Javed Akhtar on the beauty of Lucknow, its food and traditions

Society folk, bibliophiles and lovers of art and culture in Mumbai were in for a treat on Thursday evening at the launch of a Lucknow cookbook. But this was far from being just a culinary sojourn as the evening meandered into its beautiful architecture, edifices,

traditions

and more, all of which found resonance with tome’s contents. Javed Akhtar was present at the launch with authors

Chand Sur

and

Sunita Kohli

. And no sooner was the panel seated than the discussion took off around traditions of the City of Nawabs.
Javed Akhtar talked about how the old-world charm of Lucknow is still very much alive in the region and beyond with its Mughal-inspired

food

and recipes. He spoke about the beauty of its language,

poetry

, its exquisite

tehzeeb

(culture) and nazaakat (elegance). “When you think about Lucknow, the first thing that comes to anyone’s mind is tehzeeb - the kind of decency, an understatement, gentleness, refinement. Jo synthesis hai, it was totally unprecedented and unparalleled anywhere in the world; it had taken the best of so many cultures. Yeh jise hum ‘Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb’ kehte hai, voh Lucknowi ai, voh Avadhi hai.” He also said languages did not belong to a religion. “They belong to regions, they are secular,” he added.
He also spoke about the place of a ‘baraamda’ in a Lucknowi home. “Baraamda jo thha voh ek no man’s land between the aangan and the room. Itni important space thhi, vahi tyohaar bhi bantey they, vahin rasmey bhi hoti thhi. Agar hapshi halwa banaatey they toh vehi seedlings bichaye kartey they. Ghar ki jo badi bi hoti thhi voh vahi baraamdey mein baithi hoti thhi aur vahin sey kitchen dikhta thha. Poorey ghar jo Lucknow ke hotey hai, is tarah ke hotey thhay,” he added.
He also recited original

couplets

inspired by the city. Co-authors of the book Sunita Kohli, who grew up in Lucknow, and Chand Sur were joined in conversation with documentary filmmaker and author Nita Khanna and interior designer Pavitra Rajaram who also elucidated various aspects of the city’s graceful heritage. Also present in crowd were author and food expert Zarine Khan and her daughter, interior designer Simone Arora.