study Urdu. Why Lucknow? The city (along with Hyderabad) is one of the last cities where Moghul culture is still in swing. But you wouldn’t know it at first glance. I mean sure there are kebab signs all over the place but Urdu is still significantly sidelined relative to Hindi. I bought a Nokia mobile phone the other day with all these fun features…and 6+ several language options ranging from Marathi to Tamil but alas…no Urdu. So not only is right-wing Indian politics part of the conspiracy to marginalize Urdu…so are major corporations. It’s quite unfortunate but apparently kant langot (for necktie) and other such nonsensical words are going out of style, according to my grateful auntie ji.
PS I’m slowly developing an addiction to the excellent chaat here. I can’t resist. I mean these places even use filtered water. How can I say no?
