William Dalrymple and Vidya Shah: Culture’s their residence

William Dalrymple and Vidya Shah talk about stringing together diverse elements in their storytelling format that captures the glory of the Residency era

The refurnished Residency building at Koti Women’s College Photo: Nagara Gopal

An event under the open skies on a sultry summer evening doesn’t seem the most inviting of prospects, but here are author William Dalrymple and singer-composer Vidya Shah delving on romanticism, revered poetry of the Residency era as they came together for Reviving Residency, a literary-musical act where they performed on White Mughals at the Osmania University Women’s College, Koti, on World Heritage Day, Tuesday. This was a time when East met West like never before and cultural interactions ruled.

The day also marked phase two of the Residency’s grand revival project, an attempt to sustain its three-century old legacy that produced the country’s most diverse literary and cultural greats. The impact was akin to their powerful duet at the Krishnakriti festival, where they performed The Last Mughal a year ago. The seamless blend of literature, poetry and music was indeed a delight for the art connoisseur. Before being swarmed by guests and fans for autographs and selfies, the two spoke to us on how their coordination has only improved over time.

William Dalrymple Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

The historian and the musician met in Delhi, they first performed together in 2008, shared common interests and have since been entertaining cultural enthusiasts across the globe (including California, Sydney, Delhi and Hyderabad to name a few) in a format that they’ve mastered. “The fields we both delve into often overlap. Neither is she a historian nor am I a musician, but we both are enthusiasts of each other’s departments. We enjoy when we work together. That’s a reason the performances are often organic,” says William Dalrymple, sporting his trademark navy-blue kurta and white pyjama. “What we try hard with these performances is to present our areas of skill and yet mainstream it and make it more accessible to the public,” says Vidya Shah, who’s done extensive research-oriented projects on music.

Vidya Shah Photo: Meeta Ahlawat

The purpose behind their duet this time around attains more significance, for the two extensively worked to collate literary and musical references with regard to Maha Laqa Chanda’s poetry (a multi-faceted courtesan of the Nizam era who could sing, dance, paint and was a also a dewan) that was brought to life in a performance for the first time over two centuries. Vidya had goosebumps each time she heard more about the lady. As their performance was set amid the tumultuous backdrop of James Achilles Kirkpatrick and Khair-un-Nissa’s love story in the 18th century, the two admit that presenting the mix of fact, anecdote and music was challenging. The duo admires the Residency era, especially for the range of poetry produced by the likes of Quli Qutb Shah and Wali Deccani — be it ghazals, tappas and even a composition on Ganesha by Ibrahim Adil Shah in the

Kitab-e-nauras (with which they began their performance). Speaking of the extensive homework she had to do to compose for the evening, Vidya says, “The tonality was exclusive, I had to think it through for a long time to present it in a particular form.”

Despite knowing each other well for a couple decades, Dalrymple and Shah are still quite meticulous about their rehearsals. “It’s difficult to plan for occasions like these, but we do our best to break it up into different sections. The high that we get out of putting across literature, photography and music is the same every time,” says Dalrymple. It’s always interesting to recreate an era that’s been a cultural symbol of the Telangana region for long, Vidya adds. She says the fact that the audiences for such acts are only growing and that mainstream media shouldn’t constrain the definition of entertainment. “Hyderabad’s cultural fabric has only got more vibrant every time I’m here. Every city that celebrates its art is beautiful and Hyderabad is no different. What I enjoy here the most is the variety of the venues I get to perform at. From the Qutb Shahi tombs to Durgam Cheruvu to Residency building now, the unconventional performance venues have always surprised me and I only long for more,” they sign off.