Travel diary - On the spot , Hyderabad , India

EMERGING CITIES:

The Magnanimous Live Nagaswaram music floated in the air was a pleasant invitation  while checking  inside   room no 502, Aditya Park inn  Hyderabad - may be from a marriage hall in the vicinity and a nice thing to start the  day with, I thought.

 

Well ! Hyderabad is not new to me .And I've been constantly watching its developement ;  its  profile had  changed considerably , right from the develpment of  Hitec City in 1996 ;As I was also part of the development by virtue of working for L & T , I kind of chornicled the evolvement of  Hyderabad as a developed city . With its Hitec roads, skyscrapers, Hi fi  malls, mind boggling flyovers, and the new airport, I would say at this present time Hyderabad   really stands out among the other emerging cities in India. Buildings of all forms ,  angular, square, circular , wavy, on  both the sides of the roads with Alco panels and curtain glasses  giving  a ‘made in Manhattan’ feel .

The soul appealing live Nathaswaram, in perfect synergy with its accompaniments, gave an air of positive energy with  a magnificent beginning with ‘Mahaganapathim’ ,  ‘How blessed the marriage couple are to have such an auspicious music on their marriage day!’, I thought.

Though it started with the traditional marriage ragas, …..  it went on in length to Khamboji, Thodi  Aberi kind of  Raja ragas ,which is not normally played in the marriages .I started thinking that this is not an ordinary business....... I stood up from my couch,  and went near the window with a  curiosity to find out what is going on out there?…anticipating a  big cultural festival or a big temple festival !!…… 

There I a saw a big slum out there thru  the glazed window…….   Since I was in the  5^th storey, I could have a panoramic view of the  slum life on the terraces , streets and the open areas.  Had a Glimpse of the real life in a traditional Hyderabadi slum.

  'A lady squatting and squeezing vadam extract on a flattened  purple color sari on a terrace……. A group  of men  in their lungis making pots and drying them in the open area, cows , goats , children playing with their homely dressess'.  I  desperately searched for , a pandal area , a ‘some wherein’ particular joint ,- a podium with people sitting and listening to the Nathaswaram .  

 In one narrow street I spotted   two people in their casual dothi without shirts, sitting on the chair and playing Nathaswaram ,and two more sitting on the opposite side playing thavil, and one small fellow standing and doing the Jalra ,with no audience or sound system around them .  I saw children running through them and playing.  Astonished to observe  that it was from this narrow shady street ,originated the most appealing music!. 

 Assumed, they are practicing  for some unfixed festival or kutcheri.,  I saw two goats tided closely on the door next to the thavil vidwan’s  chair, the goats were  very casual in its job, chewing its morning  grabs and not at all perturbed with this loud music produced just closer to them, may be it is a  routine sound for them.

 While driving back to the Airport , I saw a bill board with the huge sign of ‘The charminar towers’ and the circular building of ‘The Hitec City’, with the caption ‘the future silicon Valley of India’ .True it is or will become one ,for  obvious  reasons,  but for a second ,the scene of  Nathaswaram team flashed in my mind  and faded.

 

 - Rajesh babu -     From my diary dt 15^th of April 2010

 

 

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