LUCKNOW, March 16 -- Every Tuesday, Azeem Ahmad Siddiqui boards a bus from Rae Bareli, climbs nearly 200 steep stairs inside a 144-year-old tower, and coaxes history back to life. He is 52, works as an engine machine operator, and has just one day off a week. That day belongs to the Husainabad Clock Tower, and for now, he is all that stands between Lucknow's most iconic landmark and permanent silence. The clock stopped again on Sunday, days after Siddiqui's last visit, when dust settling on the mechanical parts had brought it to a halt. He had cleaned the components, applied grease, and left it ticking. It did not last the week. The pattern is not new. The clock stopped in 1984 and did not tick again for 28 years, until it was restored in 2012. Since then, Siddiqui has been its sole caretaker. He said earlier there were a few mechanics who shared the responsibility, but most of them are now over 75 years old and can no longer manage the climb. He is not training anyone to take over. To his knowledge, no one else is learning the work. When the clock's four faces drift out of sync, which visitors have frequently noticed, fixing them requires an electric machine. There is no electricity connection near the mechanism at the top of the tower. Decorative lights on the tower run on a separate power line that cannot be used for repair equipment. The clock does not run on electricity at all. It operates through a heavy mechanical system, where moving parts are vulnerable to the dust and debris that drift in through openings near the tower's top. The Hussainabad and Allied Trust, which maintains the monument, depends entirely on Siddiqui for the clock's functioning. There is no backup. Built in 1881, the Husainabad Clock Tower is considered one of the tallest clock towers in India. For now, its survival depends on one part-time mechanic, one day a week, and a flight of stairs that gets steeper every year....