Hyderabad Belongs To Natives, Not Investors

A much debated, but an interesting discussion in Telangana movement is about Hyderabad. The question oft-repeated by some media pundits and political analysts is who gets Hyderabad post the formation of Telangana.

Hyderabad has held the status of a cosmopolitan capital ever since it was founded. As the founder Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah prayed to Allah, to fill his dream city with people like fish in a river, it was indeed granted.

True to its cosmopolitan, heterogeneous identity, the city has attracted and given shelter to people from across the globe. The Persians from Iran, Pashtuns from Karakoram region, Siddi’s from the African continent, Arabs from the Middle East have made it their home. They settled, flourished and blended so well with the local populace, that most of the tribes have almost forgot their origins, and call themselves Hyderabadis.

Well that was about the people from across the planet who naturlized in Hyderabad. The second set of peoples is from across the British Indian Empire. This set is quite exhaustive, in fact as many peoples as the number of princely states that reigned in India over the last 400 years. Most prominent among them are the Marathas, Kannadigas, Kayasths, Gujaratis, Parsis (from Gujarat), Anglo-Indians, Pardhis, Tamilians, Bengalis, Malayalees and many more. These people took no time in realizing that Hyderabad is their home.

The difference between those who came from across the globe and those who came from the British Indian Empire is quite simple. The former moved to an alien land and took time to naturalize, whereas the later have just moved across to a neighboring state and were more acquainted with Hyderabad. However, both of them not just made Hyderabad their home, they felt it.

So, why do we have to learn about these people and what’s their relevance in the present Telangana movement.

To understand that we’ll have to discuss about another set of people – the Seemandhraites.

The Seemandhra people had their history tied up to the Madras Presidency, where they had a strong political leadership. However, the Tamilians started taking political charge into their hands. It is then the Seemandhraites realized a need to sustain their identity and fought for a seperate state and the Andhra state was thus formed.

After their botched attempt to claim Madras city from Tamilians, they realized that not a single town in their state had the infrastructure to become a capital. The instant formula was to merge with Hyderabad state under the disguise of Telugu jaathi. They were awestruck at the world class infrastructure Hyderabad city had at that time.

Instead of following the footsteps of earlier migrants who made Hyderabad their home, the Seemandhraites treated it more like a colony and an investment haven.

The 1956 states reorganization split Hyderabad state into three parts on a linguistic basis. The Kannada districts were merged with Karnataka and Maratha districts were merged with Bombay Presidency. Both of them had their own reservations and apprehensions about the demerger and subsequent mergers, but none had any issues with Hyderabad. Neither the Kannadigas nor the Marathas laid claim to Hyderabad.

Why? Didn’t they develop the city? Didn’t they contribute to Hyderabad’s identity? Don’t they have any historical connection with the city right from the Golconda Nawabs realm to Asaf Jahi Era?

If the native Telugu speakers (post 1956) of Hyderabad have rights over the city, so do the Marathas and Kannadigas. They have been more of Hyderabadis than being mere non-Telugu speakers. They have been the pillars of Hyderabad’s identity. They formed the soul upon which the physical plane of city was built.

But why didn’t they claim a share in Hyderabad? Well, they believed in the Indian family system. They knew that when two brothers grow up and start living their own lives, they part ways amicably. They knew that destiny has made them a part of Hyderabad as a migrant, but finally gave them the identity of a naturalized citizen. So when they had to part from Hyderabad, they gave back what the city gave them for almost three and a half centuries. The city gave them identity; they gave back the same identity to city. They understood that Hyderabad is not a tangible asset that can divided or altered. They wanted it to be what it had been so far.

Quite contrary to the Kannada and Maratha brethen, the Seemandhraites, who have hardly been in the city for half a decade, have started claiming it as their own. Those who have never been a part of the city’s history, culture or identity have started demanding a share in the city. Their argument is that they’ve invested here for 50 years, which sounds more like a businessman demanding his part of the share.

The nature of Seemandhra leadership can be understood by their repeated demand to make Hyderabad a Union Territory. This is akin to saying “If I don’t get something, neither should you get it”

Whats surprising is that the Seemandhra leadership raised the same demand when their attempt to grab Madras from Tamilians failed – They demanded that Madras be declared a Union Territory!

And after 5 long decades, history is repeating itself all over again.

Seemandhra leaders don’t seem to understand that cities don’t belong to investors or tourists. They belong to the natives. Cities can’t be sliced or transferred between two parties. Cities belong to the geographic region from which they were born.

Seemandhra leaders should remember that they invested in an already developed city seeking good returns. The sweat and blood of the Kannada, Maratha, of every other tribe that came here for that matter, have been shed to build the city and those people never thought of reaping the benefits.

Seemandhra investors were welcomed with open arms to the city and given a chance to become a part of the identity here. But they chose to be mere migrant businessmen.

This was the same attitude that threw them out of Madras; however, they never learnt their lesson. People, who never had a capital of their own, don’t realize the importance of what a capital is made of. It’s not the mere money of Seemandhra investors brought in over last 50 years, but the love, the belongingness and the affection of every other tribe over the last 400 years that makes Hyderabad what it is.

Seemandhra leadership should realize that they can’t do a “Madras Manade” over Hyderabad.

The State Of A New State

My tour of Raipur (Chattisgarh), started with a small, but an interesting incident. I arrived at my friend’s place and was offered a glass of water by the domestic maid. I thanked her saying, ”Shukriya”. She put up a puzzled face and turned towards my friend. Even while I was thinking what went wrong, my friend explained to her that‘shukriya” meant “dhanyavaad”. Now she looked relaxed and smiled. For a person like me who is used to the”Dakhni tehzeeb” (etiquette of Deccan) this seemed a déjà vu albeit in a different language.

Well, the story started with the biannual itch I have for bike rides. This time I decided to ride to Raipur, an 1800 KM journey both ways. Apart from the itch being the first reason, I also wanted to know how Chattisgarh was doing as a state.

After a butt-breaking ride on the National Highway (NH) 6 from Nagpur up to the border of Chattisgarsh (Bhanpuri village in Rajnandgaon Taluk), I was expecting to see the worst roads of my ride. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to see the black top runway-like stretch of NH-6. Reason is, as a tea shop owner says,”MP se alag hue, tho sadak apne aap ban ne lage” (After separating from Madhya Pradesh, roads were built automatically) and he seemed pretty happy. This somehow reminded me of our own NH-9, the blood thirsty highway in Nalgonda district.

All the way, I was just riding through forests and more forests. So would Raipur be like a town in the midst of a deep jungle? I was sincerely wishing to be proven wrong, and my wish seemed to be granted about 70 Kms before Raipur, near the town-now-turned-to-a-big-city Rajnandgaon.

This place, a sleepy town just a decade ago, now boasts of a strong pace of development, which was obviously in front of my eyes. The next town, the steel city of the state, Bhilai, had even bigger surprises for me. This town known for its dust spewed roads is now sporting swanky constructions and definitely resembles any of the roads in Banajara Hills.

“So, how did this happen”, I asked my friend later.

“Separate statehood” he replied.

He has been living in Raipur and travelled extensively across Chattisgarh (as a part of his profession) and witnessed rapid development throughout the state in the last decade.

Writer at Sirpur Buddhist Excavation Site

As I was entering Raipur, I could sense the bustling activity right from the outskirts of the city. Everywhere there was some construction either in progress or almost done. It seemed more like a town under construction rather than some building renovations. “That’s Naya Raipur, a new city being constructed 10 Kms outside the existing Raipur”, my friend explained. Apparently, the Chattisgarh Government realized the need for a bigger city with better infrastructure and ready to accommodate the influx of investors and migrants.

“Apni khud ki ghar basana bahoth badi bath hai”, (setting up a new home is indeed a big deal) says my friend’s landlord proudly. Had the Seemandhra leaders thought similarly, we would’ve seen such pride both in Andhra and Telangana decades ago.

Even the older Raipur is rapidly catching up developmental pace to justify its tag as the capital of a state. As my friend says, no single road in the city is the same as what it was five years ago. From being a rural big town, it has steadily transformed to an urbanized city. Before the statehood, there have been promises to turn Raipur and Bilaspur into the second Bhopal and Indore of MP, however none were kept. Now, those false promises are turning into inevitable reality, thanks to the statehood.

This reminds me of the promises to develop Nizamabad, like its Deccan cousin, Nanded. Had this promise been kept, why would a sizeable chunk of Nizamabad town still depend on Nanded for its business? So to speak, doesn’t the Telangana state be a catalyst to develop Karimnagar, Nalgonda, for that matter Warangal into the next metro?

The next day, I went around alone to see for myself and to hear from natives about the transforming city. What caught my attention or rather I’d prefer saying, I was surprised to find a building with the board “IIM-Raipur”. Initially I thought this was some institute set up to cash-in on the influx of rural population for education. But to my astonishment, this is the enviable “Indian Institute Of Management, Raipur”. There was one IIM in MP, the IIM-Indore, but just 4 months before my trip, an IIM-R was set up and this is the youngest IIM in the country. Amazingly true. Even after being one of the biggest and politically strong, the so called United Andhra state has sweated so long to get an IIT. On the other hand, there is this young tribal state already boasting of its entry to the IIM league.

Another fact one wouldn’t miss noticing is the number of multiplexes that dot the city’s landscape. I understand that multiplexes are not by themselves an epitome of development, but this is proof enough that investments have started pouring in. Also, auxiliary businesses are thriving and growing unlike before. People (read investors) from all over the country are now in a race to tap the raw potential. What does this translate to? Multiple employment opportunities in the tribal dominated state!

The educated youth has been shifting its focus from an only ‘forest agricultural society’ to ‘forest agri and commercial business society’ for employment. Hitherto, this was possible only if the tribal youth had access to Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur or Gwalior. Doesn’t this apply to the ever impoverished North Andhra districts of Srikakulam, Vijayanagaram and Vishakhapatnam? Also, the question of “uttarandhra ku rajadhani chaala dooram”(Hyderabad is too far from Northern Andhra) seems answered if there was separate Andhra state with a proximal capital.

On the third day, my friend and I went out to explore the interiors of Chattisgarh, mainly Sirpur (the capital of theDakshin Kosala) in the Mahasamund district and the forest highway leading to Sambalpur (in Odisha). Have you heard of Huen Tsang, the Budhist scholar, who visited India some 1500 years ago? Well, Sirpur is one of the Budhist sites he visited; however, it is very little known compared to the other popular Buddhist sites he travelled to.

I didn’t expect to see any great monuments in Sirpur, but was surprised at the infrastructure being set up by the Government. But why build such amazing things here, in the middle of the jungle. “Rajya sarkar Chattisgarh ko  paryatak vibhag me unche sthaan par bithana chahthi hai. Ab tak to MP ki chchaya me kuch ho nahi paya”replied the caretaker cum manager, at the newly built tourist guesthouse. He meant that Govt is trying to make Chattisgarh a preferred tourist destination, which was ignored under the more dominant Madhya Pradesh.

I wonder when the Andhra hegemony would be over and our own Kolanupaka, Kawal wildlife sanctuary, Nirmal, Ramappa, Ananthagiri (birth place of Muchkunda-Musi), Phanigiri, Kotilingala etc., emerge as tourist destinations.

During this trip, one question always bugged my mind. What was the political scenario in the united MP towards the state bifurcation? Who were the leaders who opposed and supported the statehood for Chattisgarh. Naturally, I was looking for an answer from the Telangana point of view. Well, to sum it up, Chattisgarh is home to some of the stalwarts in the Congress party and national politics in general. These veteran leaders dominated the politics of the united MP and even at Delhi. For example Ravi Shankar Shukla, the hero during Sirpur famine of 1900 went on to become the first chief minister of the unorganized MP. His elder son Shyam Charan Shukla occupied the CM’s seat three times. His younger son VC Shukla is a prominent congressman, close to the Nehru-Gandhi family and held all the enviable central portfolios.

So why did Chattisgarh still fight for a separate statehood, when so many of its own leaders were calling the shots in Delhi? The most obvious reasons were the dominance of investors from MP in the mine rich Chattisgarh and severe exploitation of the resources. To add to it, the cultural and economical hegemony swaying over from the Vindhyas and plains of MP always perceived Chattisgarh as a mine of resources without any identity.

Just like in Telangana, the politically opportunist leaders were on and off the statehood demand. It was not until Shankar Guha Niyogi, the leader of Chattisgarh Mukti Morcha, who initially started off as a trade unionist was assassinated, that the fire was ignited. What actually started as a demand to raise the rupee 3.50 daily wage to a decent level, ended up as a broader demand for statehood. But, Shankar Guha Niyogi and Chattisgarh Mukti Morcha, remain as unsung heroes, owing to the Congress and BJP’s claims over the statehood fruits. And I’m sure this relates to the opportunistic leaders of Telangana as well.

While I was planning this bike ride, some friends warned me about the left wing extremism (aka Naxalism) in the state. They were of the opinion that separate statehood resulted in this violence. I wanted to prove them wrong and was successful in doing so. I rode almost 200 Kms into the deep forests, only to be amazed by the nature and places of interest.

So, then where was this insurgency when the state was not bifurcated from MP? The answer is simple; it was existing since the last four decades.

“Jaise yahan ki pehchan par kisi ko dhyaan nahi tha, waise hi naxalwaad par bhi kisi ko ruchi nahi thi”(just like there was no one interested about our identity, so was the case with naxalism, they didn’t bother), said my friend’s landlord.

This seems to be a logical answer which I can empathize with. If some say naxalism would gain momentum in separate Telangana, what about the ever existing situaton in the Andhra – Orissa Border (AOB)? Wasn’t the movement there since the Srikakulodyamam (Srikakulam uprising of late 1960’s)? And now those trying to prove that the Naxalism in Chattisgarh is the result of statehood to undermine Telangana, never bothered about it even in AOB. To put in a different note, Dantewada and Bastar (southern most Chattisgarh) are the only Naxal dominated regions, whereas majority of the state is as safe as any other place in India.

All in all, this bike ride has totally convinced me that Chattisgarh is well on track to catch up with any of the other states. It’s tapping the potential and grabbing the opportunity, which was never recognized in the united MP. If this was any indication, Telangana would be a far more viable state owing to its advantages over Chattisgarh.

Intellectual Mockery Of Telangana Statehood Demand

I support the Telangana statehood demand, which means I'm against those who oppose it. However, I wish to clarify that I'm not against the right of the people opposing it. Well, the whole point in publishing this post is the mockery of the Telangana demand  by some so called intellectuals via their blogs/articles. If they want to support Samaikyandra, let them do so. If they want to oppose Telangana, also let them do so. But I really don't understand why they insult the Telangana demand, when they can argue positively.

I've been following several blogs over this issue. Most of the blogs are published by people who like to project themselves as intellectuals in media, social work, politics. These pseudo intellectuals don't have a logical or a rational argument against Telangana, but to maintain their image and divert traffic to blogs, they mock the movement. I'm tempted to use foul language against such people. May be i'll do that in another post.

Well coming to mockery, some say, "Telangana people can't speak proper Telugu". Telangana has it's own, distinct dialect or form of Telugu. How can over 8 crore people, spread over 2.75 lakh square kilometers speak the same dialect of a language?

"People who attended the TRS Mahagarjana were paid Rs.500 each and given a biryani packet. 50% of them are supporting united AP". Well then why didn't Samaikyandra leaders ever conduct a public meeting? What about the 95% positive votes received by the 12 MLA's, do you say even those were polled under the lure of a 500 rupee?

There are several other points, which i'll in mention my later posts. Again, I'm really tempted to use the best foul language (from the core Telangana dialect) against these intellectuals, but didn't want to disturb the character of flow this post. I'll come back on this issue later. Right now I'm a little busy with my Manu.

I'm A Father, Officially!

Inspite of the doctor estimating another 5 days for the delivery, Suma gave birth to the little one on the 19th of December at 4:06am. She started experiencing labour at 6pm in the evening. When we consulted the doctor, she was a bit surprised at how soon the day arrived. She admitted Suma in to the hospital. This is when the actual struggle started. Though there were bouts of pain waves, they were not enough for the baby to come out. The doctor had to administer an injection for additional and effective pains. The whole night I could here Suma screaming and yelling in pain. Finally, the doctor said that it is impossible for a normal delivery since the foetus has the umbilical cord over it's head. And as she advised I agreed for a c-section. An operation was performed and the baby was out at 4:06AM. I was told by the anaesthician, that it was a baby girl. I could only see the baby only at 5AM, when she and Suma were shifted to their room. 

It feels good that I'm now a father. Not only it gives my joy but also reminds me of the additional responsibilities in life. 

Siddenki - 1

Siddenki is the name of my village in the Janagoan mandal, Warangal district. This was the place where my life, thought process, my experience, my childhood, learning, all that relates to Raju (aka Thirmal Reddy), connects to. Siddenki - 1 is just an attempt to look into myself. I don't know if i'll be ever able to post Siddenki - n, because it's too many things, infact, it's everything that I am now. I want to get back to Siddenki, partially through these posts. 

Trip To Hampi

After joining Google in 2007, our team of close friends have been going on vacations every year. The first one was to Suryalanka beach and the second year we went to Pondicherry. We joked ourselves that this has become an annual pilgrimage to some place every year and should continue that. So this year we went to Hampi, the village famous for the ruins of Vijayanagara empire.

By the way, the closest members of our team are Lathish, Archana, Surekha, Kalyan and of course, myself. Though during the first two trips some other colleagues also joined us, it's usually the five of us. However, this time it was just myself, Lathish and Surekha that went of the trip, since Archana was abroad for her studies and Kalyan had some last minute alterations in the plan.

Anyway, the trip went on smoothly except for the return journey when our bus was delayed by 3 hours. Now coming to some of the highlights of the trip were, of course the Virupaksha temple, other ruined palaces, temples in and around Hampi. And, the best part is that you get bikes ranging from Luna's to Bullets for hire just for 150-300 rupees. It's the best mode of transport to go around the ruins spread over 25 square kms.

Every home in the Hampi village is turned into a guest house and rented out to tourists. Each home (or guest house) has it's own small restaurant. The beauty of these restaurants' is that they serve Indian and continental food. Believe me, continental food here includes, Tibetan, Mexican, Lebanese, Israeli, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and some more dishes from countries I don't remember. The best part is that they serve it cooked  fresh and don't use any preserved or frozen ingredients. The price is unbelievably cheap. We ate the Egg paratha which was very delicious. There are 10's of hotels/restaurants here, so food and accommodation is never a problem, except that prices fluctuate based on tourist season. I should specially mention the Shanti guest house apparently the best one, where we did not get accommodation and Ranjana guest house where we stayed. Mango Tree is another restaurant that gets a special mention. This is a small eatery serving variety of food, and located in an orchard on the banks of river Tungabhadra. Don't miss this place.

I forgot to mention that alcohol and non-vegetarian food (except egg) are prohibited in Hampi. If you prefer these two, then you need to go the nearest town of Kamalapura (just 7kms away).

Hampi is also know for it's foreign tourists. People from across the globe come here, you won't believe me, and spend several months studying the Vijayanagar empire. Infact, some of them know many more details of the place than the local people. The shops, hotels, restaurants, souvenir stalls, even the bike renting shops have foreign exchange facilities. It's just amazing.

After spending two interesting days, we returned to Hyderabad. I totally recommend Hampi for all those who haven't been here. By the way it's just 380 kms drive from Hyderabad if you want to drive there.

Dasara And My Village

I always loved Dasara festival since my childhood, partly because it fell after the quarterly exams during the holidays and my visit to my village 'Siddenki'. It's been more than 15 years since I celebrated Dasara in my village, I still feel the excitement I had at that time. My mom would buy me new clothes from the village weavers/cloth merchants and give it for stitching to the village tailor, who had his shop/home in the street next to my ancestral home. I used to bug the tailor every day to stitch my clothes first.

On the Dasara day, mom used to cook chicken curry and vadas for breakfast (no one in my village, including my extended family members ate or knew what a vada was, believe me). She cooks the same dishes even now. For lunch we used to cook mutton curry and bagara rice. An interesting thing was that all the families of my community used to buy goats/sheep in bulk and share the mutton. People in my village still follow the same procedure.

In the evening, I used to go with my father and other male adults to the 'Jammi' pooja and get some bangaram home(leaves of 'Jammi' tree (Mimosa Pudica) is called bangaram). Then comes the ritual of sighting the 'Pala Pitta' (Indian Roller or Blue Jay bird). Immediately after sunset, we visit all the relatives give them jammi leaves and seek blessings of elders and greet cousins. One common thing we find in every house hold is the aroma of non-vegetarian food and odour of liquor. Almost every one is in an inebriated state, but that doesn't undermine their affection towards visitors.

Another important thing worth mention is that, two days before Dasara, we celebrate 'Saddula Bathukamma". Saddi in Telugu means food (packed in a parcel, usually for farmers going to agricultural work). I remember me, my father, my pedda baapu (big father aka. uncles) going to fields and collecting gunugu puvvu, thangedu puvvu to decorate bathukamma. Though this is a festival of the women folk, the entire arrangements are made by the men. After celebrating bathukamma (forgot to tell, bathulkamma is the floral form of village deity), it is immersed in the local pond or lake. 

I become nostalgic when I think of those days. Not that, I cannot go back to my village, but somehow circumstances have become obstacles. I love my village, Siddenki.

Life Revolving Around My Yet-To-Be Born Kid

Suma entered sixth month of her pregnancy. She looks different with her bulged tummy. And we are expecting our first kid in the third week of December. All through the day there's just one topic we discuss and that's about our kid. By the way we have already named him Suraj Reddy, which is a play around our names Suma and Raju. May be its just a coincidence, but every thing we do, every where we go, every person we speak to, has some connection to a kid or some new born baby. I know it's just that everything related to babies is catching our attention and not just coincidence.

Oh yes.... I forgot to mention that, if we have a baby girl then we would name her Mani Karnika Reddy, the maiden name of Rani Jhansi Lakshmi Bai. I'm not sure when I became fascinated with this name, but it was fixed in my mind strongly. Also, there are some pics of Suma's mother shower function (Sreemantham in Telugu) which I wanted to post on the blog. So that was actual reason behind this post. Bye for now.

One Town Two Marriages

The title may seem a bit awkward, but I couldn't think of a better one. Well, the town is Ongole, the head quarter of Prakasham district. Two of my former colleagues (at ETV2) got married here in a gap of 3 months. This was an opportunity for me to meet all my media colleagues, since all them would definitely attend the weddings. The first time five of us went there in my car. After the wedding we also went to one of my friends house in a nearby village, Naguluppalapadu. We also thought of visiting the Gundlakamma project, but didn't have the time.

Second time, (for another friend's wedding, that is) we were some fifteen of us. Traveled from Hyderabad to Ongole by train. After the wedding, we had plenty of time and decided to visit all the places we missed earlier. Our first visit was to the Gundlakamma project on the Gundlakamma vaagu. Luckily, since it rained the previous week, the project gates were opened to let out excess flood water. It was a magnificent view from the project to see the water gushing out. There was a temple on the other side of the project of Mannavaram Prasanna Venkateshwara Swamy temple. Next we started to our friends village (the same one which we visited on the earlier trip).

We were back in Ongole by 7 in the evening to attend a small party hosted by a local politician (friend's friend). He arranged almost every delicacy available in Ongole. A couple of drinks later, and a lavish dinner, we bid adieu to him and reached the bus station to catch our bus back to Hyderabad. After a delay of 1 hour, a flat tyre in the middle of the night and a back breaking ride, we reached Hyderabad at 10 am next morning. With some discussions on the next get together, all of us headed to our respective homes.

Ramzaan Time - Haleem Time

Right from my childhood I've been a great fan of Ramzaan. Primarily because of the toys I used to buy near the masjid in Balamrai (behind Paradise), where I was born and brought up, and lately because of the variety of haleem. At first when I tasted haleem during my first year in under graduation, I didn't like it at all. A friend of mine had it made at home. Somehow, I didn't feel it was a delicacy attached to the Hyderabadi culture. But three years later, when I tasted the haleem at Shadaab near Madina chowrastha, I started developing a liking and now I'm addicted to it. 

In the last decade I've tasted haleem from almost all the popular Irani eatouts in Hyderabad. Some of these are Pista house, Madina, Shadaab, Paradise, Bawarchi, Astoria, Niagara, Hyderabad Biryani House, Cafe Bahaar and many more. Not to forget about those hundred's of small bhatti's (earth furnaces) set up my seasonal businessmen all over Hyderabad to sell haleem during the month of Ramzaan. Haleem at these places is as good as any popular irani cafe and they cost less. Infact, the best part is to taste haleem a couple of times in these popular irani cafes and go out on fulltoo eating spree from the makeshift haleem counters. That's about my haleem story. Now I'm starting my month long haleem eating festival today. Will write up more stuff soon.