Lucknow

Lucknow was an overnight train ride from Haridwar - a train that we only just managed to catch, time having escaped from us on our day trip to Rishikesh. We boarded the train with minues to spare, not knowing what carriage we were meant to be in. The travel agent had assured us of a birth, but it turned out that this was 'reserved against cancellation', meaning that we were promised at least a birth to share. After being passed form coach to coach by various carriage guards, we eventually found our spot. In sleeper class, the most basic class, for which we were unprepared with a lack of our own bedding and the chilly air that blew in through the windows that wouldn't shut!

Finally in Lucknow, and accomodation secured in a government run tourist hotel, that was cheerfully in the midst of wedding season (a party every night I was there) it was time for a rest and then some food. A short nap and stocked up on channa and puri (chickpeas and inflated fried roti/chapati) we went and visited the Residency, where the Brits set up home in the late 1700's. The residency is of historical importance as it is where an uprising took place, and could be considered as the first initial move towards independence for India. The 1874 (I must check this date) Siege of Lucknow was bloody and left the austere red brick building in ruins. The uprising failed, which is possible just as well, as at the time India had no post independance plan and could well have left the India people very vulnerable.

Also in Lucknow are a couple of Imambarra's, which are mosques and complexes (small cities almost), that were built and lived in by the Moghuls of the time (date??). The barra Imambarra is huge and beautiful, and the emporer of the time certainly had his finger on the pulse - with walls that can carry the slightest whisper (it's true, we tried it) and pools of water that were used like mirrors, the cominfgs and goings of the palace were very transparent and no plotting would have taken place with out him knowing!

At hotel Capoor there was some ghazals being played and sung - a little disppointing though. The devotional love songs are very strict in their format (having a couplet rhyme and a refrain) and are accompanied by the tabla and harmonium. Our musicians seemed to be using the seesion to practice rather than perform, with the tabla player stoppping midway through to answer his mobile phone!