Hyderabad by Walk - A Rambling Walk Through Koti, Sultan Bazar, Badi Chawdi Area

 It was a day for a rambling walk through the Koti, Sultan Bazar area that I am so keen to get more familiar with. So I took off with my tanhai and parked near the lane that leads to the  Maheshwari and Parameshwari complex on one side and Sultan Bazar on another (and many other roads leading off here and there - I think its called the Ramkote Chowrasta). Strolled across the road towards Sultan Bazar - this place is full of history, of old Hyderabad, a strong Maharasthrian area with the Marathi mandal and other such.

CSI Wesley Church

A little down the road I saw a cute little church - CSI Wesley Church it said. No further information I could find. 

Further down the road met the Sultan Bazar road where the Metro now runs through (and run through it did) - signs of buildings cut in half to make way of the Metro are all through the length of the Sultan Bazar. A building half sawed off, steps rising up with their legs cut off, way, intimate windows and shelves with books exposed to the public. Rather grim, this picture of development.

Sultan Bazaar is famous for women's clothes, silverware, textiles and stuff like that and was part of what was known as Residency Bazaars which had been developed along with the British Residency (which dates the bazaar back to around 1800s). The bazaar was under the control of the British until it was handed over to the Nizam in 1933 (why was it under their control is a wonder) and was named after the Nawab of the area Syed Sultanuddin. There is a Government Boys High School which had been established in 1866 as Chudderghat Anglo Vernacular School. This school also has an iconic heritage building, a clock tower of 1865 vintage. The school then was spread across 13 acres apparently, land gifted by the Nizam, and now lies within a 2.5 acre area.

 

Stairway beyond one's reach 

Book shelves - once

Sultan bazar road widening effects

The Hashmath Gunj gate presented a different sight in the morning hours. Walked through the little Hashmath Gunj area or Kabootar Khana (with notices not to feed pigeons). There seems to be a bigger Kabootar Khana at Hussaini Alam in the old city. At the other end I saw a statue of Mahrana Pratap (I think), the Rana of Mewar, of the Sisodia dynasty.

Hashmath Ganj gate

Pigeon Welfare Association 

Statue of Maharana Pratap

Crossed the road across the iconic art deco Andhra Bank building (now Union Bank of India) and looked at  the Turrehbaz Khan Memorial and this time, found the plaque dedicated to him.

Iconic Andhra Bank building

Freedom Fighters Memorial or Turrehbaz Khan's Memorial

Plaque remembering Turrehbaz Khan and his rebellion against the British 

Back on the Koti road towards Women's College and found this very impressive building  - the Gandhi Gyan Mandir of the Sarvodaya Vichar Prachar Trust with a foundation laid by the Frontier Gandhi himself, Abdul Gaffar Khan in December 1969. There was a yoga session going on (the yoga kendra here has been active since 1974), I think there were bookstalls and such. Very interesting, very alive, very useful unlike so many institutions that are generally shut and dead.

Foundation laid by Abdul Gaffar Khan in December 1969

Gandhi Gyan Mandir

Further up was the Women's College and the watchman allowed a short lookin. The British residency (1803 or so) was magnificent. Walked around it without a clue about what building was what - surely something was the zenana, somewhere was the Rang Mahal where Khairunnisa lived, somewhere was the model of the Residency and so on, and hoped to come back here for a guided tour at some point of time. It reeked of history and so much to see.

The British Residency - turned Women's College turned University 

View from behind

Out of the college and a little further down trying to locate Hotel Haridwar which had a cute restaurant in those days, saw this cute board - 'Marathi Granth Sangrahalay' and a 'Bapu Sangeet Vidyalay', a small lane with a temple leading further down to interesting possibilities but it appeared to lead to more interesting and irresistible stuff, so back tracked, saw a few more interesting temples, a Shiva idol on a shop, a beautiful park next to the Gandhi Gyan Mandir. The crowd was picking up so decided against going into it.

Marathi Granth Sangrahalaya and Bapu Sangeet Vidyalay

Another temple - Shiva temple?

Nalla Pochamma temple on the Koti main road

The Shiva idol

Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple

 This road now led back to Sultan Bazar and straight up to the Maheswari and Parameshwari complex on the left which was where I saw 'Jaws' in school. Now it is a mall with a few screens surely but next to it standing proudly was Tarakarama owned by the NTR family and which I remembered played 'Don' for a long long time in its day (apparently 525 days, the theatre itself opened in 1978 with Akbar Salim Anarkali).

Some interesting old gates and stuff and one could see how the old was slowly engulfed by the new, everything was now functional and if things are standing, it is because people do not want to waste money pulling anything down unless it was in some way useful to them.

Hmm, so much in a recce trip. Can imagine what will show up in a proper walk. Hopefully soon.      

 

Fourteen Years with Boss - Ashokamitran

I must confess that a lot of my better reading has been thanks to Vinod who has gradually introduced authors I had not heard of (and over the years there have been so many of those). I must also place on record my gratitude to Vinod bhai for constantly upgrading my otherwise mainstream, narrow range. Ashokamitran is one such author that he had introduced to me with his 'Eighteenth Parallel' many years ago. (A common practice when I hear of some rare book is to first check with Vinod if he has that in his vast collection and most times he has it - or makes an effort to get one. Such was the case with this book. I asked and he pulled it out of his collection.) While there I must also add Sagar to this note because like Vinod, he has greatly expanded my knowledge and understanding of movies by lending me movies of the great actors and makers. Together they have added much to what I am today.

It is an account of Ashokamitran's years with his boss, SS Vasan, the man behind Gemini Studios and many more business ventures. The books starts with the author recollecting when he first met his boss-to-be-later along with his father - Vasan and his father had somehow become friends. It was an interesting incident - apparently Ahokamitran's father bought some books at a bookstall that Vasan owned and did not have enough money.When he returned a few books Vasan told him to send the money from Hyderabad and that he trusted him. Looks like to led to a lifelong friendship.

So when young Ashokamitran's father passed away suddenly in the Lalaguda Railway hospital, he was shaken -one from the sudden death and then from the responsibility of moving out of the railway quarters and to a life on their own. They did. Vasan reached out to him and asked him to join the new studio he had purchased - he was a serial entrepreneur and had tried everything from publishing (he was a writer first), mail order businesses (ran a successful magazine -Ananda Vikatan') and so on.

Ashokamitran moves to Madras and joins the Gemini Studios and sees his boss's ways of dealing with friends and family - giving them all jobs and keeping them occupied, taking care of all his employees, having grand visions and executing them, making Tamil films and then moving into Hindi films, bringing talent from across the continents and from Bombay as well. Some worked and some did not and it hurt Vasan most when he had to relieve some of his employees.

The description of his daughter's wedding where everyone got a gift and what was done in the most lavish of manners, his friendship with Rajaji, his story department and how he took care of writers and poets and of all arts despite keeping a sharp nose for profit. His employing foreign technicians, his plans to go across to new markets - he had amazing energy. When Ashokamitran said he wanted to quit because he was a writer and was wasting his time in the PR department Vasan apparently said - if you were a writer you would not have been wasting your time in this work all these years. Now that is a great piece of advise for anyone - whatever you are, put your energy there.

There are small tidbits - about poets, actors like Madhubala, Devika Rani (who gave Ashokamitran a rose in passing once), Ramanand Sagar, MGR - very interesting stuff told in his minimal, wry manner which somehow seems funny and tragic at the same time. He is a master at his craft.

Lovely read. Thanks Vinod bhai for yet another lovely book.    

Kashmir ki Kahani- Sumit Kumar

 It is a grand effort - 300 plus pages of illustrations, tons of research about a land and its issues that are so sensitive that anyone could get offended, subtle humour in each frame to get the message across  (whichever way you want) and for someone like me, a basic understanding of 'Kashmir ki Kahani' from where I can explore deeper. Sumit thanks about 100 people in the effort and I am sure there might be more and that indicates what this book is about. 

It's a graphic telling of the Kashmir story or an illustrated tale or a comic or whatever you want to call it. Its split into five parts -Hari Singh's indecision, the Sheikh Abdullah era, Militancy, End of a deadlock and Death to 370. It starts with a scene from a film - perhaps Kashmir ki Kali - with Kashmir beckoning India. Hark back to the pre-Independence days of Maharaja Hari Singh, a Hindu ruler who ruled over 70% Muslim population. All was well until 1947 when the 500 odd princely states were asked to join India. Hari Singh dilly dallied and only when he realised that there was an impending attack from tribal mercenaries who had advanced close to Srinagar, did he agree to join. The Indian Armed Forces arrived and kept the mercenaries at bay and that is how that part of Kashmir became part of India. With a little more foresight and decisiveness on the part of the Marharaja (it is mentioned elsewhere) the tale of Kashmir would have been different.

The second part shows the rise of Sheikh Abdullah who rose from the job of a school teacher to be a leader of the majority Muslims in the valley. Sheikh Abdullah however had a secular leaning and his All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference was renamed Jammu and Kashmir National Conference. To address the issue of Kashmir, India referred it to the UN which suggested a plebiscite. Abdullah started a Quit Kashmir agitation in 1946 against Maharaja Hari Singh and was sent to jail. When Kashmir was under attack from the tribal leaders Hari Singh after seeking help from the Indian army fled, and made Sheikh Abdullah the interim Prime Minister. He was removed in 1953 by Hari SIngh's son, Karan Singh (upon the orders of Nehru it is said) and arrested for treason - and remained in jail for ten years. It was around this time also that Shyama Prasad Mukherjee of Hindu Mahasabha protested in Kashmir about the treatment of Hindus and was jailed (and later died in jail). In 1964, ten years later, Nehru got Sheikh released, they had a plan in mind (Rajaji's formula), that Sheikh would act as a bridge between India and Pakistan. But Nehru passed away before it came to light. Sheikh was arrested once again and jailed for 10 years (Shastri ordered it and it was continued by Indira Gandhi) mainly to prevent him and the Plebiscite Front from contesting elections. In 1974  he was released again by Indira Gandhi who made him CM again. He died in 1982 having controlled the fates of Kashmir while he was alive.

After the 1971 war, Indira Gandhi no longer considered Pakistan as a party to the Kashmir issue. The politics in Kashmir also took a turn when Sheikh nominated his son Farooq as the next leader instead of old timers. Things got worse as Jagmohan was made Governor. Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984. 

The hanging of Maqbool Bhat,  allegations of rigged elections, Yasin Malik and the Muslim United Front, the kidnapping of Rubaiyya Sayeed and release of militants in exchange, the continued presence of security forces, the Gawkadal incident, influx of mujahideen and threats and murder of Kashmiri Hindus led to a new era.

BJP's alliance with PDP won the election. Afzal Guru, Uri, Pulwama and then finally abrogation of Article 370 and 35 A, conversion of J and K and Ladakh into Union Territories under lockdown like circumstances is where the story stopped.

Now to do more research and understand this complex story better. I loved reading it.                

Mango Types I Did Not Know

 Pallavi got some mangoes home from a farm and she got a few different varieties. The best thing was that they were all labelled and I, for the first time, got a sense of those. That Himayati was a huge one (like a Banganpalle) while the others were rather small. So here I am sharing my new found knowledge with you. Check out the Himayat (now consumed), the Dussehri, the Langda, the Panchadhara and the Safeda.

Interesting.  

  

Hyderabad by Walk - Premamati Mosque

Now we can see Premamati mosque from Taramati baradari - a solid granite structure which is like a solid block of stone - no minarets and other beautiful finishings of the mosques we normally see. It however looks very solid and there must be some reason behind it as well. Another question that comes up is how come Taramati got a baradari and her sister Premamati got a mosque named after her?

Going up to Premamati's mosque

Almost there

We crossed the rather busy road in front of the Taramati baradari and walked towards Premamati mosque. The big landmark in this area is the Vasavi College of Engineering which also had a College of Management (its Principal had once invited me to speak to his MBA students and I did go there - never got a repeat invite after that). We walked left into the lane leading to the college and turned again towards the mosque. In the background was the sound of shelling and Sibghat who was leading the way with me following close by said 'that's artillery shelling' or something to that effect. We were on the fringe of defence land so it was to be expected I guess. In the open ground before the mosque i saw a blue Santro which was there the last time i visited this place. Hmm.

The sarai below

View of villas on the right in the middle of Ibrahim Bagh and hopefully not in the cheruvu

The gates to the mosque were open. The steps leading up to the mosque were narrow. To the right and down below was a sarai (not in good condition now). Once inside we found this amazingly solid granite mosque that rose to a great height. Massive pillars, arches, kalash type carvings - all rising to a level and then an abrupt end.

The mosque

Arches

Another view

The story is that Premamati herself had this mosque built in the 17th century - the time of her sister Taramati and of Sultan Abdullah Qutb Shah. Premamati is referred to as a Muslim courtesan so the Hindu name does not make sense (need to find out more about that). Anyway she was rich and was influential and held an elevated position at the Sultan's court - had to be to undertake a project of this size. Unfortunately Premamati died before the mosque was completed and it was left incomplete. Hence the lack of minarets and such and just this solid structure.

The roof

Another view of the mosque

Lovely view of the city and the sunset

Another view

To one side were views of the new city, the sun setting on the horizon. We walked down one level and followed the platform on which the mosque stood and it offered great views all around including that of the mosque. Sibghat explained that the openings on the sheer wall on the side were a sign of the craftsman (most of them brought in from Vijayanagara after its fall) creating a small imperfection so as to show that they were human. Similarly there are markings right up there at the back of the mosque which look like lamps or birds and that he said was probably their signature. They left quite a few of those - just in case.

Taramati baradari from Premamati mosque

The new city from the mosque

Golconda fort in the distance

A group pic

We took some pics and one group pic and then left. I had a meeting at 730 at Secunderabad and left in a hurry.    

Hyderabad by Walk - Taramati Baradari

 Deccan Archives announced this walk on their site and I signed up because the last time Sunnie and I/me had gone there one fine morning, the gates to Taramati's baradari were shut tightly at 830 in the morning and we had to be content to walk up to the amphitheatre and take some pics. Similarly the Premamati mosque was shut as well. So I decided to join the walk and headed off to join them at 5 pm sharp. (Rs. 300 bucks for the walk)

Steps leading up to Taramati baradari

Taramati baradari

There were a few people already waiting for the walk to start and I recognised Uma from the last trip to Golconda Khazana museum where she had come with Malini (Sadhana's daughter). We waited with a bunch of others because Sibghat (short for Sibghatullah Khan) had to come and kick off. He is quite knowledgeable, makes it fun and interesting, says just enough and allows you to soak it in with silences. He writes well too as I found out in some  of the Deccan Archives articles. Sibghat is a practicing architect and a good role model to showcase Hyderabad.

Premamati mosque on the left and Golconda fort on the right

In the middle of the baradari

View of the new city from one doorway

Anyway Sibghat showed up in time and led us up the steps to Taramati baradari. I was worried since a board somewhere there said it shuts at 5 pm but obviously it is a misleading board to get rid of people like me who take these boards seriously. I also remembered that one of the lasting memories of this place was being part of the Hyderabad Lit Fest's second edition many years ago which is when I met Krishna and Chitra (we were on the same panel with Vamshi and it was moderated by Meena Alexander).

View from another doorway

Somewhere in that green is the Musi quietly flowing

Sibghat explained the steps leading up - one was wider and protruded on both sides and there were steps in the middle - the wider granite steps were original and the middle steps were made by the tourism people to facilitate easier climbs for tourists. The old steps were good enough for horses to climb which is probably how the nobles would go up there. 

These arches always make a pretty picture

The main hall

Once up there, the beautiful baradari presents itself, standing in the middle of a square platform, simple and minimal.  From the baradari one could see the Golconda fort (its about 2 kms away) and the Premamati mosque. Legend is that Taramati and Premamati were sisters, courtesans of exceptional talent and grace, so much so that the Sultan of their times, Abdullah Qutb Shah had their tombs built within the Qutb Shahi tombs complex. Taramati they say could sing in the baradari and the Sultan would listen to her voice being carried across by the wind. With the Persian architecture I feel anything is possible - especially in the area of acoustics.

Signs of deterioration - needs maintenance guys

The baradari from behind

Now the baradari itself was built in 1560 or so, in the times of Sultan Ibrahim Qutb Shah. They call it a sarai but it looks too beautiful to be just a sarai (most likely Sibghat's version that it was a summer palace looks closer to the truth). It's built on the bank of the Musi river which flows silently and invisibly behind. It was part of a Persian style garden named Ibrahim Bagh which extended all the way from across the road and in which there was a lake (don't know if it still exists) called Ibrahim Cheruvu. Ibrahim used it for whatever purposes but Abdullah, the seventh Qutb Shahi ruler, named it after his favorite courtesan Taramati.

Resting rooms?

Old summer palace now used as Main Kitchen

We walked in the inside of the baradari, its many doors (a baradari is supposed to have 12 doors, this one had about 20), enjoying the ventilation, the breeze flowing through, the sights of the distant hills and roads. Sibghat explained that this was the road that led to Bidar and that there was a bloody battle fought here, I do not remember between who.

Golconda fort

New city - filled with people as fish in a river (overflowing rather)

We took some pics and then we walked down from the side towards some ill maintained open to air rooms below, one of which is being used as the Main Kitchen for parties at the Taramati baradari. The idea was that this was where the Sultan would rest in summers and enjoyed the cool breeze.

We walked down from there. There is a story of how the place is haunted - the gates apparently bang at night by themselves - mostly Taramati wanting to go in but shut out by our Tourism chaps. They make no exceptions looks like. One can book rooms in the resort that adjoins the baradari but I wonder if many would if they feel it is haunted.

A distant shrine

Now, onwards to Premamati mosque which is across the road, some 1 km away. The Taramati baradari could do with a little maintenance - pieces of the walls were falling off despite it being restored recently. There were some couples who were looking for some inspiration or perhaps just some quiet.

All in all, glad I joined.