Tousled and shabby, we trouped into the car and made our way through the busy Lucknow noon. We formed the bride’s side at our two friends’ wedding. Different trains had dropped us on the platforms of Lucknow railway station that morning. Finally I was in Neha’s lucknow. A trip in plan since 2004; which, like all our plans, Anu, Neha and me refreshed each time we met. It was the first time me and Amma were travelling together also. (Now those are plans that date back roughly to the time when memory starts). So we all assembled there and waited for Surajit, who arrived soon with a much better groomed groom’s party.Given the normalcy of the occasion, I might not have noticed where we were, had it not been pointed out. Those were the premises of the Lucknow division bench of Allahabad highcourt. The infamous locale of the most ludicrous judgement in Indian judicial history. The Ayodhya verdict magically transformed myth to reality, gave legal attestation to Gods and built temples out of thin air. It was a wonder they still knew how to issue mundane things as marriage certificates!
It was too brief a stay to know the city. But Neha’s family ensured that we got to know its tastes well. From the famed Makhan malai, made from the morning dew, kachchodi sabji, pakoras, panipuri, chaats, and much more, we moved on to the various flavours of the hooka and meetha paan. We braved the congested streets to reach the succulent tunda kebabs, biriyani and falooda kulfi. The party spilled over from the colourful wedding eve into the next day when the bride and groom were more at ease and in their selves as we know them.
(cont…)
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