Raunak Manzil stands at a forgotten corner of Kashmiri mohallah in old Lucknow. Over two hundered years old, drained of all its ancient grandeur by misfortune and age, its derelict walls propped up with cheap woodwork and plaster symbolize all that remains today of the great Nawabi culture of Lucknow. Within its many dimly lit rooms lives Haseena Begum with her family. Like her childhood memories, the photographs of her Nawabi ancestors posing with shikar trophie or a British General, adorning the old walls, have begun to fade.
Haseena herself is an antithesis to what her name suggests. Thin with dark shriveled skin and a rather ugly face, she is more of a joke among her community. Women mock at her futile attempts to cover up her ugliness with silk and jewelry and her lack of grace and dignity are considered rather unbecoming for a Nawabi begum. However, Haseena has more than made up for the physical ugliness of her personality with a great sense of humour and there are many evenings when she entertains her guests from India and abroad with numerous anecdotes from her child hood.
My first visit to Raunak Manzil was to meet Noori, one of my friends who had been recently married to the elder son of Haseena Begum. Noori comes from what is considered to be one of the top Sayyed families of Lucknow and she is as beautiful as they come – a pleasant reminder of the Central Asian lineage of her family. As I entered the dim and damp interiors of the manzil, my heart began to sink, did Noori deserve this, I wondered, but when I saw Noori’s gleaming face and her doting in-laws besides her I realized that she had become literally the noor for Haseena Begun. The noor, that had lit up this old haveli with her beauty and grace. Haseena Begum now attends every social gathering along with Noori, showing off her prized possession to the envy of all. She seems to have had the last laugh at fate and her community by bringing home one the most beautiful girls of the Shia community of Lucknow as her daughter-in-law.
Haseena herself is an antithesis to what her name suggests. Thin with dark shriveled skin and a rather ugly face, she is more of a joke among her community. Women mock at her futile attempts to cover up her ugliness with silk and jewelry and her lack of grace and dignity are considered rather unbecoming for a Nawabi begum. However, Haseena has more than made up for the physical ugliness of her personality with a great sense of humour and there are many evenings when she entertains her guests from India and abroad with numerous anecdotes from her child hood.
My first visit to Raunak Manzil was to meet Noori, one of my friends who had been recently married to the elder son of Haseena Begum. Noori comes from what is considered to be one of the top Sayyed families of Lucknow and she is as beautiful as they come – a pleasant reminder of the Central Asian lineage of her family. As I entered the dim and damp interiors of the manzil, my heart began to sink, did Noori deserve this, I wondered, but when I saw Noori’s gleaming face and her doting in-laws besides her I realized that she had become literally the noor for Haseena Begun. The noor, that had lit up this old haveli with her beauty and grace. Haseena Begum now attends every social gathering along with Noori, showing off her prized possession to the envy of all. She seems to have had the last laugh at fate and her community by bringing home one the most beautiful girls of the Shia community of Lucknow as her daughter-in-law.
This write up has also been published in the 'Indian Express' .
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