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A personal take on Hyderabad

So what if it isn’t raining. It is raining books on Hyderabad. On Wednesday evening it was Hyderabad Hazir Hai edited by Vanaja Banagari at the Kakatiya. Though the crowd was different, save for Vijay Marur and a few other pa rty regulars, the sense of déjÀ vu continued as Vanaja began with the aphorism; which Shyam Benegal used a few days back for launching another book on Hyderabad: “You can take a Hyderabadi out of Hyderabad, but you cannot take Hyderabad out of a Hyderabadi.”

With eighteen writers and an editor from the city and everyone on first name or uncle/aunty/beta terms, the book reading evening had the makings of a family affair.

First on the go was Ameenuddin Khan. Instead of the anecdotes, he read from the chapter he wrote titled Hyderabad Roots which gave a glimpse of the world that once was in Hyderabad. And it was an insight into the book which tries to see the changing face of the city through the changes in the lives of the writer be it the author’s description of his family beginning with the wry: “My father was old enough to be my grandfather…” to the way the ruling dynasty was involved in the family of one of the Nawabs.

Move on to the other chapters of the book (yes the writers were reading at the event but if the book is in your hand, who listens) and the tone, tenor and the motivation of the writers become apparent. Didactic in tone, except for a few chapters where there is narrative vigour, the various facets of the city are seen through a personal prism.

For someone who started her writing career as a freelancer with Newstime, years ago, this is Vanaja’s second effort and is to be followed by a psychological thriller. Her essay titled All things Hyderabadi is an extended version of her essay titled Hyderabadi Tales that she contributed to the Seminar magazine right down to the punchline in Deccani: “Kithi der lagarein ji in logan. India say kharab hai.”

You can catch these and other glimpses of the book that is priced at Rs. 395.

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