Last winter…

After a majorly disintegrated road network of Kanpur, Lucknow roads were a pleasant surprise. Wondering why this step-motherly treatment with Kanpur! Lucknow was much cleaner and organized than was stored in my childhood memory. Hazratganj looked regal with all classy black and white similar boards on all shops and newly painted grills on both sides of the well maintained road. Also saw Mayawati’s famous creations and I suffered from an immediate pang of emotional indigestion! The feeling was very close to the one I get when I see a lot of money burned as firecrackers or a life wasted away by smoking cigarette. I think it will take quite a bit of emotional cleansing to get rid of this feeling.

On our way back I saw a statue of Rani Laxmibai, adorned with her sword, intense frown and a crown of thorns on her head, sitting upright on horseback right in front of the huge gate of Vidhan Bhavan. She seemed unable to guard the entrance of the building from the dirt that commuted to Vidhan Bhavan everyday or the dirt that had accumulated on her over the years. A garland of flowers, that had dried with time, unearthed the fact that she still attracted secret admirers!!!!