SA Sites and Cities: The Ever Evolving Allahabad by Shriya Gautam
Hold it right there! Save your breath. Don't expect me Allahabad juxtaposed with Prayagraj to call it Prayagraj. The blue of a city I share part of my maternal heritage from never responded to that name. Devprayag if you must absolutely insist but it hasn't been that in several centuries. There's not much of Devprayag left, though, to be fair. Like I said, it's not a city anymore, it's a blur-a place where past gasps out of the present like a drowning man gasps for air, beating helplessly at the surface of water. Allahabad (anglicised version of Illahabad) was originally named after the secular religion Mughal Emperor wished to propagate and was named after the eponymous Illahabad Fort No matter how much you try to saffronise it, Allahabad is secular, just like the Mughal Emperor, w ho decided to call it that but its fate is not too different than that of the unorthodox great-grandson, who was a "pestilent infidel" in the eyes o...