In Focus: Lucknow in February

In Focus: Lucknow in February

February 27, 2016
Art Around The World
Art Around The World

Mariam Nihal

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Mariam Nihal
Saudi Gazette

Lucknow is one of the most famous cities in India, known for its artistic roots and rich heritage. This month, the city hosted various events including the most popular literature fest organized by the ‘Lucknow Society’.

The Literary festival embodies the creative spirit of the city and brings together a diverse spectrum of writers and scholars from all across the country. From reading sessions to book launches and debates, the festival gathered journalists, bloggers, novelists, students and literature fans. The fest opened on 19th of February with the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav in attendance during the inaugrational speech. Followed by book launches over the next few days, including Tipu Story by Frank Huzur and We Need a Revolution by Sachin Garg; visitors also enjoyed a historic tour of the city alongside an exhibition of Lucknow photographs.

Sachin Garg, a 29-year-old best selling Indian author told Saudi Gazette he had been working on his latest book for three years. “This is something totally different from my previous works. I used to write romance novels.” His risky move away from the clichéd love stories is a conscious one. “This is not a love story. This is about making a difference. I was fascinated with these characters from the tribe and the book is based on different perspectives even though I have my own and it probably shows.”

Day two witnessed many panel discussions including “Fiction Writing Taking Over All the Attention From Mythology” with Utkarsha Patel and Anand Neelkanthan and “Faarsi Adab Aur Lucknow” with Asifa Zamani, Umar Qamaluddin, Khan Mohammad Atif, Dr. Arshad Jafri, Dr. Hina Bano and Mirza Shafiq Husain.

And what could be a better way to end it but a cultural evening with the story “Dastan Ghummi Kebabi ki” by Fouzia and Fazal Rashid. The last day saw the documentary screening “Aaurte” by Vikas and other panel discussions like  “Jung-e Azaadi me Urdu ka Kirdaar” with Sharib Rudaulvi, Javed Danish, Ratan Singh, Maula Baksh, Shafe Kidwai and Waseem Bagam that discussed Urdu’s role and significance during the fight for independence.

After the successful festival on 21st of February, Lucknowites looked forward to welcoming Atif Aslam to their city for the second time. The first time never worked out and this time the hype had doubled and so had the numbers. Unfortunately these thousands were left disappointed and stranded by the organizers. Known to have cheated the audience for the second time, no organizer from Soundrug Entertainment India Pvt Ltd, was ready to comment and refused to take calls from ticket holders who were informed later that day that their favorite artist was no longer allowed to perform in the city. “I feel so disheartened and let down by the organizers. They treat us like a joke. All we want to do is see Atif Aslam perform live- we love him and wish he could have come,” Rohit Jain told Saudi Gazette. A day before the concert, the Lucknow district administration rejected a request letter seeking permission for organizing the event at Aashiyana’s Smriti Upvan. While the concert was being promoted for over a month on social media platforms with posters plastered over city walls,  the organizers did not even have the venue permission. The news made headlines and the front page in every newspaper while all magazines, blogs and social media posts spoke about the tragic setback.

Another cultural program to have hit the city this week was organized by Bewajah- a theatre group. Bewajah hosted “Dastan-e-Taqseem-e-Hind” a story on the partition of India and Pakistan at  Sangeet Natak academy. Lucknow is known for  Dastangoi, the 16th-century Urdu storytelling art form and maintains its craft by keeping it alive.  Ankit Chadha and Himanshu Bajpai  narrated the powerful stories of those who sacrificed themselves for freedom and presented irony with humor in the most subtle way.  Fair comparisons were drawn between both countries, their leaders namely Jinnah and Nehru, the Sikh and Punjabi community on both sides as well as the ironic contrasts that resulted from the conflict. The duo dressed in white Lucknowi kurtas, occasionally sipped water from shining silver bowls like

Lucknowis used to and performed in Urdu so rich that it put the local Urdu speaking audience to shame. Ankit’s powerful performance explained why he is one of the most popular artist’s in the country. You can help the young organizers of Bewajah by logging on to their website and help contribute with ideas or money to fund their new projects on social issues. A women exclusive trip ‘Sham-E-Awadh With Ayodhya’ began yesterday. The three day long trip includes a hotel package plus a tour around the city that includes the Bada and chota Imambara, Rumi Darwaza, Hazaratganj, Aminabad, Lucknow Zoo, a taste of Lucknow with Tunde Kebab and delicacies from the old city, Ayodhya, Chikankari factory and also a look at traditional Zardozi weaving art forms.

Important links:

http://bewajah.in/
www.lucknowliteraryfestival.com


February 27, 2016
HIGHLIGHTS