Going home to Lucknow

Dawn.com Published August 15, 2012

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My association with Lucknow begins with my great-great-grandfather, Khan Bahadur Chaudhry Rasheed uddin Ashraf, the Taluqdar of Karkha, who built my family’s ancestral house in Barabanki, situated 25 kilometres away from the main city.

More than half of my maternal and paternal family lives in India and I travel to Lucknow almost every year to visit my grandmother, cousins and other relatives.

What is significant about this delightfully picturesque city is its marvelous juxtaposition of the buildings and structures of the day’s bygone alongside its modern charm. A walk through Lucknow’s streets will give you a glimpse into history. - Text and photos by Zuha Siddiqui for Dawn.com

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manish

Aug 15, 2012 11:29am

and madam the tempos are not infamous. but they are still very much the lifeline of lucknow to this very day.

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manish

Aug 16, 2012 04:13pm

gurgaon....you must be joking comparing lucknow with gurgaon.....we in lucknow have 24 hours light, and still have plots at affordable rates, and can say hi, bye to our uncles.....and yes, the things which should shine are shining....go, visit ambedkar maidan.....since the photographer above, is a muslim from pakistan so she was concerned only about old lucknow, and not the newer parts of it.

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Sudhakar

Aug 16, 2012 11:14am

Hello, Would love to see some pics of standing/functioning Hindu/Buddhist temples in Pakistan(if any)

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babu

Aug 17, 2012 03:19pm

well i can't even get a visiting visa to India because my father was born in an area which is part of pakistan. i would love to visit all these historical places in India.

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rajesh

Aug 15, 2012 10:27am

Lucknow looks a very old town with these torn building ....make it shiny like Gurgaon

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Mohammad Taqi

Aug 15, 2012 12:22pm

Webmaster, some of the pics are blurred/don't load. Kindly fix

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ritu

Aug 15, 2012 04:55am

you are luckey enough to go back to your ancestors place whenever you want , but most of people whio migrated from pakistan can't say the same, infact there is nothing left to go back . their temple , their house and even name of town have been changed in some case.

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Aug 15, 2012 06:20am

India does not recognize "dual nationality" so all people having dual nationality cannot go to India unless they revoke one of their nationalities. This is true even for Indians having dual nationality. Many people who have got second nationality with great difficulty and a lengthy process are unwilling to give up their second nationality, hence they cannot visit India. Revoking one of their nationalities is a "huge price" to pay to visit India. I feel by this law India is losing a huge foreign exchange. This rule needs some modification for the interest of those people who wish to go to India whilst keeping his dual nationality intact.

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padma

Aug 15, 2012 08:20am

Amazing photos! Thank you so much for posting this. It would help me plan a trip there in the future!

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malihabad

Aug 15, 2012 09:52am

I go to lucknow every year myself i am from maliahabd

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deepak

Aug 15, 2012 05:55pm

Lucknow is far better than gurgaon and any NCR city...anyday..

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Suneesh

Aug 15, 2012 06:25pm

I too think to plan a trip to Lucknow next time.

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Zeta

Aug 16, 2012 08:11am

Tell me which temples don't exist. There are still many towns named after Sikhs and Hindus.

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Atif

Aug 16, 2012 10:03pm

Amazing.. I am Australian of Pakistani/Indian Origion. Planning to visit India this year, i will be the first person in my family to visit india after partition. Just like millions of sikhs and hindus they were forced to leave india for pakistan. Yes it is true alot of temples would have been destroyed in Pak but so would have been alot of the mosques all over indian punjab. Can't we just have one reliogion called humism and forget everything else. Lets turn these mosques and temples in schools and hospitals that the ppl of these two countries really need.

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Kautiliya

Aug 17, 2012 01:44am

No photographs of any Mandirs in Lucknow. Get my point.

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ashish

Aug 17, 2012 07:00am

no Mayawati's statues ?????

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VMIndia

Aug 17, 2012 07:55am

Temples in Nowshera, Krishna Mandir Lahore, Parahlad Mandir Lahore, Jain Mandir near Anarkali Lahore, Katas temple is depleted and the water Hindu's consider sacred is being used for commercial purpose. these are on the Top of my head the the rest you can google

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manoj

Aug 17, 2012 08:31pm

what a nice thought !!!

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Raj

Aug 18, 2012 07:13am

You are most welcome in our City, Although more than 75% population of Lucknow at this time are non Lucknow based, that s why they are not aware about our culture. When I was there in Lahore & Rawalpindi, I do not feel any difference between both cities other than Language.

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