The Allahabad I Knew

I obviously did think of Akbar Allahabadi. It is difficult to talk of the city and not think of him. However, for some reason he did not fit into this piece. Dost mittar, my dad often quotes that shair. Makes me chuckle and think every time.

Ras, I don`t think Ms. Riaz really impressed me much. I was just so very taken, as a child, by the romance and adventure of her being exiled. Faiz, however, was very interesting. I could sense that even though I was only 8 or 9 at the time. He was actually quite sweet to me and talked to me for a few minutes. I cherish that memory.

Nb, all of us who lived in Allahabad made fun of NIP constantly but it was like making fun of your half-witted relative and we were all quite protective if outsiders made fun of it. So when it was shut down a few years ago everyone in Allahabad was quite upset. Now it is back and is as badly put together as ever. Still, it is ours and it is at least a constant in the changing landscape of the city.

For outsiders, Allahabad often did seem to be a desolate and depressing place even as I grew up there in the 80`s. The reason is simple. There are few public places, except for the Coffee House (very male centric) and a couple of othere, where people meet and interact in any meaningful way. There were no 5-star hotels and few great adda type places. The center of social life in the city was in each others homes. Every couple of weeks, someone or the other would host a dinner or high tea :-) which would usually last till the early hours of the morning and that`s when the real interaction would happen. If you visited the city and didn`t know someone who was plugged into the network you would obviously be rather disappointed and rightly so. Just thought I would put that in.

Thanks all!

rahul_capri:
Farooqi is probably right. After all, he did also write:
Sidhaarein sheikh kaaba ko, hum inglistaan dekhenge
Voh dekhen khuda ka ghar, hum khuda ki shaan dekhenge!

But he also, I believe, wrote a poem addressed to his son in England where he is criticising him for taking to english ways and forgetting the `sawaiyyan` of home.

Human beings cannot be pigeon-holed!

dost-mittar
I did mention Akbar Allahabadi in #36.As for his regressiveness,I quote from here,
``Farooqi comes to his rescue. Defends him against all such allegations and says that Akbar was not against enlightenment but he abhorred what the British imperialism was trying to impose in the name of culture and progress, for it was likely to destroy the Indian culture and traditions. Then he goes on to say that what is seen as contradictions are in fact the compulsions that a sensitive person is subjected to while he is standing at a political and cultural crossroads and the future is obfuscated by the far reaching developments.``

So many allahabadis here and no one talks about the one and only who used the work in his name. I mean Akbar Allahabadi. He is the one who wrote regressive poesm like,
Be-parda nazar aayeen kal jo chand beebiyaan
Akbar zameen mein ghairat-e-qaumi se garh gaya
Poochha jo unse aapka parda vo kya hua
Kehne lageen ke aql ki mardon pe parh gaya

Nice to see you back here JS.

I wish that I had the opportunity to meet Faiz (drunk or not) just once.

Fehmida Riaz, last time I saw her was very impressed by General Musharraf.

We all have our ``Allahbad`s we knew`` in reality.

I had my Karachi and Dhaka (Dacca then).

As my kids will hopefully have their Sacramento.

Amidst the lament, the longing for the good old times remains

constantly with this writing.

Great job!

Jang my statement was regarding the academic credentials of these students - which was outstanding. Unfortunately now academically these universities languish at the bottom of the ladder. Of course some of my Harryite friends disagree with this (for those not in the know Harryites are what the Bihari students call themselves in Delhi and presumably elsewhere).
``Tumhari Dilli unibarsity toe koi intni acchi nahi hai``
``Phir kaun si acchi hai?``
``Hamari Patna unibarsity hai na``
``Toe sale tum Dilli may kyon phadnay aaye ho, Patna may raho na``
``Array nahi na Patna unibersity may eggxam time pay nahi hota hai na. To degree time pay nahi milti hai na. Teen saal ki jagah paanch saal lag jate hai``
``Oh! How sad yaar. Bade dukh ki baat hai humari ghatiya dilli university time pay degree deti hai nahi toe tum Patna may aash kar rahe hote``.

HP,thanks for the info.
I just remembered Akbar Allahabadi.This board should not go away without his mention.By his unique style n personality,he was the pioneer of humour in urdu poetry.

I grew up in North India, reading the Northern India Patrika, and travelling to Calcutta via the Bombay-Howrah Mail. What ever happened to the NIP? Not that it was a very good paper, though-it reflected the narrow mindedness of the society around it. UP generally has degenerated, how could Allahabad remain unaffected?

I lived in Air Force station Manauri. Ok, didn`t live there but visited there. Didn`t think too much of the town itself but I liked roaming around the bank of the ganges which was fairly close to the base. Got talking to the villagers a lot and visiting their fields etc. I sed to be inundated with melons as gifts. It was depressing to talk to them though, their attitudes are very different from say Haryana or even Maharasthra, other states where I have had some rural exposure.

#27 by Subroto

``Graduates of Allahabad, Agra & Meerut Universities were at that time amongst the top civil servants and service officers.``

One could argue that conversely, these states were in a long-term institutional decay and the products of these educational system, who were our national leaders AND top beurocrats got us where we are. The states have finally arrived. Interestingly, the states with little representation in ICS/IAS, viz. gujrat, maharastra, karnataka, keral etc are now premier (relatively speaking) states. So, arguably the rot was set a while ago, the elite steeped in post mughal, colonial mindset trying to create oxoford complete with regatta on the sangam while the aforementioned states elites were busy bulding industry and new institutions. What say?

Jawahara,
I`ve read the article `Home bittersweet home` as well which talks of the same and so true it is
“We cast it. Some of us by leaving and not returning. Others by staying and not caring that our home was dying around us. Others cast the spell by killing the trees, by letting things grow wild, by actively doing things to kill our land.”
Its time we made an effort to save our hometowns and places of national importance like Allahabad having such a rich religious, cultural and historical background.

Jawahra
It has been long that you wrote an article on CHOWK. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with others.

#26 Saint
First i thought that it be good if there are more indians like you. Then i realize what is bad for others, is also bad for us. If we follow your logic, then there is no limit to division.
Running a country is not like running a factory. We should lift those who have left behind beacuse of lack of equality and unavailibiity of oppurtunities. Read Nehru`s book, and you may change your mind.
This is good advice from your fellow neighbor.

Regards.

#26, saint: It says alot about your self-respect when you denigrate your roots. The politco-economic-social ups and down happen. One has to take them instride. ``Halukan ko udr jaaye de, garuan rakhi batore.``

Farzana, a couple of thousand in the mid-90`s? You were robbed. Even till two years ago, you could get a nao wallah to take you out for Rs. 800. I must write about my Sangam and Jhunsi experiences. I loved going there and to the fort. You should write about Bombay though it is a city not starved for being written up :-). Apart from the Suketu Ghosh book which I bought this time there are several others, Bombay Meri Jaan for one.

Inquirer, yes I do remember most of these stories you talked about. Thanks so much for refreshing my memory.

HN, yes, I`ve seen Haasil and it was shot in Allahabad. It was made by Tigmanshu Dhulia whom I didn`t know personally but I did know of him. The cinematography was by the brother of one of my childhood friends. They are both obviously from Allahabad and Haasil was chillingly and disturbingly real. The actor...Irfan something...did an amazing job of playing an Allahabadi student politician/goonda. He even had the lehja and manner of speaking down pat.

Jang, I have not been to Kanpur in years but Allahabad is now much worse that what I recall of Kanpur. I cannot even begin to imagine what Bihar must be like. I remember Allahabadis would feel quite superior to Kanpur because we did not have hte congestion, pollution and overcrowding. Now, it is just awful. The Allahabad bhaiyas are moving to Mumbai and the even more bhaiya like bhaiyas from places like Bahraich and Balia (the much maligned Baliatics) are moving in to Allahabad. Sad!

Subroto, I too grew up hearing of Allahabad University as the Oxford of the East, etc. Now, however, it is just in a terrible state. The New York Times had done an in-depth article about the decline of Allahabad University (AU) a few years ago. I should try and dig it up. The basic premise was that the mandate of AU was not to provide a superior education any more but to make a university education available to everyone no matter their caliber. So, students who did not do that well in class 12 who earlier would go to degree colleges have in the last few decades been able to get into AU because there is no barrier to entry. Same philosophy with the teachers as well.

However, despite this all, I am glad to be from Allahabad and I know that in some way at least, the Allahabad we remember fondly will continue to live through our stories.

Very nicely written. Hometowns have this common problem of growing out of recognizable shape. Always wished they didn`t because it is quite unsettling, though I realised that in moving out, I too constitute a change in someone else`s hometown.

My connections with Allahabad are extremely tenuous - I had REC Allahabad graduates among my fellow-students/teachers at one time(which led me to ponder a bit on REC Allahabad :)), later a job offer from Naini(which I did not take up). Always been curious about the town because of its famous literary heritage and confluence of the rivers though.

Hopefully some stories will be reclaimed one day when Indian cities begin to get more self-conscious and begin to promote themselves/ govern themselves better. Right now what UP needs is one good CM(IMO). Hopefully literary cities like Allahabad will also do simpler things like making parts of their libraries accessible on line, etc.

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