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The Untold Charminar: Writings on Hyderabad
A dazzling collection that captures the essence of Hyderabad, offering glimpses of the various strands that go into its making fact and legend; old-world quaintness and the highest hi-tech; eccentricity and intrigue; the calm of genteelness and the fury of rebellion
Hyderabad is a city once ruled by the world s richest man who invested most lavishly in his state, most shabbily in his wardrobe; it holds stories of a courtesan who fought wars, counseled prime ministers, sang her own verse and enthralled luminaries who mattered; of a chief minister who transformed it into a hi-tech hub; and of a sports star who brought the young glamour of India to every tennis court in the world.
Home as much to the Golconda as to Jacob, the 187-carat diamond used as a paperweight by the Nizam, and to rock landscapes two and a half million years old, Hyderabad is a city that forever mixes cultures, cuisines, religions and languages. Here, Persian turned alloy with Telugu, Marathi and Arabic to yield a special version of Urdu, Dakhini. And here, as Andhra mingled with Telangana, a smiling mildness has survived, disarming at every turn, just as grace under pressure, regardless of gender, is unfailing.
In The Untold Charminar readers will discover a city they will want to explore, as Sarojini Naidu, Sir Mark Tully and William Dalrymple rub shoulders with Ian Austin, Meenakshi Mukherjee and Anees Jung, regaling you with their feast of hard facts and hearsay; as each foreign visitor shares his story through Narendra Luther; as the film-makers Shyam Benegal and Nagesh Kukunoor paint their vivid memories of home; as poets, not just the maverick Makhdoom and Gaddar, raise their voices in song; as statesmen, academics and aficionados hold forth on the completely different Hyderabad each experienced.
And when Tejaswini Niranjana profiles the vigilante Vijayasanthi and Dharmender Prasad picks out place names and explains their sometimes almost mystic origins, as Bachi Karkaria, Omkar Goswami and Harsha Bhogle share their typically offbeat views of a favorite city, readers will be persuaded to believe they have encountered not a city but the inner workings of a very complex character.
Hyderabad is a city once ruled by the world s richest man who invested most lavishly in his state, most shabbily in his wardrobe; it holds stories of a courtesan who fought wars, counseled prime ministers, sang her own verse and enthralled luminaries who mattered; of a chief minister who transformed it into a hi-tech hub; and of a sports star who brought the young glamour of India to every tennis court in the world.
Home as much to the Golconda as to Jacob, the 187-carat diamond used as a paperweight by the Nizam, and to rock landscapes two and a half million years old, Hyderabad is a city that forever mixes cultures, cuisines, religions and languages. Here, Persian turned alloy with Telugu, Marathi and Arabic to yield a special version of Urdu, Dakhini. And here, as Andhra mingled with Telangana, a smiling mildness has survived, disarming at every turn, just as grace under pressure, regardless of gender, is unfailing.
In The Untold Charminar readers will discover a city they will want to explore, as Sarojini Naidu, Sir Mark Tully and William Dalrymple rub shoulders with Ian Austin, Meenakshi Mukherjee and Anees Jung, regaling you with their feast of hard facts and hearsay; as each foreign visitor shares his story through Narendra Luther; as the film-makers Shyam Benegal and Nagesh Kukunoor paint their vivid memories of home; as poets, not just the maverick Makhdoom and Gaddar, raise their voices in song; as statesmen, academics and aficionados hold forth on the completely different Hyderabad each experienced.
And when Tejaswini Niranjana profiles the vigilante Vijayasanthi and Dharmender Prasad picks out place names and explains their sometimes almost mystic origins, as Bachi Karkaria, Omkar Goswami and Harsha Bhogle share their typically offbeat views of a favorite city, readers will be persuaded to believe they have encountered not a city but the inner workings of a very complex character.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 24, 2020
38 authors have written articles covering the wide terrain of the city right from its history to its cuisine, films, heritage, rocks, poetry, language and sports. While some of these have been reprinted from previously printed sources, many have been written specially for this anthology. Going through the articles one gets to decipher the city layer by layer. Interesting read for anyone who is interested to know the vibrant hues of this city
January 23, 2015
Though I've now lived outside of Hyderabad longer than I've lived within the boundaries of the beautiful city-state, I still consider it home. I'm glad to have found this book which reminded me of so many stories my parents and grandparents recounted from their childhoods. And I've learnt a whole lot more from the essays.
There was some commentary about the real population of Hyderabad. The poor, the villages etc. But then Hyderabad was a city of Nawabs and most of its glory, if not all, comes from the treatment of its rulers and ruling class by various writers and editors.
The book could have been better named: "The often retold Charminar"..
Having said that, who wants to read about the small, miserable lives of common people in medieval India (or England for that matter)?
I liked the well thought out collections Syeda Imam has brought together here. I enjoyed the space given to Sufism in Hyderabad, the mushairas, and the nawabi tehzeeb which I still seem to carry with me much to my wife's chagrin ;)
The book could have done without the study on Vijayshanti and vigilantism.. It felt strange to see that essay in there. I felt Vijayshanti was more popular outside of the city of Hyderabad and invoking her screen persona didn't make any specific points for me vis-a-vis woman of Hyderabad, movie industry as it pertains to Hyderabad etc.
Sarojini Naidu's letters were charming in their short but almost lyrical honesty.
My big takeaway from this is about the Police Action which caused the accession of Hyderabad into Indian Union. I plan on reading "City of Legends" by Ian Austin when I get a copy at a reasonable price (currently $46 for a used hardcover on Amazon!).
There was some commentary about the real population of Hyderabad. The poor, the villages etc. But then Hyderabad was a city of Nawabs and most of its glory, if not all, comes from the treatment of its rulers and ruling class by various writers and editors.
The book could have been better named: "The often retold Charminar"..
Having said that, who wants to read about the small, miserable lives of common people in medieval India (or England for that matter)?
I liked the well thought out collections Syeda Imam has brought together here. I enjoyed the space given to Sufism in Hyderabad, the mushairas, and the nawabi tehzeeb which I still seem to carry with me much to my wife's chagrin ;)
The book could have done without the study on Vijayshanti and vigilantism.. It felt strange to see that essay in there. I felt Vijayshanti was more popular outside of the city of Hyderabad and invoking her screen persona didn't make any specific points for me vis-a-vis woman of Hyderabad, movie industry as it pertains to Hyderabad etc.
Sarojini Naidu's letters were charming in their short but almost lyrical honesty.
My big takeaway from this is about the Police Action which caused the accession of Hyderabad into Indian Union. I plan on reading "City of Legends" by Ian Austin when I get a copy at a reasonable price (currently $46 for a used hardcover on Amazon!).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 31, 2018
A jewel of a book!
Such an eclectic collection of mostly personal accounts, memoirs, and commentaries on the city that I call home.
From Narendra Luther's "Hyderabad through Foreign Eyes" which sets the stage nicely for what's to follow, to Bilkees Latif's "Rare Visage Of the Moon" that talks about the lesser known Mahlaqa Bai - an Urdu poetess and courtesan, and then you have Sarojini Naidu's "Letters too tell stories" which painstakingly unfurls the loss she felt after the death of the 6th Nizam.
Each chapter charts the evolution of Hyderabad, from the opulence of the Nizams to their eventual downfall, the accession to the Indian Union in 1948, and what became of the city thus, how it transformed into the bustling concrete jungle of today yet never losing the spirit and harmony that has become its trademark. The spirit of Hyderabad and its people being the unifying thread that runs through every essay.
There are other interesting essays that detail the inclusiveness of the Nizams and by extension the city. Yezdayr Kasooji's "Growing up a Parsi in Hyderabad" is a wonderful account of the Parsi community and culture and how they had adapted to the local traditions, in true Hyderabad fashion. There's just so much here for anybody who's associated with Hyderabad that it makes for an overwhelming read. There's even an aside on how the peculiar Dakhani language came to be.
Reading this book has given me a newfound appreciation for the city of Hyderabad. And I was saddened that there's such a rich history to this place that most might never know. This is definitely a book worth picking up!
Such an eclectic collection of mostly personal accounts, memoirs, and commentaries on the city that I call home.
From Narendra Luther's "Hyderabad through Foreign Eyes" which sets the stage nicely for what's to follow, to Bilkees Latif's "Rare Visage Of the Moon" that talks about the lesser known Mahlaqa Bai - an Urdu poetess and courtesan, and then you have Sarojini Naidu's "Letters too tell stories" which painstakingly unfurls the loss she felt after the death of the 6th Nizam.
Each chapter charts the evolution of Hyderabad, from the opulence of the Nizams to their eventual downfall, the accession to the Indian Union in 1948, and what became of the city thus, how it transformed into the bustling concrete jungle of today yet never losing the spirit and harmony that has become its trademark. The spirit of Hyderabad and its people being the unifying thread that runs through every essay.
There are other interesting essays that detail the inclusiveness of the Nizams and by extension the city. Yezdayr Kasooji's "Growing up a Parsi in Hyderabad" is a wonderful account of the Parsi community and culture and how they had adapted to the local traditions, in true Hyderabad fashion. There's just so much here for anybody who's associated with Hyderabad that it makes for an overwhelming read. There's even an aside on how the peculiar Dakhani language came to be.
Reading this book has given me a newfound appreciation for the city of Hyderabad. And I was saddened that there's such a rich history to this place that most might never know. This is definitely a book worth picking up!
February 27, 2018
Whenever and wherever I mention that I live in Hyderabad, I am subjected to a pyroclastic flow of Hyderabad's glorious past gushing out with a sense of pride -- my tone shrieks with exclamation marks when I have to say Hyderabad!! Hyderabad founded by Quli Qutb Shah with a city plan ready in 1591, incorporating many of the features of the mythical Islamic heaven, now abounds in recurrent images, phrases --- and stories that are less myth more truth, than most. There is something drone-like about the cliches; the state long presided over by the world's richest man, home to the Salar Jung Museum, the Charminar, the Golconda diamonds, and the most likely to the Kohinoor, the Orloff, the Jacob, the Hope, the Great Mughal, the Darya-i-Noor. Hyderabad is a distinct Deccani culture, the product of a very particular mixture of peoples and influences. It was based on religious tolerance, courtesy, hospitality, love of arts and a first-rate civil service which made no distinction between creeds or caste or class. Religious tolerance ---that rare value of accepting different cultures readily --- has been an integral part of the culture of the Deccan for good reason. This hair-raising book, the untold Charminar', Syeda Iman is a gleaning of many who touched the city and were moved; who know and will tell; who relish and wish to share that relish. Finally, although the Hyderabad that I reckon -- the city of pearls, the city of lakes, the city of gardens has died, but Hyderabad lives on!!
December 3, 2023
If you can't visit Hyderabad you can read it. I have been visiting Hyderabad since I was a kid and have discovered more about Hyderabad in this book than in visiting it. a must-read for people who have been living here for years. it doesn't feel like I am reading it instead it feels like I am experiencing it while I am reading it .
November 4, 2018
Some stories worth reading, some not so much. It could have been a smaller book, filtering out the nonsense some writers wrote about the city.
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