Hyderabad by Walk - Raj Bhavan Road

 I waled down the road from the Errum Manzil palace and soon came upon the present Administrative Staff College of India which is a beautiful campus built in 1910 and named by its French Architect as Bella Vista (meaning beautiful sight..a term which can be used well). It was originally built on a 10 acre campus. It was constructed in 1905 by Muslehuddin Mohammed, the Chief Justice of the High Court of the Hyderabad State who passed away in 1914 to plague. In 1916 the family sold it to the Nizam of Hyderabad who bought it and thereafter it became the royal residence of his elder son Prince Azam Jah and his Turkish wife Durrusehvar, daughter of the last Caliph of Turkey. Azam Jah's younger brother Moazzam Jah married Princess Niloufer who was the daughter of the last Ottoman princess. The two Princesses were known for their philanthropic work and for encouraging women to come out and work and play sports etc. The palace was converted into the ASCI in 1956.

Raj Bhavan Road - pic does not do justice

The Bella Vista is beautiful inside and well maintained. I could not gain access thanks to the bull dog watchmen but I had been here to give an interview for the IIM 'B' which I thought went well until I saw the result. Another time I went to attend a talk by a British mountaineer who had climbed many peaks including the Everest. Bella Vista was modelled on something called Henley-on-Thames.

Some menhir like objects

More menhirs

Anyway I circled the ASCI and went walking up the Raj Bhavan road which is a scene out of some 1960s Hindi movie with its wide roads and the median with lovely Ashoka trees and well laid landscape on both sides of the road. Down the road I saw the College of Nursing which is a beautiful structure in itself and now a notified heritage structure (apparently our earlier CM KCR had plans to demolish this building also among the many others and build high rises) This structure was earlier the Hyderabad Civil Services House where it accommodated the top Civil servants of Hyderabad state during the time of the Nizam. In 1950 it was converted into the college of Nursing. My only connection with this was meeting one girl from Andaman who had come to meet Ali in our Engineering college days who studied here - and due to some circumstances it turned out into an evening of singing with both Ali and she singing pretty well and the rest of us applauding.

College of Nursing - now looks abandoned though in good maintenance

A beautiful courtyard

The building itself

Further down the road came Dilkusha Guest House which is also a notified heritage structure to protect it from governments bent on making use of real estate available to them. Before it became the state guest house, it was the official residence of the Prime Minister of Hyderabad state Sir Akbar Hydari.

The Dilkusha Guest House

Further down comes the Raj Bhavan which is the residence of the Governor of Telangana. It was constructed in 1936 apparently and was designed and constructed by Eric Marret and Zain Yar Jung on a 21,50 acre land. The land was acquired from Nawab Shazore Jung and Sayyad Akil Bilgrami and was initially occupied by the PM of the state Sir Akbar Hydari who later moved to Dilkusha. Subsequent PMs of the Nizam's state who lived in the Raj Bhavan were the Nawab of Chattari, Sir Mirza Ismarl, Mehdi Yar Jung and Mir Laik Ali. One building inside the Raj Bhavan called Shah Manzil is a pre-1914 building which is currently used as the Office of the Advisors to the Governor of Telangana. The one time I visited the Raj Bhavan was to launch the Indian version of 'Radical Forgiveness' and 'Radical Manifestation' published by Sailaja, by the Hon Governor of AP then, Shri ND Tiwari. I went there for a couple of visits and met a few stiff collars there.

I turned the corner and sat down at the bus stop and got myself a Uber auto and headed home. Long walk.