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Heritage lovers in the historic city of Lucknow woke up to a strange scene one day last week. They looked up at the clear blue skies, and wondered whether they had spotted a bird, a plane or was it superman flying above them?
It turned out that it was only Bollywood hunk Akshay Kumar who had suspended himself in the air with the help of a cable wire, in an almost desperate attempt to request fans to watch his latest film “Bade Miyan Chote Miyan”.
The excitement of watching Kumar hovering above the city had spread like wildfire. Soon a large crowd had collected in the old part of the city around the iconic Clock Tower. While the youth had cheered wildly, some citizens were deeply concerned at the changed contour of their city’s skyline.
Audiences are used to all kinds of bizarre stunts invented by Bollywood to entertain itself, and Kumar is entitled to continue with the same tradition. However, the thought that the crass and crowded event to promote Kumar’s could harm the beloved Clock Tower had heritage lovers wringing their hands.
It made citizens angry to watch the situation turn dangerously out of control as youngsters began pelting stones and footwear at both Kumar, and his younger colleague Tiger Shroff who was encouraged to make a flamboyant entrance in the air to the initial delight of fans. The frenzy created amongst the youth had later run dangerously amuck.
The situation got so unruly that the organisers had to summon the police. The brunt of the silly event was borne by the crowd of mostly young people who were lathicharged by the police and left to continue to loiter around the streets of the city where they are unable to find decent jobs or an opportunity to sit for examinations in a free and fair way.
Luckily for the celebrity actors, they were all whisked away well in time before they could be punished for further misleading the already confused youth.
The Clock Tower
Lucknow is a city with a rich historic legacy. Looking at its
architectural silhouette, a traveller in the 19th century had compared the skyline of Lucknow to that of Constantinople. However, heritage lovers complain that the collective legacy of their beloved city is in a state of utter neglect. Lucknow is fast losing its charm, and its unique way of life that had made the former imperial capital of the Nawabs of Avadh, the envy of the world.
The Husainabad Clock Tower is one of the heritage buildings that still stands. It was completed in 1887 in honour of Sir George Couper, the lieutenant governor of the North -West Province at a cost of about rupees two lakhs. Located near the even older Rumi Gate and the sprawling Hussainabad Imambara, the Hussainabad complex includes a picture gallery, remnants of the Daulat Khana, former residence of Asafudaula, ruler of Lucknow, the Asafi Mosque and the Teele Wali Masjid and remnants of the Daulat Khana, former residence of Nawab Asafudaula.
At 67 metres high, the Hussainabad Clock Tower is the tallest clock tower in India. It is designed by Richard Roskell Bayne in a Victorian and Gothic style with the clock built in gunmetal. Its gigantic pendulum is 14 feet long, and the dial of the clock is in the shape of a gold flower with bells around it.
Concerned citizen Capitain Paritosh Chauhan worked on the clock for three years to prevent it from being replaced by an electric machine. In 2013, the clock had found its voice and was made to chime once again after having been non functional for some three decades.once upon a time the sound of the clock tower was heard throughout the city.
More Clock Towers Than One
According to heritage lover and journalist Oliver Fredericks Lucknow is home to about five clock towers. The Husainabad Clock Tower is a replica of the famous Big Ben in London. This is a magnificent tower that is in a state of neglect.
It was built by Nawab Nasiruddin Haider, ruler of Lucknow who was aware of the scientific discoveries taking place in Europe at that time, and had introduced libraries and observatories in the city. Lucknow had hired James William Benson, clockmaker to the Queen of England and builder of London’s Big Ben to design Hussainabad’s Clock Tower.
The other clock towers in Lucknow include one at the Central Bank office in Hazratganj and Aminabad, the Hamid Clock Tower at the City Station and one at the General Post Office.
Instead of taking care of the clock tower, the grounds around the tower are used as busy market places while heavy traffic is allowed to pass up and down the heritage site shaking the very foundation of the rare buildings.
Now Bollywood is allowed to misuse even the space around the pinnacle of the clock tower for mindless entertainment purposes. Shameful!
