A tribute to Lucknow’s qisse & riwayatein

The Lucknow chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) ) recently organized an event titled, Shaher-E-Yaar, which was dedicated to the rich tales of Lucknow and the contributions of its residents in creating a unique cultural identity.

Rupali Chandra narrating stories

(L) Anjali Railliaram (R) Afzal Shah

(L) Anuj Varshneya (R) Dr Anita Bhatnagar Jain

The event was inaugurated by Dr Anita Bhatnagar Jain, who also addressed the crowd with a speech. Rupali Chandra, in her storytelling session Lucknow ki Kushboo, commenced with her distinctive style of narration, enthralling the audience with two captivating stories. Rupali enacted each character in a different voice, the characters were executed with a such subtle yet swift finesse that her narrative prowess left the audience amazed.

(L) Jyoti Sinha (R) Nawab Masood Abdullah

(L) Krishna Kumar and Rita Agarwal (R) Shobha Bajpai

(L) Upma Chaturvedi (R) Vipul B Varshneya

Later, a panel discussion, Kitaab aur Kitaabiyaat, with panellists Chandrashekhar Verma, Vipul B Varshney, Dr Shobha Bajpai and Roshan Taqui, took place on how the cultural identity of Lucknow is reflected in each piece of literature that is produced by writers from the city. They also raised an important question regarding the transmission of the world-renowned tehzeeb to the younger generation of Lucknow and how it is the duty of authors to produce such literature that educates the new generation about our culture.
-Manas Mishra