Bilal Musharraf and his uncle Javed may have heard about the famous pehle aap culture of the city of the Nawabs. But today, two royal factions ensured that the VVIP guests got a taste of its pehle mein culture, too.Fighting for the Musharrafs’ attention at the historic Bara Imambara were two sets of nawabs: one from the ‘‘royal family of Avadh’’ and the other represented by Puttan Nawab, brother of the ruling Samajwadi Party man Buqqal Nawab.Finally, the Avadh family managed to take over the show, accompanying Bilal inside the main hall of the imambara, but not before the Puttan faction created an embarrassing scene or two.In between, there was a brief cameo by a third nawab, Mir Jafar Abdullah of Sheesh Mahal, who was allowed by the Avadh family head, Shikoh Azad, to butt in and present a bouquet to the not-so-amused Bilal.This game of one-upmanship peaked as Bilal set off for a glimpse of the imambara’s bhool-bhulaiyan (labyrinth), forcing even ADM (protocol), Vinay K Rai to take a backseat.Said Avadh’s Azad, a member of the recently-formed All India Shia Personal Law Board: ‘‘The Royal Family of Avadh is the official host of the visit of Bilal and Javed Musharraf to the Bara Imambara.’’But when Puttan Nawab was pulled up by SP (West) U S Bajpai, he was heard shouting to his supporters: “Mein koi bahar se aaya hua nawab nahin hoon.” (I am not a nawab who has come from outside). The reference here was to the Avadh family, the descendants of the last Nawab of Lucknow, Wajid Ali Shah, who died during exile in Kolkata.
