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The sylvan gardens of Khusraubagh, the now forgotten but once vibrant haven of the fruit, once again was filled with the excited footsteps of children, men and women, all seeking out the pleasures of Allahabad’s dear fruit, Amrood. Sanchaari, in association with Uttar Pradesh Tourism, gave the people a reason to fall in love with Amrood all over again by organising the second edition of the much awaited Guava Festival. Here’s a report by Sehar, exclusively for Different Truths.
While the city braced itself against the cold wave, it was time, again to bring to life the vibrant atmosphere of the city with the sweet smell of our very own Allahabadi Amrood (guava), on Sunday (Jan 15), at the historical Khusraubagh, in Allahabad.
The sylvan gardens of Khusraubagh, the now forgotten but once vibrant haven of the fruit, once again was filled with the excited footsteps of children, men and women, all seeking out the pleasures of Allahabad’s dear fruit, Amrood.
Sanchaari, in association with Uttar Pradesh Tourism, gave the people a reason to fall in love with 
Amrood all over again by organising the second edition of the much awaited Guava Festival in the city.
The aim of the organisation along with the department of Tourism of Uttar Pradesh, in organising a Festival of Guavas was to bring back to life two things so integral a part of Allahabad – Guavas and Khusrau Bagh.
The festival began at 10:00 am, Justice Abhinav Updhayaya graced the occasion with his presence and inaugurated the festival ground. Justice Updhayaya along with guest of honour Justice Pankaj Naqvi and District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar took a walk through the stalls and interacted with the participants at length. The stalls installed in the festival ground exhibited not only various varieties of guavas (17 varieties) from the Kaushambi and Allahabad districts, but brought to light the creative facets of city denizens. Various flavours and various arts were intertwined into a mesh of a refreshing time.
Amongst the stall participants – Qadir Buksh Sweets, Hastya Shilp Udyog, CWA-RAF, Poorva Pratisthan, Sangamwasi, Boutique 11, Muddasir’s Kitchen etc., were present. Sanchaari’s stall brought the flavours of guava based Illahabadi home-made food products, cakes, a tangy guava concoction and other items to the festival.
The flavour quotient at the festival ground got accentuated with the innovative recipes made by the students of Centre of Food Technology.
The flavour of local art and tradition was brought out with the melodious voice of folk artists (Rashmi Shukla) performing during the morning hours of the day.
The excitement and fervour rose up with the salad competition organised to encourage local people to use the fruit in a better and healthier way in their daily food intake. Winners of the Salad Competition were:
First prize: Shweta Singh, Simran Shrimali, Deepti Singh
Second prize: Shristi Sahu, Nehal Taslim Fatima
Third prize: Sahzeela Fatima, Upma Yadav
During the closing ceremony, Hon’ble Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court Dilip Baba Saheb Bhosle took a walk around the festival ground and spoke to the stall participants and encouraged them to participate in other such festivals in the future.
Amongst the other dignitaries present at the festival were Hon’ble judges from the Allahabad High Court, SDO Aandra Wamsi, SDM City Punit Shukla, SSP Purendra Singh, Colonel Sunil Kumar Mishra.
A thorough success, this day was a fruity reminder of what treasures this city holds within its galliyan, what shiny treasures!
(With inputs from Alisha Noelle Phillips)
©Sehar Siddiqui
Photos by: Savinay Srivastava, Shlok Ranjan Srivastava and Alisha Noelle Phillips
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