Being an only son, Prabhakar, on his mother's insistence, had to let go his dream of getting into the armed forces. Joining the police force was another option. “When she refused to let me join the military I could understand her feelings. She wasn't ready to let her son go off to far flung places. So the next best thing I could do was join as a security officer,” recollects Prabhakar. That was several years ago. “I was a volleyball player and I finally landed up with the security forces with the Taj Mumbai in 1981,” he recollects. Prabhakar came to Hyderabad to take over as the security officer of the Palace when the Taj Group took over.
Now, Prabhakar Neminath Mahindrakar, a lanky man in his late '50s is the in-house historian-cum-chief security officer at the Taj Falaknuma, Hyderabad. One just cannot miss the man dressed as he is in a black sherwani and spotless white churidaar, in the palace. If the palace is known for the exclusive stuff it holds, Prabhakar is the story teller who recreates history to the visitors, making them feel proud to be in a palace with so many rare objects. And for the past 17 years, Prabhakar has only been reeling out history as if he had actually witnessed it.
“It is a matter of pride for anyone to be here. No wonder guests write shayaris like this on the palace — kya dekha tarikhe hind mein jo Falaknuma dekha , Asaf Jahi nagina na dekha jo shane deccan na dekha .” Getting into the mode of a story teller, Prabhakar takes us through the swarag ka dwar . “Falaknuma means Palace in the sky. So everything is themed to fit that name. See the marbles and the entire skirting of the hall. The marble reflects the cloudy sky,” he points out. One can clearly see his passion for the history of the palace.
The security officer turned historian says, his goal is to make visitors come back to the palace and see the glory in its present state. “Nothing much has changed. I have been here for the past 17 years. And for all these years, I have happily shared the secrets of the palace. I am glad I get more people now to listen about the palace,” he says.
Prabhakar is so through in his knowledge of the palace, that it doesn't take him a moment to pick the Nizam's chair from the 101 chairs at the Nizam's longest dining table – the chair has an arm rest raised by three centimetres.
When Prabhakar first joined the Taj Falaknuma, it was open only to dignitaries. “Once I landed here, I knew that someday the Falaknuma Palace wouldbe turned into a star hotel. Its star status wasn't of much concern to me. I was more hungry to know the palace secrets and share it with the world. I wanted people to know about the Palace and leave with comments like these, ‘best palace hotel ever visited,' he says as he points to the remarks on the visitor's book.
Each and every corner reeks of history here. And Prabhakar is like the kid in a candy store, moving from one object to another as he recreates the past excitedly, “Oh, on this table where the visitor's book is placed, right in this corner,” he points to the extreme right corner of the table, “the Jacob diamond used to be placed like a paper weight, so says history.” . He goes on, “In this list one will find the telephone extension number of the visitors to the palace. The last prime minister to visit the Nizam was Dr. Rajendra Prasad and this list rolls out his extension number as well. Whereas his Highness's number was not known to anyone,” he says.
After 17 years in the palace Prabhakar counts himself as a Hyderabadi. “This is my home now. I am totally rooted to this place and till I live I shall see to it that the palace's glory reaches far and wide,” he says. Prabhakar has a knack of recreating some instances and can give a photographic description of people seated during a conversation. “A few years back Ratan Tata was seated here on this chair, with Princess Esra and Mukkaram Jah. I was here during that meeting,” he recollects.
Sharing his personal moments with some of the dignitaries especially Princess Esra and the Muffakham Jah, the historian goes on a nostalgic trip. “After the first renovation, the Princess was very unhappy, during one meeting she called everyone including me and asked me if I was satisfied with what was done. I was humbled. She has seen me in the palace and knew what the glory of the palace meant to me,” he recollects.
In his long years in the palace, Prabhakar has only fallen back on first hand information collected by him from the Princess, localities and Basava Rao.
“Basava Rao took one year to create an inventory of the palace. He was a museumologist and the deputy director of Salarjung. I developed keen interest in the work and my frequent tours with him made me know the palace as if I lived here from the beginning. Basava Rao did an excellent job of explaining each and every article to me and said ‘I have travelled across the world and seen many palaces but this palace is unique and has some of the rarest collections.”
Finally, as his tribute to the palace and the years he has spent with its royal history, Prabhakar is writing a book on the palace.
Palace tales
The Nizam had 450 cars out of which 100 were imported.
The billiards table in the Palace is custom-made for the Nizam and has specially designed cues and balls made of ivory.
The Nizam always used the left stairs to enter the palace and right to exit.
It took 9 years to build the palace, 22 years to decorate it and finally 10 years to renovate it.
According to a book the Nizam had enough gems and jewelleries to cover the Piccadilly circus in London
The palace has the world's most beautiful library.
