A chance online encounter with a rock climber from the city has set off two Brits on a journey back in time through the streets of Hyderabad, the ones their family patriarch, an administrator in the Nizam’s government, had worked 90 years ago.
Camilla and Christiane Howe, 25-year-old identical twins, met city-based rock climber Ritwik Reddy on a couch-surfing website.
Very soon, the twins realised in Mr. Reddy and his family the whereabouts to places that their great-grandfather, Sir Theodore James Tasker, worked at and visited.
Sir Tasker of Indian Civil Service was one of the three officers on loan to the Nizam’s government.
He served in Hyderabad from 1927-1942. En-route to New Zealand, the twins stopped in Hyderabad early this week to have glimpses into the lives of Sir Tasker.
“There are now more graves in Mecca Masjid than there were in 1937,” says Camilla as she shows a photograph of the mosque taken by Sir Tasker.
Their extensive travel experiences notwithstanding, the sisters reveal many sought to deter them from travelling to India.
“We were told by those who had not visited India that it is not easy for two girls alone.
We’re glad we did not buy that,” says Christiane. Armed with a methodically-compiled trove of historical records that was passed on by their grandfather to their mother, they set out.
“We intend to visit the Jubilee Hall where Sir Tasker was knighted. Our great-grandmother also received the gold Kaisar-i-Hind award for public service in India,” says Christiane showing a photograph with Sir and Lady Tasker seated alongside the city’s elite including Sarojini Naidu in 1937 at the hall.
Having scaled the slippery hillocks of Khajaguda with Mr. Reddy on Monday, the twins now have in sight another hill that they wish to visit. “The Ritz Hotel was where Sir Tasker lived and worked during his stint as the Director General of Revenue. We heard the place is now in ruins. We intend to visit it,” the twins echo.
Their journey and history-tracking in India peppered with rock climbing is also part of a documentary they are filming.
The other to-do things in Hyderabad includes a visit to Salarjung Museum, where a photograph of their great-grandfather is said to exist, a visit to Chiran Fort Club and the Golconda Fort, places Sir Tasker had photographed and described. The next stop is Bengaluru, where Sir Tasker worked as District Magistrate during 1917-22 and lent his name to Tasker Town.
Theodore James Tasker served in Nizam’s government. at Hyderabad from 1927-1942
