Coming to life

A rough composite onto the background for storyboarding.

After days of working on this latest draft of storyboards, ruthlessly removing portions that felt the slightest bit unneeded, I began to see things connecting. The elements of the story start to flow together, even with still images, rather than moving shots, once the extra bits are removed and the right shot choices are placed in sequence. I want the viewer to be able to follow what is important from shot to shot without making them look left and right with each cut.I try and break down actions to make sense within the range of movement and expression that these puppets can conceivably express. I think they can do amazing things, but I also have to keep in mind the type of movement that the puppeteers I am working with will be able to bring out in the characters readily, or with a bit of direction. That is a way to double check that what I storyboarded communicates even at a simple level. With great performances, it will only get that much better.There are a lot of things that are quite slow and tedious to do. This weird magnetic timeline in Final Cut Pro X makes me spend a lot of time zooming in and adjusting clips frame by frame to make them connect, so as not to leave gaps. Besides that, the process to add a visible scene and shot number label to each shot is so ridiculously tedious. There must be a better way. A few less clicks and double clicks on that many shots would make a difference. Still, despite many steps being tedious, the process of seeing your story come to life visually against the backdrop of the score is a beautiful thing. Suddenly things seem possible.

Challenges?

After a nice breakfast of channai, naan, left over aloo gosh and tea, courtesy of friends, I set things up and got ready for the day’s work.I’m storyboarding a difficult dance sequence that involves eight puppets. It is fun to place the camera in different spots and see where I can create the most interesting way to tell the story. The challenges are many, as I am just one person, I need to get the puppets to stand or sit and approximate the kinds of actions they will perform in a given shot. Puppets are meant to be performed with, so without the performer, they are quite lifeless.On top of that, the electricity is going out even more often today. I have a few battery powered lights that will last a short while, so I keep moving forward using them. My laptop battery runs out pretty quick when I am editing.. Things look rougher than I would want, since I can’t create the correct light setups or poses on my own, but I think I can get the information I need to shoot the film.It’s a struggle. I feel like the mosquitoes are over excited today, adding to the discomfort. Any one of these issues can make it difficult to concentrate and encourage my mind to wander to anything other than the work at hand. My computer freezes, then I have to reboot it and wait for the hard drive to slowly connect. Somehow, I need to keep on task and move forward. I am making good progress, so I have to keep at it.After a few too many computer crashes and no electricity, I took a short break. I walked out the door, past kids playing in the street. As I passed an empty lot with a few dumpsters in it, there were other small children playing in the dumpsters. They were probably throwing away tree trimmings or looking for recycling, but they were still being kids. I saw a man I have passed several times lately on the sidewalk, selling sunglasses. He switched street corners. It’s a tough spot to sell.I was on my way to Bulleh Shah kulfi, and as I reached, I saw that it was shuttered. It is sunday after all. So, I walked back the opposite way, picked up a bottle of apple soda and thought hey, let’s live a little, and picked up a small bottle of leechee soda as well, then walked back, my head a bit clearer and my challenges so much smaller.

Cutting it all, nothing is precious

I spent the day setting up scenes and storyboarding. I find myself cutting out some beautiful sections of music from the film as they would prolong scenes without adding value to them. This music will sound great on the accompanying music albums. It is scary to put these pieces together, because there are moments when it all feels terrible. That is normal. You just have to throw the pieces together, then refine, edit, smooth out transitions, swap out shots to help things flow better. I just keep chipping away at it until it is better and eventually, as it was during other stages of the film, it can become beautiful.Introspection is helpful, losing all confidence is less so. It must be time to sleep.

Evernew Studios

I went over to NCA to talk to the Film and Television department. It is important to look into all options and resources regarding shooting “Risalo”. I met with my friend Suffi Bilal and caught up a bit. My coming over was last minute and unfortunately the department head was quite busy. He tried to make time, but there was just too much going on. I met with some other people in the department and was able to bounce ideas off of them and get some names of possible dps. This is just as a backup in case down the road other plans do not work out.After that, I walked over to catch a wagon (those tightly packed vans) to Evernew Studios for a meeting with Nomi sahib. The wagons were so full that the drivers shook their heads “no” as I flagged them down from afar. Usually, they would be overflowing with people and they would stop and squeeze you in Tetris style. They were packed beyond even that today. So, I waited, and several past with the same problem.I flagged down a rickshaw and took that instead, after the usual negotiation. Name a price, they give you a counter price. You repeat your price and walk away. So, with the right price (I usually end up paying too much), we were on the way. After getting through the usual blocked roads, we got there. I walked in and met up with a member of Nomi sahib’s office (Tryangle Studios). I had some water and tea, then got to editing a bit. By then, Nomi dropped by and we discussed his production and equipment rental companies. He could help organize and setup the production with one company and then get equipment through the other. He seemed genuinely interested in making this film together and all the next steps on my end would be to finish the new draft of storyboards while he took my current numbers and put together a budget.He was headed to Qalma chowk and offered to drop me there, where I could get on the metro to return easily. He was going to meet production friends, some of whom I know, so I tagged along for that and met up with Sohail sahib and shared a scene I had boarded. He was appreciative and could begin to see the elements coming together. His enthusiasm was very helpful. He also made some good suggestions as always. Some regarding possibly showcasing the film and episodic form, or localizing music were good thoughts to keep in mind for future possibilities. You just never know which direction things will go, so it is helpful to have through through options before hand.I added the rest of the photos from my last session to the edit. There are definitely places where I could remove shots and lengthen some. I head home after, feeling a lot better about these next steps in the process. There is a great deal of work to be done before we are ready for production, but those steps are in progress.

Another draft of storyboarding for "Risalo"

Some days are more difficult than others. Dealing with electricity issues, missing family and friends, and the huge weight of tasks on my shoulders with no certainty in regards to the outcome or timeline is tough.I spent the day storyboarding scenes for “Risalo”, using photos and mocking up the scenes with the actual puppets and backgrounds. This way, I can actually stage the shots and position elements as they could actually work, rather than trying to figure out those logistical issues for the very first time on set. It is kind of how I go from storyboards to previz in 3D animation.I was able to pick up the pace a bit and accomplish more on this day then the previous ones. I just need to get these photo storyboards in for the whole story, then I can focus on refining it.In the evening, Imran brought by his friend Nomi to take a look at the puppet stage setup and discuss “Risalo” with me. He is a director of photography, a good friend of Imran and Sohail’s as well as someone who both puts together productions and deals in rental of production equipment. Those are the types of skills I need in order to get this production finished.He was interested in partnering up on this film. It would be great to be able to focus on the creative side and get his help on setting up the production, gear and crew.

Engage the viewer

I continued putting together basic mockups for shots using the actual puppets and backgrounds to create storyboards. I’m working on a scene that had not really been fleshed out before. It was the only one that I had never gotten around to. It features a lot of walking around in the desert with the passage of several days, as the character goes through a lot of internal turmoil.How do you make something like that interesting? I have been experimenting with different ways to show the desert. Adjusting the stage setup offers a lot of variety, as does lighting. In addition to this, as the narration is poetry, it is a lot of fun to play with the visuals and not try to mimic the words. The viewer is already digesting the meaning in those words. That information is there, so I can play with other moments in the visuals that can add to the story, rather than repeating what has already been communicated. This is how I am approaching this film and how I hope to keep the storytelling engaging. In terms of lighting, I don't have lights that can be focused and with the electricity going every other hour, I just need to use battery powered lights so I can see things in the photos I'm taking for storyboarding. I can add lighting references later which can be used to put together lighting setups.

Storyboard and re-storyboard

I spent the day updating my blog and figuring out how to start the next draft of storyboards. Sometimes people look at the painstaking detail that goes into putting together a film and wonder if it is really worth it. People wonder why a film needs to be storyboarded over and over again. If only they knew how many more times the story had been written out in notes and thumbnail sketches before even reaching that point. This process is very necessary, and you actually save a lot of time and trouble by putting in the work up front in the planning stages.Last year, before I had music, puppets and backgrounds, I took the detailed notes and script that I had assembled for the film and storyboarded it to a rough recording of myself reading the poetry slowly in Urdu. I had to guess at timing and imagine that with music it would be better. It was a long process, with a lot of revisions, but that formed the basis for recording music with the correct timing and mood, based on each scene as well as determining which props and backgrounds needed to be created.Now that I have puppets, music, several backgrounds and a bit of a stage setup, it is time to storyboard the film taking advantage of the flow of the music as well as the flexibility that the stage setup allows. I have worked hard to open things up to allow “Risalo” to break out of the single vantage point view of a stage performance, to strike a balance between that tradition and a more cinematic experience. Today, I began taking photos and mocking up camera movement and staging to create a final set of storyboards based upon which we can shoot this film. This is where I can hopefully work out issues of timing and flow to make the best film possible.I ironed another background and started playing with how I position it in relation to the stage, puppet and camera. I’m off to a start at least. Let’s see how much I can do before heading to Multan to audition and rehearse puppeteers in the coming weeks.

Aiwan-i-Iqbal

I woke up to some breakfast with friends. After that I worked on my blog and started to break down a sequence from my film to create a new draft of storyboards. When working on the blog, it is a strange feeling to read about where I was two months ago. The snail’s pace of progress, the challenges of every tiny effort are still painful and weigh on me. I am thankful to be far past them, but it is sobering to be reminded of how much fortitude it takes to continue.In the evening, I went to Pak Tea House with some friends. We had some chai and snacks before heading to a weekly literary reading at Aiwan-e-Iqbal, located behind the Alhamra Arts Council. We were early, so I walked around the gallery. There are a lot of beautiful paintings. Many are by Aslam Kamal, a painter and calligraphy artist whose book I have enjoyed. It was really interesting to see how he played with figures and text, as well as using decorative shapes and motifs to create forms.After looking at the gallery, we walked downstairs to one of the conference rooms and waited. People trickled in. Many were keeping up on some local election results that were due to come in. Apparently this weekly literary meeting has gone uninterrupted for some 76 years. Though it seemed that punctuality was not something that had been sustained.On the roster for the evening was a ghazal (poetic form), a literary critique and short story. Each piece was followed by an open discussion on the merits and flaws of the piece, while the writer had to remain silent and the critiques were directed at the chairperson.It was a good discussion and I enjoyed being there to get some nourishment for my brain. The pieces were less inspiring than the fact that this meeting exists. Afterwards we grabbed some egg kababs and naan and watched the motorcycle processions cheering political parties, before we head home.

Lahore Photo walk

So, I went to a photowalk put together by the Walled City Authority. It was exhausting, but so much fun! Umar and I head over there and met up with our friends Mohsin and Ifthikhar. I really needed a break from being cooped up in a room, editing music.Walking around the old city with friends is a great way to remember why I love this city. Each time I come here, I end up walking down different lanes and discovering new places. We friends got separated many a time during the walk, but invariably found our way back. It was a lot of fun to see all the people out, taking photos, and enjoying the true Lahore of the walled city. There were so many groups of people walking around different sections.Part of what was special about this organized walk was the access to some havelis and the Fakir Khana Museum. The Walled City Authority, who organized the walk, had arranged to give us access to the inside of these wonderful places. These kinds of events are so important. People need to have productive ways to have fun, where they can learn and connect to their culture and community.At the end of the walk, we made our way to the Lahore Fort, where they organizers fed us biryani and treated us all to some live music performances. I felt very grateful for all the effort that the organizers put into making something so fun and special. We also ran into my friend Waqar who had been on the walk, once we reached the fort.

Work you do and don't

I had to do some bank work today. It is always a pain. I know it will take hours and may involve trips to several places and then there’s still a good chance that the task won’t get done. I had been editing Sur Sorath, the story of the musician Beejal who challenges Raja Rai Diyach, the king. I edited for a good 5 or 6 hours, cutting pieces down as far as possible. Then afterwards I will go through each piece and finesse the transitions over and over until it connects cleanly. It is fairly exhausting work. It is all pretty messy sounding until you get the pieces connected just right so the transitions are smooth and that takes time. The Sindhi version is starting to flow smoothly, but I just patched together the Urdu version so the transitions sound terrible, until I go through and work on that further. The initial task was to just cut the different sections of the music down to match the length of the Sindhi version. It is a complicated and tedious process. I hope I can pull it together the way I want. The good thing about it is that there is room to refine it further later, so long as I have the main bits down in terms of timing.So, after doing that, I went out for a walk to do some tasks. I picked up a roll of cotton for Umar to use on the beautiful king’s court background that he is sewing. Then I went to a series of banks, waited, waited more, got sent all around and got half of my tasks done. The other half of the work will have to be done another day. I didn’t have the energy to suffer through more of that for today.I picked up potatoes, spinach and tomatoes on the way home. I’ve been cooking to keep some relatively healthy food going and keep costs down. I have to ration to get through the end of this production. It is what I have been doing the whole time, but a little care now will give me a lot of peace of mind when I head back to LA.I spent a couple of hours cooking. It is a nice change of pace and I feel like it helps me get out of work mode for a bit before I head back into it. I’m trying to arrange things in Multan so I can head there and audition puppeteers and hopefully shoot a test which I can use to pitch to folks for their support in terms of the production of the puppetry portion. I feel like the pieces are lining up and I am trying to stick to a schedule that can help me get things done the way I want, in an efficient way.

Process of design

I spent the day editing. I managed to send some help Ustad Anb Jogi’s way. It’s tough for anyone to survive without the ability to earn. Sudden things like health problems can really knock anyone out. As it is, I feel like most people everywhere are just getting by, so how do we cope when things happen? I thought about this as I listened to the work we have done together and pieced together the framework of “Risalo”.Umar and I are trying to figure out a design for the outer section of Raja Rai Diyach’s fort. I began a design a few weeks ago. I like some bits and several others just are not working. It takes a process to get to that final design that feels right. So we put together some shapes and start playing with flat colors to overlay, since the end result will be sewn out of pieces of colored cloth, selected based on whatever design we paint and finalize digitally.We end up talking about the design, then painting in sections, suggesting colors to break things up, push things back, bring things forward. Then when it gets overworked and messy, it is time to clear things up, and get back to those basic shapes, possibly retaining new bits of anything that seems like it may be going in the right direction in terms of the shape, the size and focal points we wish to create. The court scene that Umar is currently sewing, went through a similar process, before we felt the design was effective and had the beauty, and a different influence other than Mughal architecture in its shapes and design. Raja Rai Diyach is from about the time of the Gandhara civilization who were Buddhists. So I found some photos of an old fort in Junagarh and interiors from an old Buddhist monastery to pick apart pieces and create a design that provides the space and technical requirements needed for the actions that will take place in it as well as meeting the design requirements of the time and place these stories come from. There’s no way to be historically accurate and that is not my purpose anyway. I’m just taking pieces of influences from different places and then as Shah Latif did, wrapping it in Sindh and my own ideas.

To see the light of day

I went early to Checkpost and digitized the problem DV tapes, over and over until I got the bits I needed to piece the rest of the music together. It is a painstaking process. Sohail sahib showed me a very cool stopmotion project that he had dp’d. I hope to see it finished one day. It is a reminder as to how many great efforts never see the light of day, despite a great deal of work, just because life gets in the way. I don’t want that to happen to “Risalo”. It would be very easy to let go at any point, with all the challenges and the enormity of the project, but no, I started this because I want it to be made and for it to reach the world.

Exhaustion of goodwill

I spent another day on editing. In between, when the electricity was gone, I walked outside for water and made some food. Despite all of these forced breaks, I pieced together the entire sindhi film. Work began on king’s court, which is the largest and most complex backdrop thus far. It took a while to finalize the design and figure out the best approach for creating it.My friend Ustad Anb Jogi (composer and music director of “Risalo”) was supposed to come to Lahore, but I had not heard from him. During one break, I called his number and his brother answered. I was told that he had two heart attacks and was in the hospital in Hyderabad. Amid all the work, life just seems to happen. I felt sick and worried about my friend. My mind raced with thoughts on what I could do. In the past I have run campaigns, but they are very difficult and take a good deal of time. It is also not good to exhaust those who trust and support you by constantly trying to drum up funds. I want to use those generous bits of support to create self sustaining ways to raise future funds, rather than exhaust people's goodwill.I can only wait to see what the situation is.

Do I really need that bit?

I spent another day just editing music. I focused a lot on sur Karaayal, which features Jamaluddin Faqir. I have to listen to each bit of music and see where I can trim a bit, but not destroy the flow and then match that in the Urdu version as best I can. Nothing can be precious and anything can be cut in service of the story. That means there are entire sections that are being removed where I do not feel that there is a need for more time within the film to explore a particular moment.

Editing and back to Landa

After editing until 4am, I slept for 6 hours and then woke up again. I liked the sound of the section I had been working on. I keep switching between sections that I am working on, to keep from getting exhausted. The smaller sections are very rewarding to work on after spending days on the longer ones as I can get it put together a lot more quickly. So I played back Sur Kalyan, the introduction of the film as we ate another breakfast by Umar.He was the first to hear the Sindhi mix. It’s not finished yet, but I have a good idea of the length and all the pieces are in place with a bit of mixing. We looked over a king’s court design I had made and then head to the Landa Bazaar to pick up cloth so that Umar can start sewing it.

Editing all day

I spent the day editing music. There are so many pieces to this thing. The recordings are long, but I have to make sure that I keep them as short as possible. Ideally, I want to cut down the main stories to between 25 and 30 minutes each and the shorter pieces down to 8 to 15 minutes. I don’t want it to feel like a music video, where the shots are stretched longer than they should be, just to fill time for the music. The narrative drives the pace of the story, which is why I recorded music based on the story boards that I set to rough audio while planning the film.This is it. I have to get each of these many steps done before I can go home and I can’t lose momentum or sacrifice on quality now.

A delcious meal

The next morning we all got up early and head toward the airport in the van taxi from the night before. I haven’t been out when the sun is rising in a while and it was quite beautiful. We said our goodbyes to Kristeen and then head back home. It is a weird feeling to not have her here, but she’s headed back home to work on her own project.I poured myself into work. Umar made us breakfast and I spent the day organizing and editing music for “Risalo”. There are hours and hours of tapes to piece together and edit. It is one of those things where you just have to get in there, be stubborn and get it done. Once it is all sorted and synchronized, I can focus on the art of it. For now it is all about finding the pieces, seeing if something is missing and lining up each of the three tapes that were recording simultaneously to get 6 separate audio tracks to work with.The electricity keeps going and my laptop will only run for so long before I am forced to take a break. On one such break, I walked down the street and picked up a bag full of vegetables. It is odd to walk around without Kristeen.I put the bag of vegetables on the table and fell asleep in the room for a bit. Later, I woke up and got right to editing. Then a friend dropped by and Umar and he were cooking. I stepped out of the room and sure enough the okra had been cut and was being cooked. His friend even took out some of the meat that neighbors and friends had dropped by on Eid and added that to the mix.All I did was wash some cilantro and pluck the leaves, and we had a delicious meal.

Printing...

We went to visit a friend for lunch, then visited another friend in Bhatti (in the old city). Kristeen said her goodbyes to friends as we had to relatives days ago. I needed to print out her ticket information. Sometimes simple tasks like this can be very challenging. I had put a pdf file on a usb and thought I’d print it whenever we were near a print shop. No one I know has a printer.So, in the evening, while visiting our friend Mohsin and his family, I walked with his brother all around Bhatti, Mochi and Lohari gates of the walled city. Shops were closed or without electricity. One shop had a printer, but no paper. So we walked down several lanes and picked up a couple of sheets of paper, then head back to the shop. After much struggle, the guy could not get his printer to print. The shop was rather odd. I don’t see how anyone can earn a living from it. There was a lot of garbage in the shop including discarded plastic wrap from soda bottles. There was a freezer with soda bottles and a pile of sodas outside of it. There were all kinds of odd, random bits of things amid the dusty garbage. There were a few cel phone chargers and headphones, as well as dusty, empty boxes for electronics. A cannibalized security camera without a casing hung from the ceiling, but it is doubtful that it worked. Outside the shop was a beat up looking soft ice cream machine. Inside, three young men sat around behind the counter, surfing the net, looking at their phones and just hanging out.After that, we decided to forget about printing it. Sitting with Mohsin and his family was nice. His mother is so loving. She treats Kristeen like her own daughter. We had some nice daal and rice at her place and our friend Mohsin is slowly getting better after injuring his eye. On the way out, one of Mohsin’s brothers helped us negotiate a good rate with a taxi van outside Lohari. He even dropped us home so he would know where to get us in the morning.

Nankana Sahib

We head out to Laria Ada, the crazy bus stand of Lahore to wait for our friend Umar. It took some time to coordinate. Eventually we met up and then walked all the way down the long line of buses, down the street, past buildings asking for the Nankana Sahib bus until we reached the end of the bus stand and boarded the right bus.We passed through the dirty, smog filled parts of the city, before hitting the countryside. There were green fields all around and from between them we made our way to Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, the first Guru of Sikhism. I had been there about 7 years ago.We started at the Janamashtan Gurdwara, situated on the site of Guru Nanak’s family home, and the place of his birth. There is a great deal of work being down on the Gurdwara. The new front section is beautiful. We walked around and learned about some of the history of the place. Afterwards we went to the langar hall and enjoyed some daal and rice followed by some tea.We went to pick up our shoes from the little stall where they are kept and the two little boys there escorted us to the restrooms. While we were waiting they shared a lot of information about their religion, making connections to similar practices in Islam. They asked me what I did and their eyes lit up when I explained that I work on cartoons. Their favorite is Chota Bheem. They were quite proud that they watched it and would not even let the rest of the family watch any serials when their show was on. They were brothers, named Gurjit (1st grade) and Dildar (3rd grade). Dildar made a point of explaining that he was not the Dildar who is a famous dancer or something just to make certain I would not get confused. I did not know who that was, but appreciated the clarification.They had a lot of information to share and I started joking around with them because they were so darned cute. They told me about a Gurdwara that we could see the top of off in the distance. It was the place where Guru Nanak played as a child. I often had to repeat things between Kristeen and the kids so that both sides could understand. I told Kristeen that the kids told me that Guru Nanak used to play as a child on the site of the Gurdwara close by and that the children had taken all of his toys home and now there were animals there. Kristeen wasn’t quite convinced but the kids started to open up and let their silly selves out. They told us all the kinds of things that adults would probably not mention. How someone had died in the pool before because it is actually very deep in the middle. They asked us about each other. When Kristeen spoke in clear Urdu to them, they just looked at her confused then looked at me to explain.They invited us to come to their home in case we wanted to drink a soda, but they lived very very far away. In fact, it would take 10 minutes by rickshaw. They studied Gurmukhi in the morning at the Gurdwara, followed by school and then they did their seva keeping track of the shoes at the Gurdwara before heading home. They were really fun little kids.Their father asked if the kids had bothered us as we were heading out and I told him how wise and sweet they were. On the way out we spoke to the man in charge of the Gurdwaras there before heading down the street to explore some more Gurdwaras. The town has 7 Gurdwaras, each built on the site of a significant event in the life of the Gurus of Sikhism. Most are related to Guru Nanak. There is the spot where he was born, where he played, where he fed some starving faqirs and talked religion under a tree rather than spending money to buy goods as his father had told him. That lead to his father spanking him under a tree that still stands there.There was another Gurdwara on a spot where he was herding cattle one day. He took a nap and a cobra opened its hood to shield his face from the sun. A muslim king named Rai Bhaloor saw this and realizing that he was a man of God, gifted him the land that is Nankana Sahib today. It was fun to visit each place along the way back to the bus. We stayed behind a bit longer than we should have. By the time we made it to the bus stand, the last bus to Lahore was packed. We managed to hop into a little wagon that would take us part of the way there. It was crazy how many people they packed in. We made our way to Ferozpur. From there we let a few more packed buses go by, before we found a more reasonably packed bus where we could squeeze into the back seats.The rest of the ride was long and bumpy. We hopped off and took the metro a few stops down and then a Qing Qi the rest of the way. I guess we were lucky to make our way back so…easily.

Shahdarah

I am more than a little afraid.

naughtiest kid

People waiting for boat across Ravi river.

Bara Dari

Steep climb to Bara Dari

Ravi River

Mehboob’s brother and us.

Mehboob and family

Shahdara neighborhood.

Child wrestles control of Qing Qi from hepless driver.

As the multi day Eid festivities continued, Kristeen and I hopped on the metro to visit Shahdarah. We met with my good friend Mehboob and his family. It had been just over five years since we last met, though I had kept in touch over the phone.Mehboob had worked as a security guard at the NCA hostel back when I first met him. He and I became good friends during my stay there. Each night the electricity would go, and I would sit with him for hours, talking and sharing. I had visited his family back then as well and learned a great deal about him and his very positive outlook on life and the work he put in to making it better for his family.So it was, that years later, Kristeen and I met up with his family over home made aloo gobi (potato and cauloflower) parathas in Shadhra. We spent the day chatting with the family, visiting Bara Dari (a Mughal era garden along the Ravi river), Noor Jehan (Mughal Queen) and Jehangir (Mughal King) tombs. It is great to see a lot of restoration work being done on these tombs. I remember visiting about 11 years ago, and there seemed to be no sign of preserving these sites.At night, we had some rabri faluda.