LUCKNOW, May 10 -- Various stories associated with the city were staged in the form of a dastangoi titled Yaadon ki Dastaan'at a private hotel on Saturday. The highlight of the programme was a series of 12 short stories written by IRS officer and author Suboor Usmani, which renowned dastangos Pragya Sharma and Himanshu Bajpai presented. The evening began with the story 'Cheentiyon Ki Chutney', transporting the audience to the era of Nawab Pulte and his famous quail-fighting traditions. The tale narrated how the Nawab used to feed red-ant chutney to his fighting quails to make them more aggressive, only to eventually fall victim to the ants himself. Another story, 'Ittar Aur Tezaab', revealed the darker side of palace conspiracies and hatred. 'Waseeka' narrated the harsh reality of Lucknow in 1975, where descendants of Nawabi families survived on a meagre government pension while desperately trying to maintain their fading royal prestige. htc...