Selfie with Metro is Lucknow’s latest fad

LUCKNOW: It was an atmosphere of festivity from Transportnagar to Charbagh as scores of people stopped on the stretch to take selfies atop hotels, buildings and homes before security personnel asked them to come down.
Rudrabhishek, a student of class IX, postponed his vacation to Delhi because he wanted to ride Lucknow Metro.
“My house is next to Transportnagar Metro station.I can’t contain my excitement,” he said.
Hundreds of people had thronged the trisection in Transportnagar and hung in balconies of their residences. Security officials had to disperse the crowd.
A jubilant Rashika Kapoor, a student of an engineering college, wanted to get a photo with the Metro in the backdrop but was not allowed so by security personnel. “I will click my Metro selfie on Wednesday now. Metro is pride of the city.”
Another youth tried to outsmart security personnel by posing as an officer from the Intelligence Bureau after he was not allowed to go on the foot-over bridge in Charbagh to watch the Metro run. However, when he failed to produce a permit or proof, he was scolded by security personnel but released.
Kishore, a student of Class XII, and his mother Rupali came decked up with cameras to catch a glimpse of the Metro at Alambagh station but were denied entry. Rupali even began weeping and pleaded that she be allowed to watch it from atop a building but in vain.
A group of college boys had climbed the roof of a hotel in Durgapuri but as they picked up their phones to click pictures, police warned them and brought them down.
Keshav Shukla, one in the group, said, “I just wanted to click the beautiful train and show it to my friends and family in my village.”
“We were reading in newspapers about the final launch of Metro but we were not allowed even within a 300-metre radius. Why are security personnel keeping us away?” said Bhanu Pratap Singh, who was near Transportnagar station.