If Mumbai grows into you, Hyderabad accepts you. Once you begin living in this city, you know it’s possible to be ‘you’ without the pressures of aping the big city traits. Hyderabad became my home from the moment I landed here in 2000 from Assam. Except for the summer heat in June, the city didn’t make me feel like an outsider. Perhaps it’s because Hindi is widely spoken here and when language posed a barrier, there was always some good Samaritan ready to help. Barring a couple of odd occasions when I was addressed as ‘Ching Chong’ by an auto driver, my life in this city has been pretty lovable. (No, I didn’t let the auto driver escape easily, I responded with a choice epithet in Telugu that I had picked up from friends.)
Gradually I became so attached to this second home that even when faced with disappointments and an opportunity to make the next big switch to USA, I refused. I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving ‘My Hyderabad’ and settling elsewhere. If I am asked why I made Hyderabad my home, I probably will have more than just one reason.
Learning Telugu helped settle down quickly. I essentially learnt all those words I would need in my everyday conversation. First was ‘ Potawa ’ (will you go?) followed by ‘ enta ’ (how much). Needless to say, it was for autos. The next words were akali (hunger), kavali (need), bagunnanu (I am good), ekkada (where) and soon I was sorted. My tutors were the attenders of the office I worked in the beginning and then while living in a hostel, girls from all over the country. Incidentally, the first Telugu film I watched was Venkatesh-starrer Nuvvu Naaku Nacchav. ... Within a couple of months my Telugu was ‘kaam chalau’; enough to have conversations as a journalist with people who didn’t know Hindi or English. By then, But even before that, my senior colleagues armed me with a few Telugu cuss words for use in need. to not let anyone escape when there arises a need. Now I am so Telugu, that I sometimes quiz my colleagues with a few weird Telugu words and names of dishes and fishes; I even correct them and poke fun when at them pronouncing them wrong .
However, I still can’t point out why I love Hyderabad so much. I love this city of Nawabs to the extent that when anyone calls it conservative, they have to face my never-ending taunts about the city they belong to, I don’t spare my friends back home as well. One can walk into an Irani cafe in any part of the city to pack biscuits and puffs without being judged because every Irani Cafes might not have bouncers, but the owners and managers there keep a close watch on everyone and ensures whoever walks in doesn’t feel uncomfortable. Try walking into any other ‘line hotel’ in any city and feeling comfortable. And does anyone dare ask about safety quotient of the Old City? The Old City is where the charm is and I still don’t miss the slightest opportunity pretext to be there despite being asked to pay foreigner entry fares at the museum and the Charminar (the guards are not from South India). In this part of the city, people stop their work to help you with directions. If they don’t know and still want to help, they will stop someone else’s work and make sure you get the address!
At first i was Anyone who comes here first notices the sideways head nod that means a yes, confused me a couple of times, but now I do the head nod like a pro and confuse my folks at home. In all these years what I’ve learnt is: if we stop being stuck up about where we came from or what we eat we will see similarities in everything we do and eat (only the level of spice might differ). For the longest time, I played it safe by eating biryani without masala from Paradise. That was when Paradise served their biryani with avakaya. Then I discovered biryani from Bahaar and Shadab in the Old City. Finally when I conquered the spice levels eating spicy curries at my landlord’s, there was no stopping my discovery of the cuisines this place has to offer. If Rayalaseema cuisine is spicy, one should try the curries of Telangana spice lovers cook. They will have you steaming from your ears.
Discovering Hyderabad and its people is not all about constrained to the night life or the rows of fancy eateries in the city, it is in the hearts and homes of people.
