Lucknow legacy shop’s Gandhi connection | Lucknow News
A lesser-known but fascinating tidbit about Mahatma Gandhi’s iconic round spectacles is that their hinges were extraordinarily flexible — so much so that the frames could be worn from either side, allowing the wearer to push the arms back and forth through a full 180 degrees.These distinctive glasses were crafted at BN Baijal Opticals, a legacy shop established in 1888 in Kaiserbagh, Lucknow. Celebrating 137 years in business, the shop is currently run by the fifth generation of the Baijal family.“The frames were made using a non-allergic, skin-friendly acetate material, hand-polished, and required a careful 25-day crafting process,” says Sonu Baijal, who currently runs the shop.“When Mahatma Gandhi came to Lucknow to attend the Congress session in 1916, people contacted our shop to get his glasses made,” he adds. “Gandhiji himself wrote a letter of appreciation upon receiving the spectacles. Regrettably, that letter was lost over the years due to multiple renovations of the shop,” says Sonu. “In 1888, when BN Baijal started this optical shop, there were only four such establishments, out of which three belonged to the Britishers and one was ours,” he adds.
