Lucknow Shining

I’ve always thought that this town has a future. This town has given so much to the country, beginning with Prime Ministers to uncountable sportsmen to brave soldiers and so much more than all others. I thank god for making me a part of this sacred - sacred land.

I’ve always loved and admired my hometown Lucknow right from the word go. But to my utter dismay, Lucknow has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. As if to set the record straight, I pen down this latest positive development. Hence, this article.

A little background always helps. I am blessed to have come from a family of armed forces personnel. I daresay I’ve had the luxury of travel, having visited different nooks and corners of India ranging from the Glaciers to places all along the Pakistan border to the distant east. Over these sojourns, I saw areas that are part of popular folklore in India and I reveled in the luxury bestowed onto these lands by the almighty.

But, I must confess that of all the places that I’d been to ‘Lucknow’ stands out. It may be my rudeness or ego or something else that never allows me to set my heart on any other place.

Lucknow has since time immemorial been known for Tahzeeb – adab (mannerisms), politeness, the ubiquitous ‘pehle aap’ (you first), the hand embroidered Chikan Kurtas/Cloths and the ever infallible Kebabas.

It is popularly believed that the city has been named after Lord Lakshman, the younger brother of Lord Rama. The city was earlier called Lakshman Pore that later turned in to Lucknow. The town during the later part of the 20^th Century became famous under the Nawabs. It is said that “Wisdom, women and wine are the three things truly understood and respected only by the Nawabs”.

On the flip side ‘Lucknow’ has always been synonymous with Crime, murky politics, shabby infrastructure, corrupt people, sleepy pace, etc. But off late all this seems to be a thing of the past as this ‘Tier III’ town is looking to barge ahead headlong into the 21^st century, albeit without any support from the government.

Bubble or burst the dotcom still fascinates. The source of the aforementioned article comes from this article titled Lucknow realty firms go for IT . The crux of the article is that now the real estate developers have pulled up their socks and have taken the onus of development of Lucknow onto them. They are working to charm top information technology (IT) companies by providing them with favourable environment to set up their work offices in the city. The encouraging point is that companies like Aegis Communications Group Ltd, IBM Daksh and Siemens have shown an enthusiasm on the prospect of relocating to Lucknow.

The interested parties, according to a consultant, include around four multinationals and eight private Indian companies. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is also expanding its workforce from its current 250 to 1,000 employees and is busy bringing out a new office at Gomtinagar in Lucknow.

So much for the good news. Boy, am i glad!