The Allahabad of mid 1950s
Britishers came to India as traders but eventually became the rulers of India. They gradually moved North West from Bengal and gradually captured power in whole of India.
what is now Uttar Pradesh was known as United provinces and its capital at first was Allahabad where the Britishers planned an entirely modern extension of Allahabad City with a University,v several grand administrative buildings and markets. The market for the Britishers in Allahabad was called civil lines market.
In 1950s civil lines market used to be a very posh very clean, single storied, uncrowded and open market place. There were two cinema hall also and one of the was plaza and the other was called palace .
PALACE cinema at civil lines had a high status. It mostly screened Hollywood movies.
In those days Balcony and first class in cinema halls cost rupees 2.25 and rupees 1.25 respectively and there was a student concession also.
Several eating places were there in civil lines. There was a coffee House. Close by that was the high status Guzdhars restaurant. There was also a low budget but high quality famous Indian restaurant by the name of Lucky sweet mart . LUCKY SWEET MART was a low budget popular tea and snacks restaurant in civil lines..
KOHLI PHOTO shop was a high status photography shop . There was another photography shop a little distance from the market by the name of GLAMOUR studio.
Jukebox was a craze at the BN Rama'sv big department store which used to charge 25 paise for one song.
MASTONS was an elite tailoring shop next to Kohli photo . At rupees thirtyfive for stitching a woolen coat they were known to have one of the highest rates in Northern India.
Rickshaw hiring charges from civil lines to Muir hostel was just 25 paise. BULAKI 's hair cutting salon adjacent to Palace cinema was patronised by affluent University students.
The clock tower above the senate hall of the university had a clock identical to the big Ben of London and its gongs were powerful and similar to the big Ben of London.. JAGATI was a very old restaurent of University Road.
There were no transister radios in India until late 1950s . There always used to be a huge radio set in the common hall of the hostels and students used to gather there in big number to listen tova cricket commentary and BINACA GEET MALA. Vizzy and Pearson sureta were the most well known cricket commentators. And for binaca Geet mala we had the famous Amin Sayani, a man with a golden voice.
As I look back, it was at all together different time as compared to today with the very laid back life