Dr. Balraj – our dentist at BHEL was the only gun trotting person I had seen in those days. Daily morning he used to go with the gun in his lamby and return with a bird or two. I vaguely remember seeing something of an armoury shop in MG Gate (NSB road??) then. Not sure if it is there now.

Lucknow’s streets have too many gunshops- selling, repairing, exchanging etc. Not sure what they do with so many guns. It looks as simple as our mobile recharge shop next door.

Lucknow is also a paradise for non-veggers; All along the streets I could see stalls of varying formats dishing out mouth wateringkababs and all variants of non veg dishes at fairly low prices. Probably it comes from hunting. Looking at this,even a pious vegan might feel guilty of being an outsider to this party. Being a vegan, & having tasted nothing there, I cannot write further on this. Had I spent a week more there, I would have definitely converted to non-veg.

I would affix UP’s gender as highly masculine on account of its gun trotting & non veg loving culture. To see a lady like Mayawati becoming chief minister in this masculine state is surprising. If we manage to see beyond  the political muck around her, one should be seeing a person with a wonderful fighting spirit, true grit and a leader in her. She must be adept in handling pressure & problem solving having faced themas part of her daily routine.  Handling workplace politics is itself tough for people like me. Kudos to her for where she has risen by her efforts.

Apart from guns & non-veg, chikans are more synonymous with Lucknow, which has a GI status. A chikan made any where else isn’t a chikan. One needs to head to the meena bazaar which is the biggestmarket  for chikans to see the numerous stalls neatly  lined up with the mono coloured cotton dress with the unique white thread hand work ( I avoid from calling it embroidery). I have not come across any dual or multi coloured chikan so far.

Chikans are dirt cheap there. With just Rs.3000/- I can buy atleast 10-14 sets of dresses (cotton) which can serve as a party or office wear for womenfolk back at my nativeplace. Apart from being light on the pocket, Chikans offer an important advantage to a hubby : you can select what you want much faster. You only need to choose the colour. The designs are immaterial. Chikans come as saris, frocks, salwar and yes there are also dresses for men though it is limited. Chikans are also available in silk.

I was thinking that meena bazaar was the name of the market wondering who that meena was; until I saw Red fort- one of India’s most massive & well maintained forts  in Agra.  The guide pointed out to an open air part of the complex which was meena bazaar in yesteryears. I then learnt the Meena Bazaar existed from Mughal era and is a temporary bazaar set up with women merchandise to raise funds for charity. It exists in Pak &arab countries too especially in colleges and universities nowadays.

Enjoy shopping chikans at meena ( or is it Mina ??) bazaar