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Lucknow: Fire of Grace is the first, full-length, historical and contemporary narrative account of one of the most fascinating cities in the Indian subcontinent and covers a time span of more than 250 years, from 1722 till the present day.

At a time when the Mughal Empire was breaking down and British hegemony was not yet established, a wazirdari arose in the Mughal suba of Avadh which later developed into a kingdom. Led by Mughal officers and adventurers of Persian origin, this wazirdari marked a break in world culture. Symbolising the iron-and-rose gesture of Asiatic capitalism, it guided the Indo-Persian impulse of Empire building, n operation since 1206, a revolutionary culmination. Combining power, aristocracy, grace , freedom , science, subterfuge and stule an Indian modern secular renaissance, a Ganga-Yamuna itehzeeb arose from the depths of a fierce Thakur-Brahimin-Sheikh-Sayyid-Mughal-Pathan-Ahir-Pasi society. Ram, mohammed, Krishna, Ali, Akbar, Tulsida and Wajid Ali Shah become one . Avadh was last kingdom to be annexed in 1856 and Lucknow offered the fiercest resistance to the British in 1857 . The city was destroyed in the aftermath of the great revolt as it presented a gestural, political, economic and alternative modernity. Despite paying lip service, the India of Gandhi and Nehru moved away from its legacy. The living symbols of the past were allowed to die down. 6 December 1992 appeared as the final blow. But Lucknow is do not wallow in an existential crisis. Beaten in many ways , they are still stoically defiant about their achievements.

The book gives a mnemonic shock as it redefines the Indo-Persian, Lucknowi way of beauty, politics , cuisine , Fashin, architecture, money –making, sensation , “ada”, ‘Zeban’, honour and culture as authentic indianess –in opposition to Hindutva, Jinnah’s two –nation theory, and Nehruvian ‘pseudo’ – anglicized secularism. In the light of Indian society’s contemporary crisis, brought upon by external pressures and internal backwardness, this is also showcased as the way to a new future where a modern national character speaks the language of hard-boiled Hindustani passion and ideas, and gathers courage, one again , to shake the world.