The Curious Case Of Claude Martin

The best travel tales emerge from making discoveries you least expect, finds SHIKHA PUSHPAN during her recent trip to Lucknow.

The downside of being a frequent flier is that it takes away the small joys of travelling— boarding a plane becomes a dull routine, fancy hotel rooms fail to impress, and exploring a new city is often restricted to following set itineraries. During my recent trip to Lucknow, I found myself drowning in this whirlwind of thoughts when I chanced upon a colourful graffiti that said, “Muskuraiye, aap Lucknow mein hain! (Smile, you’re in Lucknow!)” And just like that, I found myself grinning ear to ear. This is the thing with the City of Nawabs—it surprises you at the least likely of moments.

The new Hyatt Regency Lucknow in Gomti Nagar was my home for the next two days as I went about the city looking for stories. Located in the heart of Vibhuti Khand, the Hyatt outpost is among the fresh crop of five-star hotels that are reshaping the city into a luxury destination. My den, the Regency Executive Suite, looked out to a fast-evolving cityscape of Gomti Nagar, a place that is increasingly being compared to Gurugram for its swanky roads and mushrooming corporate houses.