Joys of Lucknow II

1) The chill has come to Lucknow. People are shivering out there with joy. The nights are for sitting around a huge pile of peanuts to be relished with jaggery. The days are for buying a movie ticket and warming oneself with boiled eggs with onions and coriander chutney, and a quick cup of tea before you enter the theatre. Come out and repeat the routine, maybe replace the boiled eggs with an omlette , or try hot samosas. Then, grab a saada paan with a little bit of qiwaam, catch a shared auto, sit in the front, half inside half outside, talk to the driver about politics, corruption, traffic, and what not. In the background, they play lovely old songs of childhood like:

"Man: Nazar ye hamari na lag jaaye tumko, yahi soch kar tumko kam dekhte hain
Woman: Mujhe dekhna hai toh jee bhar ke dekho kabhi ye na kehna ki kam dekhte hain."

Life in a small town is another experience, an existence the city folks would know nothing about.

 

 

2)Staring at the murals in novelty theatre annexe wondering who did them. There's nataraja, harappan dancing girl, nargis and raj kapoor, dilip kumar and a lot of film visuals. Does anyone know?