Actor Nani sits under a shaded tree waiting for his shot on the sets of his forthcoming film Gangster . Junior artistes, some of them dressed like doctors, nurses and patients wander around the leafy forecourt of a colonial-era bungalow. Over a hailer, commands of action and cut, an autorickshaw rides in circles to lend an air of a busy thoroughfare near a hospital.
All the action is at the annexe of a heritage building, which was once a palace and now functions as the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) in Khairatabad area. The institution of national importance has been training managers, administrators, entrepreneurs and academicians from the 1950s.
I climb a flight of stairs and there are two long, wide verandahs where the heat of the day loses its sting. There is a wide doorway leading to a long corridor and another flight of stairs. The view is breathtaking with wide open vistas, trees, and fountains. “It used to be more breathtaking when this palace was constructed in 1910, the Hussainsagar Lake used to lap the rear gate then,” says a staffer at ASCI. The architect who designed it as a palace named the building Bella Vista (beautiful view). Now, the view of Hussainsagar Lake is blocked by a flyover, train track, and an endless stream of vehicles that flow past, through the day and night.
Nearly a century ago, this palace was the stuff of dreams when a newly married royal couple stepped in and turned it into a pleasure dome. The prince was Azam Jah, the elder son of Nizam Osman Ali Khan, arguably the richest man at that time and his wife was the stunning Durrushehvar, daughter of Last Caliph of Turkey Abdul Majjid-II.
The Princess brought her royal touch to the 10-acre property by deciding to put in a swimming pool. The 8.5 feet pool was sufficiently deep for the tall princess. Then, when she had children, a baby pool was created just behind the house. In 1934, a home lift manufactured by Hammond & Champness of London was added. After all, if you are royalty, why would you deign to climb stairs?
I wander around the erstwhile palace’s large rooms with high ceilings, kept cool by clever architecture rather than air conditioners. That’s when I realised, modern Indian architects often makes walk-in ovens: apartments with thick walls, low roofs, small windows and narrow doors. Walk into any house or apartment built after 1980 and any baker will agree.
This is different. The palace is a play of light, shade and air. High ceilings kept the hot air up and cool air down. Thoughtfully paired windows and doorways played with light and breeze. The effect is a lesson in architecture.
One massive room on the ground floor has been turned into a dining area, the bedrooms are now classrooms, some are office rooms. Sepia-tinted photographs from the earliest times of the palace now hang in the verandah and corridors. One of the photographs is that of Azam Jah, and Mukarram Jah sitting on the lap of Princess Durrushever. “This looks it was shot in the upstairs verandah. But a lot has changed,” says a staffer searching for clues in the photo. In the late 1940s, the princess moved to England with her sons for their education.
But tragedy haunted the palace The marriage of the prince entered a stormy phase. Prince Azam Jah was overlooked and the Nizam Osman Ali Khan named his grandson Mukkaram Jah as the heir to the masnad (cushion) at Chowmahalla Palace, near Charminar where the Asaf Jahi family ruled for over 200 years. The bigger tragedy was that the staff that manned the palace and later academic institution would release juicy bits of salacious gossip about the prince and his lifestyle. Was the gossip real? We have no way of knowing.
