Awadh Symphony

by Aslam Mahmud

Lucknow, the cultural capital of erstwhile Awadh region, has charmed generations into writing about the city. But there is no book that captures all the aspects of Awadhi culture, history and traditions of the region.Awadh Symphony: Notes on a Cultural Interlude is an extensively detailed volume which takes you on a journey to a bygone era and gives a glimpse of everyday life in this North Indian kingdom. Revisiting Awadh, it offers almost all aspects of human activity—from culture, cuisine, craft and religious ritual to games, fairs and bazaars; from life of ordinary Muslim women to courtesans, who were a part of the famous Sham-i-Awadh; from the tradition of dastangoi to the recitation of marsiya; and much more.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, India, Own

343 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2017

About the author

Aslam Mahmud was a well-known literary figure of Lucknow and a staunch bibliophile. During his lifetime, Mahmud had built a collection of more than 15,000 books in his personal library in Lucknow. The major part of his collection comprised English, Urdu and Persian literature, Islamic calligraphy and books on Awadh. He also had an extensive stock of old postal stamps; picture postcards; and rare photos, books and movie posters. A number of celebrated scholars of India and Pakistan used to visit his library to benefit from his collection.

Reviews

[Saad Din · Rating 2 out of 5]

An informative body of work specially for thoise who are interested in the history and culture of Awadh. book provides some interesting aspects of life and culture of Luknow how ever the the style of writing does not justify the title; when I bought this book my expectation were quite high regarding the approach of narrator but some how I feel quiet disappointed in this regard.

The title "AWADH SUMPHONY" calls for some lyrical approach towards the subject but the author adopted the text book approach ; he used headings,sub-headings in chapters so as to articulate the info but in doing so the color from the narrative gone missing. One could go thru the pages and will get the information about the subject with out enjoying it and for me this is the basic flaw; secondly this book is not for the beginners instead it is for secondary reading because writer has taken for granted that readers have all the basic information before hand therefore more attention is paid on cultural ethos not the historical background lastly book is restricted to the Muslim community of Luchnow not the other segments of society which were as essential part of the society as any other Muslim family was.

I consider it as a bundle of information but not a coffee table reading.

[Abhay Nanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

From awadh's architecture, delicacies, clothing to the famous courtesans, poetry, rituals etc., the book is filled with information on what makes Awadh stand out. However, the book is more like a textbook.

[Barun Ghosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating journey to the origins of the state of Awadh and the many origin stories about its famous foods and cultural icons like the Tawaif's. You'll learn about the long forgotten beautiful names of colours and vegetables in Urdu and other such delights.

[Radhika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful. From food, to booksellers, to dastanogi, a delight.