Wah Kanpur,Ahh Kanpur!-3

For reading the series of: Wah Kanpur,Ahh Kanpur!-1st and 2nd.They were on funny side of life at Kanpur ,this one on the reality side...

This is an edited compilation of discussions on online forums;
"Kanpur is a microcosm of what most of India is like in a nutshell; The vast majority of people are too caught up with making with their economic and caste problem and a little time to realize the importance of basic civic sense (keeping the city clean,obeying the law etc.). The solution to the problem, like the rest of India lies in uplifting the poorest sections of society(which also form most of the population!) through education and health care. Its sorry to say but few most educated residents of city for don't pay tax or electricity bill, etc but still Kanpur belongs to one of the largest revenue generating cities of India.Shamefully amazing....

No city in India, however big,is completely free from basic/infrastructural problems.However,most cities which have now become big players in terms of economy etc. took some bold initiatives. The reason why they are now on the world map, though, is that they've all taken the plunge, and gone ahead with liberalization and transparency in governmental system,despite their problems.

First and foremost reason for that is insufficient power supply, secondly the corruption. But this will require what most of us already know...selfless and capable politicians (i.e. visionaries).Do anyone has known what People from non-Hindi belt think about UP and Bihar? They talk about both the states in the same breadth. When you will leave your city (also state) for the job location to Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai or Hyderabad, then you will realize we are behind them atleast 10 years in infrastructure facilities.

Literacy rate of Kanpur is 77.63% which is well above the national average.Kanpur is home to several educational institutions which have made it a popular educational center. IIT Kanpur, Harcourt Butler Technological Institute (HBTI), C. S. J. M. University, Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, and GSVM Medical College are few top colleges from the city.I feel especially bad for IITK, since it has the potential to support high-tech start ups, but it is isolated in its ambitions. But they are national or state level colleges hence nothing solid is achieved for city on local level. Hence, devastating un-utilization of human resources.Only coaching mandi was successful new venture established by young entrepreneurs few years ago.

When too Tier-I cities are now fully packed,the IT and BPO companies are turning to Tier-II cities for educated manpower and more opportunity of growth. Many Indian cities have already established themselves in software and call center businesses, and it is too late for Kanpur to enter this race. Kanpur could be an especially bright prospect for industries in areas such as Electronics, Photonics and Biotech (because it has been an industrial base in the past,and because of its proximity to research institutes like the IITK, IITD, ITBHU, DRDO, HAL etc.)...which unlike software are not yet well established in India. But no place can lure industrialists with a 10 hour power outage a day.

The problem is power, water, transportation etc. will all have to drastically improve and huge amount of investment is required. Where do we get the money from ? (unless the govt. takes action immediately); Subsidiary problem like Road and Airport also exists here. Highways are slowly building and CNG buses has reduced air pollution level. Flights to Delhi were started but was closed because of lack of passengers. Air Deccan closed its service and Indian cricket team still travels by road from Lucknow airport to Kanpur for cricket matches. Airport is not to worry fact for Kanpuriyas. Hum nahi Badlenege attitude at its zenith...

I was saddened by reading this stanza on a social networking website about Kanpur. It quotes -"Does any Kanpuriya remember 'V.N. Prasad'? In two years he very much transformed the city from a dead city to a rejuvenating one. It was he who started vision 2010 involving citizens and leading industrialists. Suddenly Moti Jheel was a favorite place to spend evenings and weekends. The deadly roads across the city which claimed scores of lives were re constructed. His honest approach made things possible. But within one and a half year he was transferred. 3 million plus people of Kanpur lost a battle to only say a score of politicians who got V.N. Prasad transferred from the city. Reasons? B’coz Prasad didn’t let the evil politicians get control of tenders for roads and other infrastructure projects in the city. The whole city kept shut and didn’t say a word. No amount of agitation and protest was done. Why? Because have stopped saying NO to nonsense happening to them."

In summary, Kanpur needs responsible citizens and political leaders. But do not want to spit about 'much talked, nothing done' situation of industries shutdown at Kanpur. Did anyone of us know about Aravind Adiga, the prize winning writer of "The White Tiger" ? This article was written by him in 2005 about the pollution status for TIME Magazine. Kanpur was again on the world map but for wrong reasons. Nothing has changed much since then....

Mention about Gutkha Problem in the next post....

Wah Kanpur,Ahh Kanpur!-2

Whats in the name? Really if you agree then read further from previous post about Kanpur...

The turning point in the history of Kanpur came when it was made one of the most important military stations of British India. It was declared a district on 24 March 1803. South of were the British infantry lines and the Parmat parade grounds. Indian infantry occupied the space from the present Chunniganj to the Christ Church College. The Companybagh was laid in 1847 and the construction of the Ganga canal was commenced in 1854. In 1862, Brits built a church called All Souls' Cathedral in memory of those killed in 1857 mutiny; renamed the Kanpur Memorial Church, it still stands at what was the north-east corner of Wheeler’s entrenchment. The marble gothic screen with the famous `mournful seraph’ was transferred to the churchyard after independence in 1947, and in its place a bust of Tantya Tope installed at NanaRao Park. The British contributed to charitable causes in the city by building the "Ursula Horsman" Hospital, the "Hallet" Hospital, Harcourt Butler Technological Institute and by protecting the Allen Forest (now a Zoo) . Most of these are now renamed, though a lot of residents still call them by their old names. The distortion of names is most visible at the railway crossing bridge next to the Railway Station, where the now-closed Murray Company is conveniently called Mari (Dead) Company.

'Philkhana' ground is unique name but current generation does not know about it due to lack of proficiency in Urdu. 'Phil' stands for elephant in Urdu language. Elephants serving in British army were host of that place. 'Somdutt plaza' is named after 'Som Dutt' who was cousin brother of 'Sunil Dutt'. Great connection na...

About something more unique trivia is about 'Naveen Market'. It was named after famous Hindi poet and writer:'Bal Krishan Sharma 'Naveen'. If you have heard about this rebelling stanza from his works-"Lapak chatteh jhoote pathe jis deen dekha mane nar ko, socha kyon na aag laga doon iss duniya bhar ko, Phir socha kyon na tentuaa ghont doon us jagpati ka, jisne yeh ghrineet swaroop diya apne hee kreeti ko".

Name Trivia:
Forget about name change of Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Bombay or Calcutta. For those interested in the World's Most Useless Knowledge, Kanpur can hold a record of being the city, which has changed the spelling of its name the maximum number of times! Between 1770 and now, it has changed a whopping 20 times – thus averaging a mere 11.24 years per change. For those with absolutely no work, the list runs as follows: Cawnpoor, Caunpour, Caunpore, Cawnpour, Cawnpore, Kawnpore, Cawnpor, Cawnpour, Kaunpoor, Khanpore, Khanpura, Khanpore, Caunpoor, Khanpoor, Kannpur, Cawnpour, Caawnpore, Cawnpor, Cownpour, Cawnpore, Kanpur!!!!

Numerologists, who make their theories to fit history, have claimed that the name Cawnpore is most suitable for industrial development and Kanpur for progress in education. Wah!

I do not roam around the industrial area in Dadanagar but had surfed on the lanes of Aryanagar in the evening for chick watch. Coaching institutes at Kakadev or Rave has provided now better alternatives to spend your evening season in bright mood. Greenpark Stadium and sports hostel have been in highlight more often for mismanagement than facilities. Kaif, Raina and RP Singh are talents of this sports hostel only. Greenpark (never seemed green atleast in my time span) became infamous for entrance of dogs in the international cricket matches.

Hostile marketing and versatile bargain technique in Sheeshamau is place to venture for ladies. I prefer Rahmaani Market above all for shopping. Oh, How can i forget about mentioning Gumuti? I was confused first that they were pan shops; Then get the real picture that they were railway crossings..

Anyone know about this kanpuriya phrase, then please explain meaning of it:"Jhade Raho collectorganj, hataata khula bajaaja band". Folklore can go like unending myth but let me take a halt for next post...

Well do you know:Where did Massachusetts Institute of Technology opened it’s first Media lab outside USA ? That is Kanpur.

Wah Kanpur,Ahh Kanpur!-1

I had not taken birth on the land of Kanpur but my heart belongs to here for ever. I have fist arrived on the soil of Kanpur on 9th July,1994. I was on the verge of completing 9 years of my life. Half of the previous life was passed in the hills, Nanital and remaining half was spent in the small town, Salempur. Kanpur was contrast to them in all ways...

Kanpur is shown in the films very few times despite its metro nature in Hindi heartland. I had watched 'Bunty and Babli' just because it has 5-10 scenes filmed in the Kanpur. And in the 'Dhadak Dhadak' song,when AB jr. is standing on the train top at the background of railway bridge on Ganga river, the cult movie become 'paisa vasool' for me. I recall with this scene about the train on narrow gauge (now converted into broad gauge) piercing Kanpur through middle and Doodhiyaas both in and out of train rushing back to kannuj, farukhabad....

And now on screen has come the clincher - Tashan. No film has used a city so intrinsically in its screenplay as Tashan does for Kanpur. Bachchan Pandey (Akshay Kumar) and his antics as Raavan, crimes as an electricity thief, dialogues as a collection agent, sighs as a Roadside Romeo and most stunningly, his language are so Kanpuriya that its unbelievable!

And after a high-voltage fight scene, Saif pays homage to the city of Kanpur in a perverse sort of way by saying – “In logon ke beech mujhe zinda rehna hain, to mujhe akalmand banna padega, khatarnaak banna padega, Kanpuriya banna padega…”

I heard a string of decorative words in my first season at the school. Kanpuriya people blend slang so fast with full flow of pure hindi that kanpuriya dialect become most sublime language in the world. For example mumbaiya word 'Raapchik' can be exclaimed in continuous streak of four different words prevailing same sense: Behtareen, Chaukas, Sateek, Jhakaas.

Koi Sagaa Nahin…
Gulzar’s one (self-acknowledged) act of plagiarism is the famous line from the 'Bunty Aur Babli' title song… (Aisa) koi sagaa nahin, jisko (humne) thagaa nahin. This, in turn, is the super-famous punch line of the super-successful 'Thaggu Ke Laddoo' of Kanpur. Known far & wide for his laddoos, Thaggu got his name from his grandfather, who started the shop and was particularly ashamed of using sugar (a videshi product) against the call of Gandhi. In an allusion to Gandhi’s verdict that anybody using foreign-made sugar is actually robbing (thago-ing) the nation, he called himself Thaggu – and the name stuck till date as a super brand! Intensive research is currently on to figure the origin of the other famous product of his – the Badnaam Kulfi. Thaggu’s confidence in his products shows through one more of his punchlines… Mehmaanon ko mat khilaiye, tik jayengey!. To know more about communist poori and apradhi aata, log on to Laddu Special.

You can also get 'Makhan Malai' at Meston road. It is brilliant and worth to taste..Not to forget south indian restaurant opposite to the IIT gate or Lucky Restaurant at Awadhpuri on G.T. road. The last stop of the Veggie Express has been identified in the city of Kanpur is Gyan Vaishna: A sattvik eatery, situated right next to a traffic junction (which, in turn, is very close to railway crossing) at Jareeb Chaukee. So, even if you do not get run over by a train, auto or bike while trying to enter the restaurant, you will find eternal bliss in their ghee-laden preparations of aloo gobi, daal tadka and fresh rotis. And they some how manage to gauge your fullness. So after a while, the benign waiter smiles and provides tissues and water - without trying to hard-sell their mithais. Priceless!!!

.............I love Kanpur...............