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Biryani to lasagne

How about a magazine for the Hyderabadi Generationext? SYEDA FARIDA meets up with the young team behind the endeavour

RARING TO GO Gibraan and Shradha of `Hydrogen'- Photo K.Gajendran

What would differentiate a Hyderabadi youth from his/her peers across the country? Well, they work hard party hard (find them hitting gigs after wrapping up semesters with élan), love Irani chai and latte in the same order and importantly, have their own jargon, with kaiku and nakko included.

And that is not enough to describe the `Hydrides' a.k.a, the Hyderabadi youth, says Mohammed Aamer Gibraan, editor and CEO of Hydrogen, short for Hyderabad Generation, and the new youth magazine in town. "The Hyderabadi youth is laid back. It's in the blood. They have this care a damn or bindaas attitude. They don't worry about a lot of things," says the final year engineering student, Osmania University.

A brainchild of Gibraan the magazine hit the newsstand this month. "I wanted to start the magazine four years ago, but I did not have experience or resources there. Youth don't have a magazine not because they don't deserve it but because they don't ask for it. They represent a large chunk of the population and 70 per cent of the advertisements are with the youth. So," he says.

By the youth

Teaming with him on this endeavour is a core team of final year engineering, mass communication and fashion school students, not forgetting the freelance college representatives, recently recruited over a cuppa coffee, who would be reporting the campus events. And if you thought it was a campus magazine, think again.

Find here wardrobe alerts, music reviews, opinions and more. There are pages on culture, cuisine - from biryani to lasagne, and city gup shup in a language the youth understand best - sms and sentences combined. As also short takes and gyan to the youth by the youth, fashion tips and more advice.

But there is more says Gibraan. "In our next issue we would be coming out with hard hitting stuff, things that youth don't talk about. We want to give a platform for youth to raise their voice."

But bringing out a mag when the rest of the classmates are busy with GRE, CAT and other exams "has been challenging.

Our computer was infected with virus so we had to do the entire work. And then we also had to manage academics. Our parents gave great support," says Shradha Arangil, creative director, final year engineering student, Vasavi College of Engineering.

And the response has been rewarding. "We received a call from a publisher in Pune who wants inputs for a similar magazine there," says a beaming Gibraan. And there is more for the `Hydrides' he adds as he plans to line up treasure hunts, gigs and forums for GenX subscribers.

"We would like to involve as many youth. They can contribute or voice their views," says Shradha. Interested? Login to www.hydrogenonline.net to join the Hyderabadi GenX community.

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