Anyhow...
Kanpur is a beautiful city (I loved it, as I got so much love from the people with whom I interacted in just a day over there). I went there recently for some work (shall give details on this later). Coming back to the point: The city people.... I get down from Rewa Express...walk down the stairs with 7 things in my checklist to do: Keeping in mind that I've stepped into a city I've never been before. Told myself: Never mind...And walked on till I reached the hawker wheel, and spotted a middle-aged man selling newspapers, along with those 'train-reading-specific' magazines etc etc. I ask him..If I can get a copy of TOI. He throws a quick glance at me (donned a pistachio green Khadi kurta), and I felt am I looking not-from-Kanpur type (but how come, by then two IITians had asked if I was going to the IIT, Kanpur:))...He gave me the copy of the newspaper (which I forgot to carry along). I asked him about the distance of the hotel, where I was supposed to check in, from the station. He gave me a fair idea, also told me how much should be the auto fare (and pictured which landmark should come before the hotel, ahead of the hotel, adjacent to the hotel and in front of the hotel.) Now, I'm clear. However, before the auto chaps go ready to fleece me, i made a smart move as I could see them coming from a distance (this expertise comes from my days at TOI, Hyderabad where people had started calling me the 'auto' reporter: The one who writes not on automobiles, but on auto rickshaws that ply on the city road. That was a subject I wrote quite frequently on)...
I reach outside of the Kanpur Central station, by then had got an auto. But suddenly I realised, TOI wasn't with me (went in again and got it). The disappointed auto chap looked suddenly happy when he saw me approaching his rickshaw. Now, I get in. He takes a bumpy bylane, and I ask (why this road, as if I know all the roads). But I was right, he quickly said: "short cut!!!" And, I was busy reading the names of the landmarks, lanes, bylanes so that when he asks me something, "I should be fluent and accurate"! I ask him: "any local market to get the local flavour of Kanpur?". His reply,"check out this big bazaar madam, you will like it". (He refers to some mall here.) And, I feel, no malls again. But there you go! And I got the feeling that why every retail giant (Indian as well as multinationals) have chosen to set shops in the cities and towns of the country?
I cross a big building of Kotak Mahindra bank (felt familiar), along with some other nationalised banks on one building, and some sign boards (one here is the same where I was supposed to report for work). And, I cross a fabIndia store (again familiar)...by then the auto chap had given me loads of gyan (history) of the hotel that I was going to. While getting down, he assures me of a cheaper deal of an air-conditioned room there. Now, a ray of smile reaches my lips, and I deny his offer, by even telling him that I've already got one done. But, he insists again. (I did tell him why did he charge me so much for not a great distance? I did interrupt him while he chose a short-cut route! I did not show my happiness when he wanted me to check out the mall near by!) But still, he was concerned.
I really like the view of the hotel, so much green, and quite that bunglow style! I enter the reception; I see tea trays are being carried to the lawn (yes, people do wake up in the morning, unlike me for whom that a morning to be seen because of her schedule). I sit now, and call up the person (Mr something...) And he greets me, and informs the room is booked and etc etc. Then I discover that I'm in the middle of a hospitality mess, (they have given my room to a guy, who did n't look Indian, and who was the first one to greet me with a 'good morning' while I was entering the hotel). And, I get to see the room where no one stays, and monkeys guard the flat with the guards, of course!, and from where the Ganga can be seen, and the other stories like how the German girl Amelia stayed there, and how that flat is the owner's favourite, etc etc. But these stories did not seem to make me feel pleased.
I ventured into some photography of the garden with the dearest CoolPix S4000. And the maid comes, and cleans the room etc etc. I'm now the silent witness to the mess, but I enjoyed the morning breeze, and by observing the gardener: The way he was treating every plant was so different in treatment: Such is life, you have to treat different things differently to make them look better. The flavour of life was just explained at the tip of his grass cutter.
And I shift to my room, a nice one, after around 2 hours, and I feel easy now. This and that happen then, the routine, etc etc...
now, I start my day after taking directions to reach near that gurudwara! They insist to get me a cab/auto to the hotel, but I choose to explore! I see cute, little rickshaws that remind of my native place back in Odisha, the texture is similar. I go left, then I go right, and I pause near a rickshaw puller (an old man in his 60s may be), looking forward to help me. I ask him if he could drop me at a place, from which I can reach directly at my destination. Now, this man again gives me options, and tells me he will take 10 bucks to get me an auto (looking into my eyes, thinking that I might yell at him). Now, I take into account what was going inside his mind, and I clamber into his rickshaw. He tells me now how much should the auto chap charge me, and how ancient the hotel is where I was staying etc etc. I'm in awe of the Kanpur people by now (There's more to come). He now talks to the auto chat chap (Raju bhai, an interesting fellow with Kanpur in his words!) and settles for a fare, and bids me good bye for he could help me out. I get into the auto, but I can't take my eyes off till the old man disappears from that chowk. Now, Raju bhai tells me not to let the auto guys know that I'm coming from Delhi, or they will leave no stone unturned to fleece me, and etc etc. And he also gives a brief on the hotel I was staying in that how it was urned out to be a hotel where the English men stayed during that era. And he revisits the history of people, the geography of religions, and the existence of God among his comments on the traffic rules at Kanpur. I ask him, how far is the IIT, Kanpur (may be the only place besides the leather industry that I knew about Kanpur, as a kid had heard a lot about it). And, he directs me that it's nearby the place I was going to, when he explains the names of the chowks, crossings, lanes! In between, he had given his contact number to me, and he asks me to go to Kanpur again, when he would let me see the city, and the local markets as local delicacies. And he makes me reach on time, and bids adieu with a 'namaste madam'!
And now, I meet Shukla jee at that office (a man, a wikipedia who has travelled across India, has worked with bigwigs, but he eats less:))...He approaches me: "Beta: Have you eaten? When do you have to go back? and where are putting up?"...While I'm yet to answer his first question, his flurry of questions make me feel I'm home may be! And he joins me for lunch. We talk on work, Indian Railways, my place, his place and etc etc. He greets me, and introduces his son to me, and feels sorry that I couldn't visit his place. And now, I tell him that I've worked already for more than 3 years, and had finished my studies long back...Then he moves to other topics (never mind, for Shukla jee, I would go for a pass on this). We come back, and I see the bill boards of those brands on whom I've been writing on how their strategy has become to be a leader in the tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Kanpur looks so familiar.
From Birhana road to Chowk Bazaar to Miston Road (famous for leather stuff), Gumti no5, GT Road (could recall these names): Amit Bhaiya, (an employee where Shukla jee also works), takes me to these places. He helps me do my random shopping of leather stuff. He didn't yell, neither did he show his disgust. And while coming back to the hotel, I remember a colleague who wanted Thaggu ke laddu and how can I forget that! When I just mentioned if I could visit the shop, a prompt Amit bhaiya says, why not? Let's go. And he takes me to the show where Mr Bachchan did the shooting for a Bollywood flick! The first shop. He smiles as I jump down the car to reach at the laddus (though I don't relish sweets much, but I love getting it for the sweet-lovers: They look so cute when they hog on to it:). I'm back at the hotel, and they say I should taste the food there, and thus I should have my dinner before leaving. And now I get another 'namaste' from the hotel boss! Amit bhaiya said, if my train is at 10 pm, I should rest, and leave for the station accordingly. I adore these moments now. He drops me at the station. And when he doesn't take my token of love towards his service, I say: "nothing else for he got me the laduus for my friends. And, he takes it with a gripping smile"...
Now my train -- 4005-- is two-a-half hrs late. I sit at the station till 12.45 pm, and finally I board 4005: A number that I can never forget (a lesson to remember): Another post sometime later. But one thing came to my mind: Had my friends not been there, I couldn't have got the updates on the time table of 4005 in anyway. I felt like they have the weighing machines (where you put a Re1 coin, and your weight comes in a platform-ticket size format, behind which is written your fortune or some interesting info about your favourite Bollywood actor)...if there could be any system, where one can go, and put a Re 1 coin, and get the status update of the respective trains (for when there is network problem to connect with someone far away from the particular station). I know, I might be asking for more, but is it something that can't be developed. I think, we have the brains in this country.
But I'm waiting to visit Kanpur again!!!Coming coming Kanpur: Still have to do some shopping :)
PS: I may have wrongly spelled some proper nouns, no offence though!
