"Old days Lucknow times "
In the sixties two ChaatWala were quite popular with the university students and young folks of the Lucknow city . One was the DahiVada vender of Ganesh gunj and the other was the Sharma chaat house, then in a narrow lane in Lalbagh Maqbara colony. King-of-chaat-on-wheels near DM's house was also in the process of getting popular with a certain clientale.
Sharma chaat house was a small shop. It was located a narrow lane in the maqbara colony facing lalbagh. It was so popular that one had to wait for quite sometime to find a seat there. Each dish there cost just 25 paise in early sixties and each dish was quite sumptuous. In fact you could have your fill ,eg, with a plate of big aloo tikki followed by a dish of dahi vadas - both with a liberal amout of dahi and chutney in the large bowl.
Among the tea shops , the best was the cosy small corner shop of Benbows in Hazratgunj - we now have Chhangamal cloth shop there. The slim old Sardarjee who was the owner of the shop was always behind the counter, dressed in crisp white churidars and kurta and with flowing silver beard. Delicious coconut cookies were among a variety of snacks one could have with his pot of aromatic green label tea. My favourite was a couple of thick crisp buttered toasts with the pot of tea.
The best coffee shop was off course the Coffee House. It was in the building across the road from Benbows . It was the different kind of world inside that legendary coffee house. It was a laid back place, a big hall. There were easy chairs of real cane all painted bottle green at each table. One could order a coffee for 25 paise and sit under the fan for a whole day. The most imposing waiter there, in white and green uniform, was tall and hefty Karim. He would place your dishes on the table and just forget you. If you wanted to pay the bill early and leave, you had to seek him out. It what's your favourite place for a variety of people from journalist politicians to students.
In the sixties there were not many cars in gunj. There were only two makes of cars available then in India - Fiat and Ambassador . There was much more demand for cars than supply and one had to book and wait for years to get a new car.
There was a car parking area in the middle of the road in front of Mayfair cinema. One could ,by the way, park a car anywhere in Gunj in those days.
The LoversLane was intact then. As you moved along it, the aroma of pop corn from the shop of Mallicks would come wafting. PopCorn was a new fad then and Mallicks was the first shop to install the pop corn machine.
We have a re-designed classic looking Hazratgunj now but the salad days of Gunjing are certainly gone. In these times of Malls, multiplexes and FoodCourts gunj is no longer a JayWalker paradise.
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