Love you, Hyderabad

As soon as I reached the department in the morning, people were already in search of me...it happens almost daily these days...nothing special....just for a work or two which has been given to me the day before.

This time it concerned history......'history'... What the hell I was doing with history...

Oh no, it had nothing to do with a subject, I long before left this after my tenth boards...the dates always horrified and confused me...

But here, my job required it...in fact it was my boss's order...an order is an order, one has to follow it without a question...despite reminding myself innumerable times I don't forget to do a mistake...I questioned, and the other second I scorned myself..."Have you ever gone to Hyderabad, Ma'am?", she looked surprised and answered, "Yes, many times...".

So stupid I was to ask such a question to a person who has been to a world tour...but later had a hearty laugh with my colleague regarding history lessons being provided in biochemistry classes...it was a real hilarious session.

Anyways, everything has its benefits... so, always look at the brighter side of simply anything...just anything under the sun...I had to teach myself everyday this hard lesson.

So, my work was to search historical aspect of Hyderabad with images too...My boss actually knows I can waste my time day and night on the internet without creating a fuss...

And within one fourth of an hour I got everything done...loaded in a pen drive...

With twenty pages of copy pasted Microsoft word document on Hyderabadi history with me, I was again followed by another task..."make it concise to fit in half page."...

I should have sensed this before...who else except 'me' has time to go through all this stuff...?

The very first line of the article encouraged me to read...

"Hyderabad History is very rich and interesting, so don't worry, you will not get bored reading it."

“In the year 1959 when the Moon was in the constellation of Leo, Jupiter in its own abode and all celestial planets favourably placed, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, a ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, laid the foundation of a new city which he called Bhagyanagar after his beloved queen ‘Bhagmati’. Bhagmati embraced Islam and took the name Hyder Mahal and consequently Bhagyanagar was renamed Hyderabad after her.”

As if it were not enough, the following paragraph gave a touching depiction of the King’s love story.

“The fourteen year old Sultan of Golconda was madly in love with beautiful Hindu courtesan ‘Bhagmati’, a local dancer.”

There was also a tale of Sultan’s dangerous passion about how he meets her alive in floods and storm. His father Sultan Ibrahim was alarmed to hear his son’s misery, so beautiful women from Armenia, Persia, Arab and different parts of India were brought to entertain the prince, but none could attract his attention away from his beloved ‘Bhagmati’. (How romantic!) His father gave in, and constructed the Purana Pul (Old Bridge) a massive stone bridge across the Musi River, to make easy for the young Sultan to reach to meet his beloved. (How cute and considerate!)

By the time I finished reading the whole Hyderabad History during Qutb Shahi rule and then by Mughal Emperor Aurangzab's seize follwed by Asaf Jahi dynasty -the Nizams till 1948 when finally Indian Army (Operation Polo) overcame the defiant state. No doubt Sardar Vallabhai Patel, the then deputy Prime Minister of India is rightly called 'the Iron Man of India'.

By the time we departed for our homes from the department, most of us were looking forward to the AMBICON 2010 to be held in mid November, in the lovely city of Hyderabad...