Allahabad

Ko kahi sakai Prayag prabhau

My friend Asif Azmi ( email asifazmi@hotmail.com ), who lives in Delhi, and is like a younger brother to me, is shortly visiting my native town Allahabad. He has asked me whether I wanted to send any message to the people of Allahabad. This is the reply I sent him :

Please convey to Allahabadis my very best wishes. Whatever I am today is due to Allahabad and Allahabadis.

Though a middle size town, it has produced great statesmen like Pt. Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, etc, great poets like Akbar Allahabadi, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Nirala, Mahadevi Verma, etc. great educators like Dr.Ganga Nath Jha, Dr. Amar Nath Jha, Dr. Dustoor, Dr. Meghnad Saha, Dr Krishnan, etc  great lawyers like Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, Motila Nehru, Pearey Lal Banerji, Pt. Kanhaiya Lal Mishra, etc, etc

 I spent about 55 of my 69 years of life in Allahabad, and learnt at the feet of many great thinkers. Though separated from Allahabad for several years now ( after my appointment as Chief Justice of Madras High Court in 2004, and later as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Judge of the Supreme Court, and Chairman, Press Council of India, my heart was always in Allahabad.

 Allahabad ( Prayag ) was the city where Lord Rama came first after his exile from Ayodhya, and met Rishi Bharadwaj in his ashram at the Sangam.

Tulsidas has rightly written in 'Ramcharitmanas' :

" Ko kahi sakai prayag prabhau

 Kalush punj kunjar mrigrau "

i.e.

" Who can say about the greatness of Prayag ?

  It destroys all sins, and is like a lion which kills an elephant "