Lucknowi Tehzeeb

Aarushi Sinha

* Honk Honk! *

Are you lost, my friend? Hop in the car; I’ll lead you to the Tehzeeb of Lucknow. I can promise you it won’t be a bumpy ride. You seem confused, arey muskuraiyien janab, aap Lucknow mein hain!

* Car starts *

Lucknow, the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, or the epicenter of the ancient Awadh, is infamously known as the City of Nawabs (Nawabon ka Sheher) and the City of Tehzeeb. It is a historical city located across the banks of River Gomti. The Lucknowi Nawabs ruled the center for over a century (1722-1856) and surrendered the throne while gifting the people their Nawabiyat. It has been more than a century, yet similar etiquettes still subsist in the natives of the city. Clubbing all of this makes the capital city a culturally and traditionally manner-laden one.

The language spoken here stems from Hindustani language, which is the fusion of the purest forms of Hindi and Urdu. Charming, isn’t it?

* Stops the car with a jerk *

Here comes the tricky part -

Kindly erase the words “main” and “tu” from your vocabulary and remember to always address yourself as “hum,” your group as “hum log,” and others with either “aap” or “tum.”

Oh, I just realized I forgot to introduce myself!

* Shaking my head *

“Namaste! Humara naam Aarushi Sinha hain aur humein ummeed hain aapko humara sheher pasand ayega!”

* Starts the car again *

…. To be continued