GROWING UP WITH HAZRATGUNJ-------A shoppers delight!

! GROWING UP WITH HAZRATGUNJ-------A shoppers delight!



Have been wanting to write on Hazratgunj since long, When I returned to Lucknow in 2008, then when it was being revamped, but finally cudnt resist now, when it has taken another new avtar, recently. After my house, what attracts me most to my beloved Lucknow, is Hazratgunj ! Gunj, as what Hazratgunj is popularly and lovingly called, is the main market of Lucknow probably the only market which has a noun to itself-gunjing, which is strolling in Hazratgunj, shopping, eating, and meeting friends or even just whiling away time. Its a unique market, complete in itself and just very few markets in the country, like CP in Delhi, Brigade Road in Banglaru and Main Street in Pune have been designed on this pattern



My romance with Gunj goes back to almost five decades, and my first memory of the area is, as a small child, being carried on the shoulders of my neighbour, for Milk-Badam, from the Sardars soft drink shop ,located between the LIC and Mayfair buildings,which was also the first to later introduce 7 Ups in Lucknow..As I grew older the visits became more frequent and became a daily ritual from 76-78.In spite of such a long duration, and with innumerable additions and deletions, the basic structure of Gunj has remained the same since eternity. Gunj has seen its ups and downs but has come out a winner each time .It underwent a similar do-up with uniform painting and sign boards in early seventies during the time of V R Mohan as the Mayor of Lucknow. With the expansion of the city and developement of areas like, Mahanagar, Gomtinagar, Aliganj and Indranagar, which created their own local markets, Gunj lost its charm for some time, and this was further added to by the coming up of the Malls in the city. But the die-hard spirit of gunj, did not give up, and over the last decade or so, with the establishment of shops like, Saree Bhawan, Calcutta-in -Style, Sugnamals and the showrooms of branded goods,like UCB,Van –Heusan, Allen Solly, Fab India, Life style and others and the regained popularity of Royal Cafe ,Gunj has regained its charm, and attracts crowds as before. Gunj is frequented usually for various purposes, shopping,eating, entertainment or just whiling away the time.



At one time gunj was the trendy market with almost each and everything available on one straight road. Modern Silk House and Ramlal Brothers, the corner shop,where Cafe Coffee day ,is today, were the laeding shops for sarees. Mercury and Back in a Day, popular dry-cleaners and Rupani and Vohras the clock and watch stores. Vohras was also the leading shop for prizes, trophies, momentoes, silverware and goods of white metal. B N Rama, British Pharmacy and Solomans were the drug stores and Mullicks was the leading shop for electric appliances and crockery and cutlery. Kaysons came up in mid seventies as the one stop store for trendy menswear and Lila Brothers were the fashioable mens tailor. Kohlis and GD Pun were the authorized tailors for army and police uniforms, respectivly. British and Universal Book stores were patronized by people of all ages, but specialy by children of public schools for their books and stationary. The good old Universal, which stood as the corner shop in the building between Gandhi ashram and Sahu, was huge and busy, giving the teenagers opportunity for shop lifting, and I cant resist from confessing that I have walked away with an Enid Bliton once, only because the wait to make the payment was getting unbearably long.. Gandhi Ashram stood as it is today, with Bata and Balujas being the shops for footwear.Kohli Brothers was a Photo studio and Famous Coat House opposite Mayfair, made the best ladies coats .Ram Prakash Brothers,which was earlier in Halwasia market, has provided school uniforms and Sitals sports goods to generations. Avadh Cocogem and Sahu Kirana were the Grocery shops and Kashmir fruit Mart was the stylish dry and fresh fruit shop, also selling tinned and canned food .Sahu chit fund and local bank opened in the same buiding in late sixties,and gave small savings an organized shape. Halwasia Market,an identity in itself, basicaly with shops for clothes and accessories for ladies and kids has existed for over half a century and its first shop, Button House has been the most haunted place for buttons and laces all these years. Janpath Market was established in early seventies to cope with the increasing demand of shops and shopping craze of Lucknowites and this brought the Chickan from Chowk and Aminabad to Gunj,mainly for the tourists. Stealing a part of Halwasia’s popularity. Devi Gramaphones, sold the good old Record players and Radiorgams along with the LPs and EPs of Indian and English music ( many may not have even seen a radiogram and the LP & EP records) As the craze of record players and records dwindled, Northern Refrigeration came up in the same shop, the corner shop beyond Mullicks, which is now the Provouge showroom.they were the first to sell fridges, on instalments in a lottery system, but the fridge was delivered after all the installments were made, We won the 165 Lltres Kelvinator fridge worth Rs 2700,in the tenth month for Rs 2000 only,in 1974.They were also the first to bring TVs in Lucknow,and in fact had advance booking for a year prior to its arrival,at Rs 50 for the booking of a Western B&W TV.



Talk on the shops of gunj is incomplete without the mention of Lovers Lane,the market in the buliding opposite the DRMs building. The market was named so, not because it had spots for couples to sit, but because it had the glamour of trend and fashion, which attracted the teenagers for shopping of sweet nothings and was what Janpath of Delhi is today. The most popular shops here were Cheap Stores, the general merchant and grocery shop and Modern Novelty, the stores for modern food, frozen poultry stuff and goods for birthday parties. The salami burger of Modern novelties was and still remains the tastiest burger I have ever had and even today I never miss an opportunity to grab one, whenever I am in the lane. The Lovers lane was famous for the shops it had in its verandah, which sold trincklets, sweet nothings, cards, gifts and smuggled imported clothes and perfumes. Fashion in Lucknow those days started from Lovers Lane. From James Bond cufflings, to bead strings and footwear introduced by Zeenat in Hare Ram Hare Krishna, broad belts with huge dragon buckles brought by Rajesh Khanna and huge goggles with changeable coloured glasses,popularized by Praveen Baby. The erstwhile Stretchloon cloth was introduced too here, in early seventies, which was used to make the bellbottoms with 32 inch bottoms. Hobbies Corner, the joint that not only sold story books but also gave them on rent,25 paisa a day ! There were few permanant persons here, the sweetman, who sold toffees and chocolates on a cycle,a mad man, who would keep repeating, Woh Ayegi and an elderly beggar who use to speak english, and beg while eating grapes. Lovers lane was the place which got the first Softy ice-cream plant,and sold at a shockingly high price of a rupee per cone. One thing that I miss the most today in Gunj,is the Lovers Lane



A large number of shops have changed, some have closed down, some have undergone partitions, some have been replaced by shopping complexes, but the aura of gunj persists and shopping in gunj is still and shall always remain a treat



Dr Sanjay Kapoor ,Lucknow