Hyderabad embodies the duality that India stands for in the world today:the juxtaposition of the new rich and the dilapidated old. So where you have the latest retail chains and urban spaces, you also continue to have the long forgotten bylanes that breed the spirit of India.
Old Hyderabad is as conspicuous by its architecture as by its sights and smells. You have the towering Charminar that stands as a sentinel of the traditions and history of the city....the adjoining market that has been where it is since ages....and the people who, though traditional, have learned to move forward with the times.
When you're in Hyderabad, what hits you from out of nowhere is the pathetic condition of the traffic. People seldom follow rules and sometimes it beomes a free-for-all on crossroads. The city would have been so much better had its people maintained discipline on the road. For a changing city, I am sure this too is bound to change.
Hyderabad, the city of Nawabs is also the city of the software majors.....of the Telugu film industry and the delicious biryani. Like most of the places in India it is full of culture and yet...has a contagious freshness about it. As I flashback on the week I spent back in Hyderabad, there's one thing for sure....I'll always carry the memories that it has left with me.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Hyderabad Diary 1
When you go south of the Tropic of Cancer in India, you might as well expect to find hot, sultry conditions awaiting you. At least that's what I expected of Hyderabad. But I was pleasantly surpised otherwise. The place was remarkably cool for this time of the year.
So what's special about yet another teeming metropolis in a country of the teeming millions? To the people who live and work in the big cities-nothing. But to someone who hails from a small town-a lot. I was amazed by the manner in which Hyderabad is at the forefront of almost everything happening in the country. But people there told me that the place was no longer as happening as it used to be, ever since a change in government in the state. And yet, Hyderabad, to me was in stark contrast to the sleepy township that I come from.
The city is certainly one of the IT hotspots in the country, and often competes with neighbouring Bangalore for IT related investments. But, unlike Bangalore, Hyderabad is also a city that is steeped in antiquity. A place that has, through the centuries, learned to strike an intricate balance between its glorious past, rebellious present and a future full of possibilities.
Secunderabad, Hyderabad's twin city, separated from it by the majestic Hussainsagar Lake, is rather special because of the large expanses of Cantonment Areas there. These areas, habitated and maintained by the Indian Army are the epitome of excellence in civic planning. Lush green acres, dotted with Victorian buildings for residential and administrative blocks-that's the typical geography of this area.
More about Old Hyderabad in the next post....
So what's special about yet another teeming metropolis in a country of the teeming millions? To the people who live and work in the big cities-nothing. But to someone who hails from a small town-a lot. I was amazed by the manner in which Hyderabad is at the forefront of almost everything happening in the country. But people there told me that the place was no longer as happening as it used to be, ever since a change in government in the state. And yet, Hyderabad, to me was in stark contrast to the sleepy township that I come from.
The city is certainly one of the IT hotspots in the country, and often competes with neighbouring Bangalore for IT related investments. But, unlike Bangalore, Hyderabad is also a city that is steeped in antiquity. A place that has, through the centuries, learned to strike an intricate balance between its glorious past, rebellious present and a future full of possibilities.
Secunderabad, Hyderabad's twin city, separated from it by the majestic Hussainsagar Lake, is rather special because of the large expanses of Cantonment Areas there. These areas, habitated and maintained by the Indian Army are the epitome of excellence in civic planning. Lush green acres, dotted with Victorian buildings for residential and administrative blocks-that's the typical geography of this area.
More about Old Hyderabad in the next post....
Sunday, June 25, 2006
College life....past, present and future
It's been two years now......Halfway through college and I decide to do a little flashback...put all those days in retrospect. There have been days of elation, revelry...and days of desperation. I've had the good times and of course, my share of tough times......There are ways in which college has changed me, and there are so many other ways in which I remain the same.
The fact remains that these days have brought some of the best times I've ever had.....so many more pals, so much more fun, frolic,excitement and what have you.... it's been as they say: 'the time of my life'. My college has a great spirit-a unique one. It's one of the oldest educational institutions in the country and more often than not such places tend to have a culture of their own. When you come in, you become part of the family and join in the BIT experience....whether it's cursing the administration, enjoying the scenic beauty of the place or simply whiling away time around the canteen...
What I like about this place is that it's constantly on the move.....not in a manner visible to anyone, but discreetly...people are moving ahead all the while. Exploring new ideas, changing old attitudes, adding to their personality and constantly gaining in the whole process. You may not be at the forefront of a revolution to realize that you are changing...and yet you are!
I would much rather have preferred if my college was not as sleepy as it usually looks....laid back and quiet like a place isolated from the world: physically but not socially. This particular quality of the place leads many people to believe (incorrectly I contend...) that there's nothing going on around here....
All these days have flown by like a dream....classes, exams, parties, fests, arguments.....and yet there's something that tells me that I haven't even seen half the fun yet.... There are so many things left to be done...and just two years to fit them in....challenging, but exciting all the same. And so as I laze around at home, wondering what the next two years of college might be like, somewhere at the back of my mind I know that amazing times are ahead!!
The fact remains that these days have brought some of the best times I've ever had.....so many more pals, so much more fun, frolic,excitement and what have you.... it's been as they say: 'the time of my life'. My college has a great spirit-a unique one. It's one of the oldest educational institutions in the country and more often than not such places tend to have a culture of their own. When you come in, you become part of the family and join in the BIT experience....whether it's cursing the administration, enjoying the scenic beauty of the place or simply whiling away time around the canteen...
What I like about this place is that it's constantly on the move.....not in a manner visible to anyone, but discreetly...people are moving ahead all the while. Exploring new ideas, changing old attitudes, adding to their personality and constantly gaining in the whole process. You may not be at the forefront of a revolution to realize that you are changing...and yet you are!
I would much rather have preferred if my college was not as sleepy as it usually looks....laid back and quiet like a place isolated from the world: physically but not socially. This particular quality of the place leads many people to believe (incorrectly I contend...) that there's nothing going on around here....
All these days have flown by like a dream....classes, exams, parties, fests, arguments.....and yet there's something that tells me that I haven't even seen half the fun yet.... There are so many things left to be done...and just two years to fit them in....challenging, but exciting all the same. And so as I laze around at home, wondering what the next two years of college might be like, somewhere at the back of my mind I know that amazing times are ahead!!
Monday, June 12, 2006
I have a dream.........reloaded
I have a dream….
A dream that one day my nation will stop spitting on its streets,
That one day all the institutions of this country will magically free themselves of the malaise of nepotism…
That justice shall not be denied to the parents of the next Jessica Lall…
I have a dream that my country will stop dividing itself…..
That my countrymen will stop multiplying themselves….
And adding to the endless list of national woes…
I have a dream that India will never again talk of banning The Da Vinci Code,
That we shall instead focus on real issues and ideas
That one day politicians will get the spine to stop appeasing their vote banks….and retract the quota system…..
I have a dream that some day in the future every Bollywood movie will be a work of art and not just a scene by scene copy of Hollywood flicks….
That one day Aishwarya Rai will tend to her attitude problem….
I dream of a day when roads will be better…..when clean water will not be a dream for half a billion people….
When India will stop watching inane Saas Bahu soaps….
I have a dream that one day I will stop blaming people like I just have….
That I will wake up trying to change things ……
And start with myself……………
A dream that one day my nation will stop spitting on its streets,
That one day all the institutions of this country will magically free themselves of the malaise of nepotism…
That justice shall not be denied to the parents of the next Jessica Lall…
I have a dream that my country will stop dividing itself…..
That my countrymen will stop multiplying themselves….
And adding to the endless list of national woes…
I have a dream that India will never again talk of banning The Da Vinci Code,
That we shall instead focus on real issues and ideas
That one day politicians will get the spine to stop appeasing their vote banks….and retract the quota system…..
I have a dream that some day in the future every Bollywood movie will be a work of art and not just a scene by scene copy of Hollywood flicks….
That one day Aishwarya Rai will tend to her attitude problem….
I dream of a day when roads will be better…..when clean water will not be a dream for half a billion people….
When India will stop watching inane Saas Bahu soaps….
I have a dream that one day I will stop blaming people like I just have….
That I will wake up trying to change things ……
And start with myself……………
Friday, May 26, 2006
Will the real Marxists please stand up?
The ‘Left’ in India is probably facing its greatest identity crisis ever. So who are the real ‘Leftwallahs’? Is it the ‘Karat’ and stick brigade….the kind that vehemently oppose any trace of development at the centre or the Buddha-Bhadralok brigade that does to Kolkata what they would not have the government do to the rest of India. So is this a case of double standards on the part of the third largest political group in the world’s largest democracy or just ideals and ideology gone berserk?
On the one hand, Mr. Karat goes on record to say that the government should not privatize airports and on the other his colleague on Alimuddin Street promptly congratulates Praful Patel on the Mumbai and Delhi airport modernization and urges him to do the same for Kolkata…..so is the left playing its cards real crooked or is it suffering from multiple power centers (something that the central government is often accused of)
Obviously, one faction of the left has to be wrong….because both these factions have completely contrary visions for the country. One of them clearly wants the country to go to the dogs…..what with their constant attempts at sabotaging every reformist move that the liberal face of the government tries to make. Someone please tell Mr. Karat that the Jurassic Park ideologies that he advocates today have been abandoned by the very countries that formulated them in the first place.
Everywhere in the world, communists are converting…..in China they are the biggest propagators of free market policies and reformist ideologies in the world today……There is nothing communist about the communists in China today…except of course their name. These people have long realized that in the best interests of their people, they must make their country and their governance and their markets competent enough to survive in the world today.
In the sixty odd years of our country’s democracy, the left has done nothing but retard growth in every step of the way. These are the people that caused the biggest stock market crash in Indian History a few by demanding that stock brokers be taxed. Even on the matter of reservation….they had nothing to say on the main issue….only that ‘creamy layers should be kept away from the quotas’ ……In the name of the Lord, what do these people have against the rich? If Communism is to be believed then it does not matter if you work eight hours a day and are a PhD from Harvard or if you work eight hours a year and are nothing from nowhere. Because to them everybody should have the same amount of prosperity/poverty.
Someone rightly said that communism is a means of redistributing poverty…not redistributing wealth. These people will definitely make sure that everyone becomes equally poor.
The Left has a habit of choosing for itself the most convenient position in every situation….this is just why they are maneuvering the UPA government from the outside. They do not want to participate in the government because that would make them accountable to the people of their country.
And now, after so many years, we suddenly get to see a face of the Left (read Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee) that is just so……well…..Right! So is the ‘common man’ not justified to ask: “Will the real Left Front please stand up?”.
On the one hand, Mr. Karat goes on record to say that the government should not privatize airports and on the other his colleague on Alimuddin Street promptly congratulates Praful Patel on the Mumbai and Delhi airport modernization and urges him to do the same for Kolkata…..so is the left playing its cards real crooked or is it suffering from multiple power centers (something that the central government is often accused of)
Obviously, one faction of the left has to be wrong….because both these factions have completely contrary visions for the country. One of them clearly wants the country to go to the dogs…..what with their constant attempts at sabotaging every reformist move that the liberal face of the government tries to make. Someone please tell Mr. Karat that the Jurassic Park ideologies that he advocates today have been abandoned by the very countries that formulated them in the first place.
Everywhere in the world, communists are converting…..in China they are the biggest propagators of free market policies and reformist ideologies in the world today……There is nothing communist about the communists in China today…except of course their name. These people have long realized that in the best interests of their people, they must make their country and their governance and their markets competent enough to survive in the world today.
In the sixty odd years of our country’s democracy, the left has done nothing but retard growth in every step of the way. These are the people that caused the biggest stock market crash in Indian History a few by demanding that stock brokers be taxed. Even on the matter of reservation….they had nothing to say on the main issue….only that ‘creamy layers should be kept away from the quotas’ ……In the name of the Lord, what do these people have against the rich? If Communism is to be believed then it does not matter if you work eight hours a day and are a PhD from Harvard or if you work eight hours a year and are nothing from nowhere. Because to them everybody should have the same amount of prosperity/poverty.
Someone rightly said that communism is a means of redistributing poverty…not redistributing wealth. These people will definitely make sure that everyone becomes equally poor.
The Left has a habit of choosing for itself the most convenient position in every situation….this is just why they are maneuvering the UPA government from the outside. They do not want to participate in the government because that would make them accountable to the people of their country.
And now, after so many years, we suddenly get to see a face of the Left (read Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee) that is just so……well…..Right! So is the ‘common man’ not justified to ask: “Will the real Left Front please stand up?”.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
The death of promise....
This week the nation watched with baited breath as a man held back death...fought for his life incessantly as a warrior thrown into a losing battle. Pramod Mahajan died this week and with him another bright star of the country's future passed into oblivion.
Inspite of the many allegations and controversies that the man was neck-deep in, one could hardly miss the fact that this was one of the most progressive and confident faces of a dying institution....the Indian political system. Here was a man who came closest to representing the dreams and aspirations of the youth of the nation.
I still remember the first time I saw the words flash across the screen of my television set: "India Shining". They said it was a bogus claim...that India was never shining, but groaning under the burdens of poverty and destitution....Mr. Mahajan was accused of hurting the sentiments of the languishing millions by claiming that India was shining.
Well I do not know what the facts on the ground were at that point in time, but I can certainly speak for myself....I know what India Shining did to me......
India Shining instilled in me confidence and pride of living in a nation that was on the move...I knew there were people left behind, but I also knew that they would be taken along subsequently;we had embarked ont the journey of a thousand miles...we had moved forward on the path of progress confidently and with belief in the abilities of a great nation that would decide its destiny by making a tryst with technology.
But apparently there were people who felt otherwise...there were people who felt that India should take a step back and go back to its old self where there was no disparity.....because everybody was conveniently poor. Well, in the end it was these people that had their way....it was they that decided that India was not shining.....but they kept missing the woods for the trees, thinking there was no fire because there were only sparks that flew around...no flames. So they doused whatever sparks had been there.
For me, Mr.Mahajan was a hero....he was a man with promise....promise for a better future....a future which envisioned a developed India, a technologically advanced and confident India or as he said....a shining India.
Inspite of the many allegations and controversies that the man was neck-deep in, one could hardly miss the fact that this was one of the most progressive and confident faces of a dying institution....the Indian political system. Here was a man who came closest to representing the dreams and aspirations of the youth of the nation.
I still remember the first time I saw the words flash across the screen of my television set: "India Shining". They said it was a bogus claim...that India was never shining, but groaning under the burdens of poverty and destitution....Mr. Mahajan was accused of hurting the sentiments of the languishing millions by claiming that India was shining.
Well I do not know what the facts on the ground were at that point in time, but I can certainly speak for myself....I know what India Shining did to me......
India Shining instilled in me confidence and pride of living in a nation that was on the move...I knew there were people left behind, but I also knew that they would be taken along subsequently;we had embarked ont the journey of a thousand miles...we had moved forward on the path of progress confidently and with belief in the abilities of a great nation that would decide its destiny by making a tryst with technology.
But apparently there were people who felt otherwise...there were people who felt that India should take a step back and go back to its old self where there was no disparity.....because everybody was conveniently poor. Well, in the end it was these people that had their way....it was they that decided that India was not shining.....but they kept missing the woods for the trees, thinking there was no fire because there were only sparks that flew around...no flames. So they doused whatever sparks had been there.
For me, Mr.Mahajan was a hero....he was a man with promise....promise for a better future....a future which envisioned a developed India, a technologically advanced and confident India or as he said....a shining India.
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