A Vacation to my homeland
A space heater hums under my desk giving much needed relief. My cube is situated in a location where the celing runs to the second floor. Its pretty impressive when I look up but trust anything that looks good to have its downside. The problem is as follows. Since we are in a huge area, the heating has to be really up to warm things around us. But if the heating in increased then the people who are in the first and second floor with normal ceilings would get burned to cinder. So, the bottom line is that it gets really cold around me. Today has been particularly bad bringing memories of winter. In stark contrast not a week ago I was sitting in Hyderabad feeling the heat around me. For the umpteenth time telling me that I'd have melted to nothingness if Abba had not installed an air-conditioner at the last moment. I vaguely recalled telling Ammi not to bother when she informed me of Abba's plans. I had lived in the searing heat for more than 2/3rds of my life. Distinctly remember driving/walking in the May heat. Fasting even. So early March was not going to terrify me. No sir. Ha! Was I wrong! In the beginning it wasn't so bad. But in the latter weeks, it got really bad. I felt like there was a furnace was burning all around me and I had to take repeated dips in the AC room to keep myself from not turning to toast. I marvelled at this change in me. The only change I might add. The pollution did not affect me, the crowds didn't, the traffic did not [though almost all the auto-wallah's gave me a heart-attack]. Just the heat. The searing heat. The heat. The heat I am seeking right now. Ironic isn't it?Hyderabad. My city. My Ammi's city. My Abba's city. A city of Nawabs. Of The Nizams. Of The Jah's. Of the Shah's. All together giving it a distinct identity. An identity I can call my own. An identify I want to retain for as long as I live. Hyderabadi. That's what I want to be called. Just the name of the city of my lips sounds soo soo good. So many of its lanes holding so many memories. Its parks. Its lakes. Its monuments. Its lights. Its langugage. Its tehzeeb. Its grandeur. Its sheer vibrancy. Truly, I can never have enough of this city. I long to go back there. Live a life there instead of just visiting it once in 2 years for a few weeks. Living in Hyderabad I wasn't half in love with the city as I am living away from it. But then that is how human nature is. Ghar ki mughi daal baraabar as a popular saying goes in Hyderabad.
As we make our way from Begumpet Airport early morning, I try to take as much of the city as I possibly can. Huge malls, specialty stores, restaurants come into view. I for one am all for the prosperity that the city is gearing towards. Bring it on I say. Enough with the laid back attitude and getting things done parsoon[which can last anywhere from 1- infinite number of days]. When everyone is moving forward we cannot be just sitting at one place counting out days of glory! Days that have been long past leaving a few monuments and jewels in museums in their wake. We hit the familiar Road No.1. A road I took 4 years of my life while trying to lay a foundation for my life.
The first year was harrowing. Did not even realize that when you said computer it did not mean the screen you were looking at! And to program it in not one but 3 languages![Fortran,Pascal,COBOL]. And all the while I had thought that Latin and Greek were the difficult languages. There was this one guy in our class. You know those "required" smart-a** types. He had enrolled himself into some computer institute and was pretty conversant with what a computer was. And knew some tricks to get it to listen to him. Now he flaunted this knowledge in the class. Some not so flaunting ones but one's who had taken similar courses joined in and made most of us feel like we were lower than the one-celled creature I had been so thankful I did not have to draw anymore. Many of us got together and considered moving to the ECE batch where we would not have to go through this humiliation. Yes! These were the sort of things that go in my mind whenever we take Road No.1 [considering making a movie script out of it and selling it to David Dhawan!].
When I had embarked on my vacation, I had grand plans that I would carry a small notebook with me always and keep jotting down my thoughts and feelings which would then make for a grand blog. Needless to say that did not happen and that is the reason for your current suffering. But I noted one para though. It was as I watched Inzamam drive a Kumble bowled bar to the boundary. The first innings he had struggled against Kumble and in the second he was playing beautifully. Inzamam. I had hated Imran Khan every time he had compared Inzamam to Sachin. How could he? I would scream. I would absolutely hate Inzamam when he would walk as if hit on the leg by a Malcolm Marshall delivery when he'd get out. Hardly walking at all. First of all, all our bowlers would have to get this mountain man out and then he would walk as if a great injustice had been meted out to him. No matter if his stump had just been uprooted. He'd still do that! Get out of there fast so we can win the match fast instead of snatching defeat from the jaws of vicotry as we were prone to do, would be my argument.
I chuckled when he did the same all these years later when he was adjudged leg before to Kumble. He does not want to leave when he gets bowled so can you imagine how slow he must've walked when he was given LBW! So anyways I noted a para as Inzamam batted to Kumble in the second innings. With much more authority. Here was a man Pakistan has come to depend on big time as far as its batting was concerned. I never thought he would one day lead the Pak team going by his body language which suggests a man big on brawn and on the opposite site in the brain dept. But I would have to admit that Inzamam has single handedly given Pakistan so many victories. The world cup even when he paid back his dues in the form of his captain's faith in him. I compare that to Sachin. No doubt, Sachin's the better batsman, the record-getter but I have yet to see a match where Sachin leads India to a victory, leave alone a world cup. Though still think Imran Khan exaggerated when he compared Inzamam to Sachin.
So again I come back to Kumble delivering ball after ball to Inzamam and Inzamam hitting it all over the field. Just when I think that he's won the battle Kumble flummoxes him and he is trapped LBW. I get to see the dreaded walk all over again! The match itself ended in a tame draw because Pakistani's batted like heroes. It was clear they did not want to loose the match. Staring at a loss by innings defeat Younis Khan [if my memory serves me right] and Asif Kamal steered them clear of danger. The match was drawn with news papers screaming that the Pakistani batsmen had not only drawn the match but won it. I recalled how I had felt when India had crashed out of the Reliance world cup. Beaten by England in the Semi's I think. I remember the silence that had overtook the room. No one spoke a word. The TV which had been making such a ruckus was shut off. My brother's went out to play as I stood at the window, staring blankly outside. Could not believe what had just happened. It amazes me how much effect cricket used to have on us. Classes bunked, convenient lying to parents about everything being studied for the exam, getting up at 3 am to watch matches from Australia, tuning and tuning the radio to a cricket match in West Indies which was not being telecast and erupting with joy when Kapil Dev hit 4 consecutive sixes as India needed 24 runs to avoid a follow-on and were 9 down with Hirwani at the other end. Boy! Was I lucky to catch some matches and that too India against Pak this time around.
Happy that once again I can identify most of the Indian cricketers. Happy that I could watch Pathan, Balaji bowl. Happy to see Sehwag make mince-meat of the Paki attack. Happy to see Dravid's world class batting and dignity. Unhappy to see Sachin struggle so badly and our non-playing captain make some 30 odd runs in the entire series! Happy to have watched a flawless innings from Inzamam in his 100th test match. Happy to have watched India win in the second test. Just happy to be in a country which loves cricket!
(...to be continued)
posted by Fizo @ 2:40 PM
15 Comments:
welcome back, fizo jee, will read the post soon. Hope you had a great time there. :)
Hey Fizz..zz..zzzzz,
Welcome back!!!!!!!! uh oh...I didnt reply to your email. But that doesnt mean I didnt think about you :D
Er...so am I in your "good books" again?? No????!! Well..then I have more stuff to make up with you. Guess what I did in your absence? I romanced cec a bit. I can now tell you whether he likes Colgate or Babool, Pan Parag or Manickchand, Sunsilk or Halo. Alllll this just for YOU! To give you the "thrills" when you are back. So that you dont feel "home sick"
Ah! Tears are glistening in your eyes already. All is well :-D
Welcome back once again!!!!! Happy to hear that you had a pleasant trip. (saw your pics in Secure DSS too)
:-))))
-Sunshine
PS: Am a bit busy thesedays. Hence hardly gate-keeping at DSS :(
Fizo !!!! Ramble about Hyderabad and cricket !!! Thats just for the starters uh !!! I am lipsmacking for the main course ....
welcome back !
fizz, good to see u around. hope u had a nice trip. i bet it was too short :)
did masab tank change a lot since u were last there. did u visit chacha nehru park? .... looking forward to reading more of ur trip account.
welcome back fizo!
hope u had a wonderful time back at home!
Fizo, you obviously love Hyderabad. I wish I could love my city as much. Perhaps I ought to move away and then I’d appreciate it more.
Funny thing about heat. Ahmedabad has always been a hot place. 46+ in the summer. But when I was younger, I’d cycle 10 Km to the club for a swim after lunch and not even feel any discomfort. The babes at the pool occupied my mind so there was no place for me to feel any other kind of heat.
Till the age of 26, when I first got an airconditioner for my bedroom, I’d never had any trouble sleeping on account of the heat, but after that that infernal device became a necessity. Till I was 30 I never had an airconditioner in my car and never felt hot in the car, but after that….
Wish I’d never heard of these infernal devices.
Now we pay such huge electricity costs that running them has become a source of stress. You’re better off in the US where utility costs are reasonable.
Nice ramble....
was this ramble more abt Hyd or cricket ?!!! whatever it, it was delightful ! why cant u write in one stretch ! Why shud it be always be in parts ?!!!
...I...I can't see the keyboard through my tears...give me a moment...I don't know what to say -- Hyderabad And Cricket! Welcome Back :)))
ROFL @ toc's comment !
hey, fizzzzzz .. back to blogging with a bang !!
will wait eagerly for the next episode !
and the heat does get to you, doesn't it ?
Plus-es & minus-es about Hyd heat versus Madras heat. The latter version is the sweat-drenching kind, but there's an onshore sea-breeze that usually kicks in late afternoon, and things cool off considerably.
i was in Madras during summer last year. we dreaded going at that time of the year, but it wasn't too bad at all. the thing i remember most was stuffing the freezer full of water bottles. that was the only way you could keep water cold for at least a couple of hours when you were outside the house. refrigerated water seemed to take exactly 2 minutes to warm up to room temp :)
hey fizz...nice start...take as many parts as u wish, but more and more details pliss...:-))
btw, was any portion of this blog recycled from earlier ones? the whole old vs new bit sounds familiar...:-)
rotfl @ tocsin's comment...:-))))
Fizz, welcome back and waiting for the next part(s)
Tocs Control yaar!
fizo ala re bhaiiiyaaaa!!
Great to see u!! i mean it.. dammit!
Tocsin.. something in life are not worth crying for.. nor Hyderabad nor Indian Cricket!
The grip of the Majlis-e-ittehadul Muslimeen on the community remains strong, despite minor dents.With A Member representing Hyderabad in the Lok Sabha, five members in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, 40 corporators in Hyderabad and 95-plus members elected to various municipal bodies in Andhra Pradesh, the All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen is one of the foremost representatives of the city’s Muslims and the most powerful Muslim party in India and one can see the partys strenghth if it goes to Hyderabad old city everywhere u look u can see MIM written on walls ,lightpoles and buildings leaving aside Green flags and posters of its Leadership and there small Offices . The Majlis has brought lot of development to the Old part of the city even after it is said it hasnt done anything by its opponents who are mostly Ex Majlis workers.The Majlis was formed in 1927 “for educational and social uplift of Muslims”. But it articulated the position that “the ruler and throne (Nizam) are symbols of the political and cultural rights of the Muslim community… (and) this status must continue forever”. The party has roots back to the days of the princely State of Hyderabad . It was founded by Bahadur Yar Jung in 1927 as a pro-Nizam party.The Majlis advocated the set up of a Muslim dominion rather than integration with India. The Razakars (volunteers), a Muslim paramilitary organization, was linked to the Majlis. In total up to 150 000 Razakar soldiers were mobilized to fight against the communists and for the independence of the Hyderabad State against Indian integration. After the integration of the Hyderabad state with India, the Majlis was banned in 1948. The Majlis president and Razakar leader Qasim Rizwi was jailed 1948-1957, and then deported to Pakistan . The Majlis pitted itself against the Andhra Mahasabha and the communists who questioned the feudal order that sustained the Nizam’s rule. It also bitterly opposed the Arya Samaj, which gave social and cultural expression to the aspirations of the urban Hindu population in the Hyderabad State of those days.By the mid-1940s, the Majlis had come to represent a remarkably aggressive and violent face of Muslim communal politics as it organised the razakars (volunteers) to defend the “independence” of this “Muslim” State from merger with the Indian Union.According to historians, over 1,50,000 such `volunteers’ were organised by the Majlis for the Nizam State’s defence against the communists and all those who opposed the Nizam’s “go it alone” policy. It is estimated that during the height of the razakar `agitation’, over 30,000 people had taken shelter in the Secunderabad cantonment alone to protect themselves from these `volunteers’.But the razakars could do little against the Indian Army and did not even put up a fight. Kasim Rizvi, the Majlis leader, was imprisoned and the organisation banned in 1948. Rizvi was released in 1957 on the undertaking that he would leave for Pakistan in 48 hours. Before he left though, Rizvi met some of the erstwhile activists of the Majlis and passed on the presidentship to Abdul Wahed Owaisi, a famous lawyer and an Islamic scholar from Jamia Nizamia who in 1957 took over the Leadership of Majlis .Maulana Abdul Wahid Owaisi (Fakhr-E-Millat) who also was jailed for nearly 10 months after he took over the Majlis leadership as the then govt wanted to abolish the Majlis party but Owaisi refused to do so and was seen as a person who had financially supported the party when it was a bankrupt and weak one after the Police Action in Hyderabad State . Owaisi is credited with having “re-written” the Majlis constitution according to the provisions of the Indian Constitution and “the realities of Muslim minority in independent India”, and also the person who had fought a legal battle for years to win back its Darrussalam Headquarters according to a former journalist, Chander Srivastava. For the first decade-and-a-half after this “reinvention”, the Majlis remained, at best, a marginal player in Hyderabad politics and even though every election saw a rise in its vote share, it could not win more than one Assembly seat .The 1970s saw an upswing in Majlis’ political fortunes. In 1969, it won back its party headquarters, Dar-us-Salaam — a sprawling 4.5-acre compound in the heart of the New City. It also won compensation which was used to set up an ITI on the premises and a women’s degree college in Nizamabad town. In 1976, Salahuddin Owaisi took over the presidentship of the Majlis after his father’s demise.This started an important phase in the history of the Majlis as it continued expanding its educational institutions,Hospitals,Banks, including the first Muslim minority Engineering College and Medical College. Courses in MBA, MCA ,Nursing, Pharmacy and other professional degrees followed and now a daily newspaper known as Etemaad Daily. The 1970s were also a watershed in Majlis’ history as after a long period of 31 years, Hyderabad witnessed large-scale communal rioting in 1979. The Majlis came to the forefront in “defending” Muslim life and property Majlis workers could be seen at these moments defending the properties of Muslims in the wake of riots and these workers were very hard even for the police to control them even now it is a known fact that there are nearly about 2500 units of strong members who only act if there is a seirous threat to the Owaisi family and these members are under the direct orders of the Owaisi family which leads the Majlis party leaving aside thousands of workers and informers throughout the State and even outside the country far away till America and the Gulf countries.Salahuddin Owaisi, also known as “Salar-e-Millat” (commander of the community), has repeatedly alleged in his speeches that the Indian state has “abandoned” the Muslims to their fate. Therefore, “Muslims should stand on their own feet, rather than look to the State for help'’, he argues.This policy has been an unambiguous success in leveraging the Majlis today to its position of being practically the “sole spokesman” of the Muslims in Hyderabad and its environs.Voting figures show this clearly. From 58,000 votes in the 1962 Lok Sabha elections for the Hyderabad seat, Majlis votes rose to 1,12,000 in 1980. The clear articulation of this “stand on one’s feet” policy in education and `protection’ during riots doubled its vote-share by 1984. Salahuddin Owaisi won the seat for the first time, polling 2.22 lakh votes. This vote-share doubled in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections to over four lakhs.The Majlis has since continued its hold on the Hyderabad seat winning about five-and-a-half lakh votes each time.Despite remarkable economic prosperity and negligible communal violence in the past decade, the hold of the Majlis on the Muslims of Hyderabad remains, despite minor dents. And despite widespread allegations of Majlis leaders having “made money”, most ordinary Muslims continue to support them because, as one bank executive put it “they represent our issues clearly and unambiguously'’. An old Historian Bakhtiyar khan says the Owaisi family was a rich family even before entering Politics and he says he had seen the late Majlis leader Abdul Wahed Owaisi in an American Buick car at a time when rarely cars were seen on Hyderabad Roads and the family had strong relations with the ersthwhile Nizams of Hyderabad and the Paighs even now the family is considered to be one of the richest familes in Hyderabad.A university teacher says that the Majlis helped Muslims live with dignity and security at a time when they were under attack and even took the fear out of them after the Police action and adds that he has seen Majlis leaders in the front at times confronting with the Police and the Govt.Asaduddin Owaisi, the articulate UK educated barrister son of Salahuddin Owaisi and Former leader of the Majlis’ Legislature party and now an MP himself who has travelled across the globe meeting world leaders and organizatons and even in war zones compares the Majlis to the Black Power movement of America.The Majlis that emerged after 1957 is a completely different entity from its pre-independence edition, he says adding that comparisons with that bloody past are “misleading and mischievous”. “That Majlis was fighting for state power, while we have no such ambitions or illusions”.He stoutly defends the need for “an independent political voice” for the minorities, which is willing to defend them and project their issues “firmly”.“How can an independent articulation of minority interests and aspirations be termed communal,” he asks and contests any definition of democracy which questions the loyalty of minorities if they assert their independent political identity. “We are a threat not only to the BJP and Hindu communalism, but also to Muslim extremism,” Asaduddin claims. “By providing a legitimate political vent for Muslims to voice their aspirations and fears, we are preventing the rise of political extremism and religious obscurantism when the community is under unprecedented attack from Hindu communalists and the state'’. He can be seen in his speeches speaking against terrorism in the Country and says if the time arises Majlis will stand side by side in defending the Nation
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