Ab Ka Gaana...Telangana
Having resisting myself from writing on the hot topic of Telangana statehood for so long, I felt a time has come for me to write on this in my blog. First I need to wear my credentials on my sleeves, before commenting on this sensitive issue. It also matters, sometimes, WHO said it, rather than WHAT is said. My father's great grandfather belonged to this land of Nawabs, Hyderabad. My grandfather has migrated to the Andhra region and father came back to Hyderabad a decade before I was born. So you may agree no less that I am a truer Hyderabadi than our own Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy. This reaffirms my capacity to comment on this topic, dispassionately.
Being born and brought up in this Hyderabad City, I am not exposed to the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, now euphemistically called as the "Seemaandhra" regions. This word itself is a misnomer, as people of both these regions do not accept or agree with each other, Andhra people and Rayalaseema people do not feel that they belong to the same region. As I grew up, I was a bit visiting to the small places in and around Hyderabad, to be precise, Telangana, as my brother or sister used to live in these regions. Much later I got some exposure to the Andhra region. Then I stayed for a reasonably long time in the Rayalaseema region. Probably in this backdrop that I began feeling that I am a telugu man and I belong to these three regions. The events that have unfurled in the recent past, starting from 2009 have made me rethink on my thinking. What all this fuss about the divisions in Telugu people? I started feeling. Though I do not have any soft corner towards the people from Andhra - from my childhood, we at our home used to identity with the place called Telangana, my father used to reel out the stories about the people, who are our family friends from Warangal, Karimnagar and Khammam, about their niceties, how much affectionate they are and the brotherhood that is prevalent in our region of Telangana which is not seen in other parts of the state. People are so kind hearted and "dil daar"(broad hearted) when it comes to relations. Suddenly I started feeling that I only belonged to Hyderabad, not even Telangana, as I was not able to agree on several things, the people of Telangana started convincingly believing. I dislike Statistics and History, in the same breadth. As Harsha Bhogle says, "Statistics are like bikinis, they reveal much, still they conceal vital parts". So is history.
By nature people from my region are laid back styled. The legacy of Nawabi pesh kash would have contributed to this to a larger extent. People want to celebrate all occasions, be it somebody's birth in the neighbourhood or somebody's funeral, someone throwing a party for his engagement, marriage, post-marriage reception(all belonging to the same person) or his son's or daughter's birth, birthday, to name a few. We don't want to miss any of the occasions of the near or dear or far or farther relations. Have party dresses stitched and make merry in these events, preferably dancing to teen maar numbers. Aish karo, Zindagi dubaara Na milegi. Attitude is great, no doubt. But as the city swelled, there started a competition. People coming from different parts of the state as well as other states of the country started giving tough competition to the locals. They persevered and prospered. The protectionism started to vanish. Much sought out government jobs are grabbed by the people from other regions. People from other regions toiled and started investing in real estate. Add to this, people with political connections made merry allotting landbanks for pecuniary benefits or political mileage, for a song. This has suffocated the local populace. They found a vent in the agitation for a separate statehood. "What if he have our own state!", people started thinking. Otherwise it has become run for their money.
The original agitation for statehood in 1969 is behind us. At that time very less number of people from other regions were in Hyderabad. Now the story has altogether changed. Hyderabad is a Cosmopolitan City, true to its name, literally and figuratively. You have people from all the regions, not just within the state of Andhra Pradesh, but without too. Whoever comes to Hyderabad for a job, study or by virtue of marriage, or for whatever reason; as a year passes by, he or she starts liking Hyderabad and would become one Hyderabadi. Thanks to the weather and easy acceptance in the region, people feel at home in my city. When I go out of Hyderabad, every day counts for me to come back to my place. There is some magnetic force in this place. Or is it because it is my "Janmabhoomi" ? I am not sure about the logic. So at this juncture, when the world is turning to be a big global village, a seperate statehood, is it still relevant? I am really not amused with this idea.
All said, the statehood demand by Telangana people cannot be clubbed with any other such seperatist demands across the country. For one, Telangana, as part of the the Nawabi Hyderabad State was existing before its integration with the already seperated state of Andhra State(from the Composite Madras State). As a first linguistic state, it was understood at the time of the merger, that in the interests of the telugu speaking people that, Andhra Pradesh comprising of all the three regions, be formed under one umbrella. Naturally people flocked to the state capital, not to loot, as is made out to believe, but in search of greener pastures, to Hyderabad. This happens for any capital city, for that matter. But living in a small state would give more comforting feel to the people of Telangana, for good or bad! Only catch here is whether the belief of an all-round development and plenty of government jobs on a platter and ample real estate given for a song to the sons of the soil would happen after the formation of a seperate state, TELANGANA, would turn into a reality! Mind you, the same clan of politicians would rule us even after the seperation! The emotions of a majority of the people needs no reason or rhyme, logic or methodology. People want a divorce, what is wrong in granting it! Will of the majority should prevail. Most of the time the majority is wrong, still it is a majority.
"When winter has started, can summer be far behind!"
Being born and brought up in this Hyderabad City, I am not exposed to the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, now euphemistically called as the "Seemaandhra" regions. This word itself is a misnomer, as people of both these regions do not accept or agree with each other, Andhra people and Rayalaseema people do not feel that they belong to the same region. As I grew up, I was a bit visiting to the small places in and around Hyderabad, to be precise, Telangana, as my brother or sister used to live in these regions. Much later I got some exposure to the Andhra region. Then I stayed for a reasonably long time in the Rayalaseema region. Probably in this backdrop that I began feeling that I am a telugu man and I belong to these three regions. The events that have unfurled in the recent past, starting from 2009 have made me rethink on my thinking. What all this fuss about the divisions in Telugu people? I started feeling. Though I do not have any soft corner towards the people from Andhra - from my childhood, we at our home used to identity with the place called Telangana, my father used to reel out the stories about the people, who are our family friends from Warangal, Karimnagar and Khammam, about their niceties, how much affectionate they are and the brotherhood that is prevalent in our region of Telangana which is not seen in other parts of the state. People are so kind hearted and "dil daar"(broad hearted) when it comes to relations. Suddenly I started feeling that I only belonged to Hyderabad, not even Telangana, as I was not able to agree on several things, the people of Telangana started convincingly believing. I dislike Statistics and History, in the same breadth. As Harsha Bhogle says, "Statistics are like bikinis, they reveal much, still they conceal vital parts". So is history.
By nature people from my region are laid back styled. The legacy of Nawabi pesh kash would have contributed to this to a larger extent. People want to celebrate all occasions, be it somebody's birth in the neighbourhood or somebody's funeral, someone throwing a party for his engagement, marriage, post-marriage reception(all belonging to the same person) or his son's or daughter's birth, birthday, to name a few. We don't want to miss any of the occasions of the near or dear or far or farther relations. Have party dresses stitched and make merry in these events, preferably dancing to teen maar numbers. Aish karo, Zindagi dubaara Na milegi. Attitude is great, no doubt. But as the city swelled, there started a competition. People coming from different parts of the state as well as other states of the country started giving tough competition to the locals. They persevered and prospered. The protectionism started to vanish. Much sought out government jobs are grabbed by the people from other regions. People from other regions toiled and started investing in real estate. Add to this, people with political connections made merry allotting landbanks for pecuniary benefits or political mileage, for a song. This has suffocated the local populace. They found a vent in the agitation for a separate statehood. "What if he have our own state!", people started thinking. Otherwise it has become run for their money.
The original agitation for statehood in 1969 is behind us. At that time very less number of people from other regions were in Hyderabad. Now the story has altogether changed. Hyderabad is a Cosmopolitan City, true to its name, literally and figuratively. You have people from all the regions, not just within the state of Andhra Pradesh, but without too. Whoever comes to Hyderabad for a job, study or by virtue of marriage, or for whatever reason; as a year passes by, he or she starts liking Hyderabad and would become one Hyderabadi. Thanks to the weather and easy acceptance in the region, people feel at home in my city. When I go out of Hyderabad, every day counts for me to come back to my place. There is some magnetic force in this place. Or is it because it is my "Janmabhoomi" ? I am not sure about the logic. So at this juncture, when the world is turning to be a big global village, a seperate statehood, is it still relevant? I am really not amused with this idea.
All said, the statehood demand by Telangana people cannot be clubbed with any other such seperatist demands across the country. For one, Telangana, as part of the the Nawabi Hyderabad State was existing before its integration with the already seperated state of Andhra State(from the Composite Madras State). As a first linguistic state, it was understood at the time of the merger, that in the interests of the telugu speaking people that, Andhra Pradesh comprising of all the three regions, be formed under one umbrella. Naturally people flocked to the state capital, not to loot, as is made out to believe, but in search of greener pastures, to Hyderabad. This happens for any capital city, for that matter. But living in a small state would give more comforting feel to the people of Telangana, for good or bad! Only catch here is whether the belief of an all-round development and plenty of government jobs on a platter and ample real estate given for a song to the sons of the soil would happen after the formation of a seperate state, TELANGANA, would turn into a reality! Mind you, the same clan of politicians would rule us even after the seperation! The emotions of a majority of the people needs no reason or rhyme, logic or methodology. People want a divorce, what is wrong in granting it! Will of the majority should prevail. Most of the time the majority is wrong, still it is a majority.
"When winter has started, can summer be far behind!"
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