200-year-old Ganj for the young

Everything changes.Hazratganj has also changed

For those who remember the Ganj from the 60s through the 90s, today’s Ganj is a transformed place.

Gone are the landmark buildings and establishments like Mayfair, British Library, Talwars, Keshav Fruit Mart, Benbows, Krishna, Annapoorna, London House, Modern Novelty, Hobbies Corner, Love Lane and – yes, the Hazratganj Kotwali.

Changes have been taking place slowly, steadily and suddenly. Today, Ganj is identifiable only because the Northern Railway DRM office, Capoor’s, Central Bank, Chaudhary, John Hing, Halwasiya, Sewak, Soloman, Mullick and Gandhi Ashram have remained unchanged. And also because Royal Café, Kohli, Universal and Bata have changed and yet stayed put. And in place of two cinema halls Prince and Filmistan stands one Sahu.

By a calculation best understood by a flexible look at history books, Hazratganj completed 200 years in 2010. So, all the changes of the past few decades shall now be explained away as the cumulative impact of passing of two centuries.

From a road wide enough for mid-road parking and a Hollywood-only Mayfair in the 60s, Ganj is now a combination of a flea market and big showrooms struggling to retain shoppers and window-shoppers alike.

In the seventies came the emergence of a government office complex named the Janpath secretariat, and a parallel market comprising small, standard sized shops on the ground floor of this building. Most such shopkeepers took shops here who could not afford the ehigh rentals in the old Ganj and soon, this younger brother gained in popularity with Modern Book Stall, Deepak Pens, Eclipse tailors and Lucknow Chikan developing a cult following.

The 80s and 90s saw experiments at no-parking, one-way, no-jaywalking and no-rickshaws, all doomed to failure. Blinding rains, burning summer and biting cold could not deter the avid jaywalker from walking the stretch from Halwasiya to Universal and back via Capoors.

Market dynamics led to creation of an annual Hazratganj Shopping Festival, even as otherwise people continued to shop here during rest of the year as well. Sindhis, Muslims and all kinds of Hindus agreed to disagree and successive governments toyed with the idea of demolishing and shifting the railway office. The railway office remained unharmed but the Hazratganj police station had to give way earlier in 2009, ostensibly to give way to an ambitious multi-level parking lot. It remains to be seen what shape and purpose this ambitious scheme acquires in the next few years till its completion.

Big establishments have been hit by dwindling crowds, unsteady sales, high rentals, poor maintenance, attraction of the malls and of course, the slowdown. But what has remained almost unchanged is the charm of walking in front of the railway office and in the corridors packed with pavement stalls.

A vast pavement market in from of the LIC-bank building near Kaysons has become a favourite with young shoppers looking for a bargain, while the appeal of the brand continues in big showrooms. The Royal Café in its new location offers a wholesome dining experience while Kaysons and Modern Silk House continue to attract the well-heeled.

Parking remains a headache and traffic continues to be unregulated as government (and sometimes private too) vehicles keep flouting the no-parking norms as a matter of right. Policemen are few and far between and yet eve-teasing remains under check. Strollers are never in a hurry and yet some walk briskly through and past them. Merlins and Barista are the new-age meeting-eating joints and the area in front of Sahu remains perpetually in a mess.

And yet, Ganj is unbeatable in its appeal. Visitors to the city may not be able to pinpoint what attracts them to Ganj, and still get attracted. The colours, the skyline, sounds, sights and smells are largely unchanged. And if the cathedral, railway office and Gandhi Ashram withstand the wrath of future governments and time, Ganj will still be unbeatable 200 years later.

Let’s meet you there.

Lucknow/September 12, 2009