Nawab's And Nizams

I first came to HYDERABAD 2 ½ decades ago to set up the branch office of Televista electronics for the advent of T.V. It was a wonderful change from Bombay a whole new city with wonderful mughal architecture and an old world charm. The MUKARRAM JAI had bequeathed some beautiful and glorious buildings and traditions. The FALUKNAMA palace, the Golconda Fort, now in a dilapidated condition and the magnificent Charminar. The serene tank bund that dissected the two cities HYDERABAD and Secunderabad through the centre.

The streets and markets bustle with life and old world NAWABI charm. The mosques and mausoleums are always crowded. And then the wonderful old city – almost half a million people squeezed into a square mile of congested tenements and shops, carries the city’s soul. I can still taste the wafting aroma of SHAIRON KE KABAB, the Roomali Roti’s and Briyani.

Hyderabad was the same for centuries but now cyber land is ringing in changes though historical memory will continue and the walled city an ageless invisible presence channeling people and traffic into narrow lanes where rickshaws, horse carriages, (tanga) Bikes and auto’s compete with each other. The dancing girls (MUJRAH’S) are another art form that is dying out with the advent of disco’s and pubs.

Life essentially seeks out balance; in the habit of treading one sorrow for one joy one cancels the other!

I have managed to attain a sort of “EQUIPOISE” i.e. the precise moment in the ocean when a wave neither falls nor rises.

In my waltz with fate I found my toes stepped on and the melancholy music reverberates in my soul.

I do not know why it should be this way; but I am so sad; all old memories will not leave my heart.

In this life, there is no mercy, therein hangs a tale of exquisite friendship, immense sacrifices and dangerous desires!