In Lucknow

Lucknow be a lady tonight! It seems like I have good Lucknow. Ugh, terrible.

I'm reading the Kite Runner right now. I went for a stroll last evening and ran into a beautiful scene. Tons on kites marking the sky. I was surrounded by two mosques blaring out the call to prayers. It was sunset. The scene almost felt set up.

The walk took place through Lucknow's old city. Narrow alleys (not Varanasi-narrow though) and broad congested roads constitute this part of town. Coming from Kolkata, it's really a mini culture shock all over again. Animals have reappeared on the street (only in Kolkata are they not present in my experience). The roads are dusty. There are no sidewalks. It's a familiar Indian scene, but one that's very different than Kolkata.

I ate at Karim's Kabobs. Did you know that Karim is the grandson of Haji somebody or other. Even though it was a hole in the wall, the menu was in English (though the servers couldn't speak it), Muslim places won't have strange animals, and I figured if his grandfather made the Haj, those must be some pretty good kabobs. It was good. I got a slab small pile of meat (probably beef) and roti for 13 rupees (about 30 cents). My stomach has largely held up, but the shock of beef after 5 weeks made my bowel movement less pleasant.

Last internet place I bargained the guy down from 40 rupees an hour to 20. When I was finished he said, 25. He didn't get the 5 and he lost a customer. For lunch yesterday, I ordered chicken curry. I got paneer. By the time I realized (I thought maybe the chicken was hidden in the paneer), it was too late to send it back. Of course, the paneer was more than the chicken (not that paneer is usually more). Every place I go that isn't a usual spot for foreign travelers, I'm always worried it'll be another Mysore. I hope it's another Mangalore or Allahabad. Not sure about Lucknow yet.

One final note. There's a raging fire that's lasted a few days in Jaipur right now. Yesterday, someone was shot to death outside a Kolkata metro station (neither were anywhere near where I was in those places). Something similar happened 2 years ago when I was India. Bad news seemed to come to a place after I left. Watch out Lucknow!