Aligarh: A Key to Every Lock
By Prashant Mahajan
Aligarh, as we all know, is a city in Uttar Pradesh. It is famous for two things, firstly for A.M.U that is Aligarh Muslim University and secondly for its locks industry.
Aligarh locks are exported across the world. When I was admitted to A.M.U and went to Aligarh I thought it as any other city of U.P. but when I experienced it, the city was very different from what I thought.
Aligarh holds very historic background which I will not be discussing here but I shall just tell you about my experiences.
A.M.U as we all know is one of the well-known universities of India and is well known for its courses in medicine and law. It has second largest library in Asia, the Maulana Azad Library. A.M.U has a very peculiar archetype aura of its kind which is different from that of any other university. It is known quintessentially for its “Tahzeeb” (values and culture). They are strictly followed. Like we are not allowed to wear tract suit or lowers (informal trousers) or shorts and slippers inside the central library and in any other department and also inside the dining room and common room. These are tiny things which makes this university different from other. I reside in Mohammad Habib Hall which holds many good students and few good geologists placed in India are from Mohammad Habib Hall. The hall is named after great historian Prof. Mohammad Habib, father of Prof. Irfan Habib.
Every individual is equally treated and being a Hindu, I never faced any kind of discrimination. But sometimes I face trouble when I go to dining room wearing lower (informal trouser). Once a senior inside the hall told me not to wear this to which I argued -why and what’s the reason behind it, he just said that it is the tradition of A.M.U and we follow it and anyone who disobeys this tradition has to face seniors apathy. It may seems illogical for some but I said earlier these are the tradition of A.M.U which makes it different from other campuses.
Also, talking about the education, the university has generated many good students. Alumni of A.M.U are doing great and are spread across the globe. One of our professor says Aligarh is a city of ‘Insha Allah” which literally means 'if God wishes' we shall meet again if one is alive till next meeting.
Other thing worth mention other than the university is Aligarh Numaish (exhibition) which is held in around Jan-Feb every year.
Now talking about my favourite topic i.e. food, there is one thing special about food which is “tandoori roti”. It is so thick and fluffy that we were used to calling it as “gadda roti” (mattress bread). People of Aligarh have it especially with mutton but as an individual I didn’t find it to have it with mutton. Besides this, the non-veg cuisines of the city are also good. Also Sheermaal is a famous sweet dish of Aligarh made up of flour although I have never tasted it.
So yes this is all about my experience of Aligarh till now.
Lots of love.
Prashant Mahajan studies Geology at AMU
