There was this very distinguished gentleman dressed in perfect Nawabi style who Sibgat said was someone he looked to for any authentication on Hyderabad's history. He met us at Hussaini Alam and then took us to a Dewdi nearby. One of the beautiful things about Muharram is that every Ashoor Khana is open for anyone who wants to visit it - even this one which was inside the old house. The gate had a board 'Ashoor Khana Dewdi Nawab Sulaiman Jah'. It was a beautiful old wooden gate. it opened into a courtyard. One could see signs of the activities in a house at 10 am - cooking was going on, people milling about, some just waking up. But the Ashoor Khana was very well maintained and kept open and lit.
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| Ashoor Khana Dewdi Nawab Sulaiman Jah |
And they let us walk into the Ashoor Khana and listen to Sibgat explain to us about the Alams on display here. We listened, took pictures and walked out, quite bowled over by their opening their house like this.
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| The Ashoor Khana |
Standing in the courtyard one could sense the culture and tradition of this house which tried to retain what it once had. All around it ugly buildings rose with steel rods sticking out. Glad some things remained as they were. We would completely be drowned in tacky buildings and steel rods, surrounded by people who would only grab, not give.
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| The Alams |
That ended the second Ashoor Khana walk. Vasu and I headed back to where we parked the car and saw Cafe Naaz on the way. it looked interesting enough for us to stop by and order some chai and hot lukmi. We also picked up some Dum ka Rot at Punjab Bakery opposite and felt we did enough for Muharram.
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