Stories from Hyderabad

My son (Soham) and I went to India recently. It was his summer holidays, and I was between jobs. The coincidence was too good an opportunity to squander, so a quick dash was organised to meet some family, friends and see a few places. Here are some stories from the Hyderabad leg of our trip.

11.       Like most Indian kids of my generation, my childhood contained the routine of temple visits on festive occasions (or before exams). Among the many I have visited, the temple in Keesaragutta was my undisputed favourite. Its unique charm was the mythological legend attached to it. The temple sits on a hill (gutta=hill) which bizzarely has several lingams (Lord Shiva’s phallus form) scattered arbitrarily all over the place. The story I was told as a child was that these lingams accidentally dropped from Lord Hanuman’s palm when he was bringing Sanjeevani to save Lakshman in Lanka.

This time I decided to read all the stone displays which I usually ignore (religiously), and lo and behold, I found out that my story told was incorrect. The real story still originates from Ramayana, but in a different part. Apparently when Lord Rama was returning after the war in Lanka, he stopped here to rest and found the place so peaceful that he decided to construct a temple for Lord Shiva here. As the auspicious time for its consecration was fast approaching Hanuman was sent to urgently bring a lingam from Kashi. In Kashi Hanuman couldn’t choose the best lingam, so after much confusion (= time wasting) he picked 100+ of them (100+) and brought them here. But he was too late so Lord Ram explained that they were not needed anymore. The sulking Hanuman threw them all over in a fit of rage, so Rama consoled him and said that this place would have his name and become famous. Keesara in the name refers to 'Kesari', the King of Monkeys and Lord Hanuman’s father.

So after 30+ years one of my childhood stories got corrected. I still find it amazing though.

You can see some of the lingams in the background of this pic. 

And below you can faintly make out the temple on the hill on the far side.

2.       A little-known wonder of Hyderabad is a place called Parsigutta. I grew up around here for several years and have a lot of family who still live there, so it was obviously in the itinerary.

The hill (gutta) referred to in the place’s name is a restricted, walled and gated territory. Once or twice as a child I had heard some rumours about the hill but apart from that nobody talked much about it. Mostly because nobody cared, and that is true even today. It is almost like this place doesn’t exist to the locals, lost in the noise and dust of their daily rush.

It was only several years later when I read up about Zoroastrian religion that I suddenly realised what it must be, I could connect the dots. I realised that Parsi refers to Farsi, the Persian language and as Gutta = Hill, so it must be a ‘Tower of Silence’ - the places (usually hilltops) where Zoroastrians leave there dead to be scavenged by the vultures. I went back to the main gate to actually read the board on the main gate and my suspicion was correct. Right in the middle of an urban sprawl was such a rare and unique thing. This was over 10 years ago.

Add a few more years and I was actually in Iran (in 2013). And when I was in the city of Yazd, the biggest hub for Zoroastrians, I visited a real, disused ‘Tower of Silence’ and saw the pit into which the bodies (wrapped in white cloth) are unfurled and dropped.  I also learnt that this practice is no more followed (actually banned), and that the community has shifted to contemporary methods to send away their dead.

So a truly unique culture which spread from Iran to India is now only found in India. Owing to the big presence of Parsis in Mumbai it remains the only other city which has a few ‘Towers of Silences. Ironically this practice is also dying in India, not because of a change in human preferences, but because of the near extinction of vultures in the cities.

Here is a pic I took of the main gate this time.

3.       One of the best things I did this time was attending a family event in my ancestral village. Barring few exceptions everyone from one side of my family was there, so it was truly awesome to meet all the extended family in once place. The venue and all the people were new to Soham but it was a joy to see how he was welcomed and befriended.

Here you can see all the young people trying to have a conversation with him, it was great fun.

4.       Here I also met an interesting person who had an extra finger on all limbs – so he has 24 fingers in total, that’s FOUR more than you and me. And apparently it runs in his family, both his son and grandson have 24 fingers!

He is a simple sweet person (in white below).

I hope to be able to meet all the family again.

5.       On the sidelines of this event which was held in the fields, I went into the village to take a picture of a particular house, this one.

Most villages in this region have one house like this which completely stands out in terms of its massive size and structure. Rest of the traditional houses are all single level simple structures, whereas this one is like a small fort – walled enclosure, arched entrance, a tower (to presumably defend the main entrance), and a double storied house in the centre.

These were the houses of the doras (the feudal lords) who ruled these villages back in the day. The ace director Shyam Benegal made several brilliant award-winning movies on rural oppression and exploitation in the early part of his career, and you can see such houses in some of them (I recommend 'Nishant').

These houses are now mostly abandoned, the ruling families have moved to the cities to raise their children as Engineers/Doctors. The only link between the villagers and this house is apparently an annual ritual where the villagers borrow the weapons from the house and parade them around.

Despite their dark and terrifying past I have always felt that the giant gate at the entrance locks in a treasure trove of interesting stories. It’d be great if these stories and structures can be salvaged, they are our history after all.

That’s all from Hyderabad, my friends. I also visited Mathura and Agra in this trip. But they have too many stories and I’m too lazy on a Sunday morning to type them all. So see you next time with stories from the Mughals.

Notes from Nicaragua

I dont trust my memory very much so I had started jotting down my travel notes in a diary which is precious to me. But I dont trust my 'looking-after-precious-things' skills as well, so bringing that practice online.

Dec 2017.

1)      The first impressions are very similar to cities in south Mexico (like San Cristobal).  Vibrant colours, music and native faces. The cities (except the capital which we bypassed) are all colonial Spanish architecture – streets laid out in perfect grids, the main Church with a public park adjacent in the heart of the town. Key public buildings – City Hall, University etc – encircle or are in close proximity of this central church/park. Houses are coloured in rows of pastel shades. No high rises. A climb to the Church’s bell tower provides a view of the city to its far edges in all directions.

2)      The country has quite a lot of horses, they are found in all places. Never seen these many horses in any tropical place.

3)      Remember the obnoxious part in ‘House of Cards’ where Kevin Spacey is the President and his wife is the Vice-President? Well, that is the current situation in this country. Says a lot. This is the first thing most people tell you when you ask how the political situation is in the country.

4)      Nicaragua is one of the few countries which bans abortion outright – no exceptions.

5)      The east coast of Nicaragua, La Miskitia, did not have a Spanish presence for a long time. The first Spanish governor to the area, Diego de Gutierrez, was eaten by the natives.

6)      What’s an average Nicaraguans view think of India? – India makes good tuk-tuks (autorickshaws), primarily made by Bajaj and TVS. At least 2-3 people were raving about their superior quality (perhaps overdoing a bit to be polite to us).I also saw Bajaj showrooms selling Pulsar bikes.

7)      Nicaragua is a land of poets. Their history mentions several poets, especially during the revolutions. The guy who assassinated dictator Somoza was a poet, now a national hero. The most powerful lady in the country (the Vice President) - some say she’s actually the real power behind the President - also claims to be a poet. The supreme hero of the country – Ruben Dario – was also a poet, the main International airport in the capital is named after him.

8)      We were in a city called Leon. Apparently in the old days the local indigenous people of this place (Maribios) used to scare the living daylights out of the Spanish and their horses by dressing in the human skin of a ceremonial victim - worn inside out.

9)      Before Panama Canal and the American crosscountry Railway was built, Nicaragua offered a very lucrative route to go from Coast to Coast thanks to its interesting geography.

Its San Juan River connects the Caribbean Sea (Atlantic) to a huge lake in the middle of the country, Lake Nicaragua. On the west side of the lake is a narrow isthmus separating it from the Pacific Ocean. So one could go in a boat between Pacific and Atlantic oceans except for a mere 18km stretch on land. This route was exploited by thousands of people from the East Coast who went across to dig their fortunes during the Californian Gold Rush.

10)   Due to its unique geography (see point 9), Nicaragua was one of the obvious candidates when a canal was being conceived by the great powers. The then president, Zelaya, insisted that no single country would be permitted to finance the canal project in Nicaragua, and what’s more, only Nicaragua could have the sovereignty over a canal built inside its country. The project went to Panama.

Later, in 1909 Zelaya was flirting with Japan to build a rival canal, he was pushed out of power with the help of US Marines. The Marines entered the country and installed a General (Estrada) as the President. Stuck with debts Estrada was forced to borrow from the North American banks. Soon after, there was a new round of internal infighting. The US Marines entered again (1912) and installed their choice, Adolfo Diaz, as the new President. Two years later Nicaragua signed the Chamorro-Bryan Treaty, with Nicaragua conceding perpetual rights of any Nicaraguan canal projects to the US, in exchange for $3 million, which went to pay US banks for outstanding debts. There was no intention to build a canal in the Nicaragua; the deal was rather to keep Nicaragua from building a competing one.

More than 100 years later, the current President still promises to build a canal and calls it their ticket to ‘economic independence’.

11)   Nicaragua has good relations with all its neighbours except Costa Rica, its rich and more successful (tourism) neighbour in the south. The bone of contention is the San Juan River which separates both (see point 9). The river and its north bank belong to Nicaragua but the south bank is Costa Rican. Nicaragua has long been suspicious of Costa Rica desire to usurp the river due to its strategic importance. Costa Ricans are allowed to use the river for commercial purposes, but when one of their military camouflage boats was caught patrolling the river in 1998 it caused a lot of bad blood between both countries.  The river caused rift again in recent years when Nicaragua wanted to dredge the north bank, both sides sent their forces. The International Court ordered both to withdraw forces.

12)   Ruben Dario is by far the country’s most famous poet. But it was the second most famous poet – Alfonso Cortes - whose story struck me. At age 34 Alfonso moved into the same house where Ruben Dario had spent his childhood. One night he apparently became mad. He spent much of that year chained to the iron grillwork in his bedroom. It was from that vantage point he composed what some say is the most beautiful poem in Spanish language La Ventana ‘The Window’. He spent rest of his life in chains in different places. Cortes had his moments of lucidity when his family would unchain him; he spent that time playing guitar. He wrote his poetry in microscopic script in the margins of newspapers. He is buried in Leon Cathedral along with Ruben Dario.

13)   There are wildlife refuges for turtles in Nicaragua. Reading about them I learnt an interesting fact. The turtles come in thousands during the season, cross the beach, dig up and lay their eggs in sand. The hatchling’s gender is decided by the temperature in the sand – below 20 degrees it’s a male, and 30 degrees or above is a female.

14)   In less than three years the Spanish had taken away 700-800 years of accumulated gold from the natives in Nicaragua.

15)   The Sandinista revolution ended a 44 year dictatorship by the Somoza family. But as they say – power corrupts people. The Marxist revolutionaries who took power were no better. They were divided, conniving and corrupt. One of them (Daniel Ortega) is the current president (his 3^rd term). But one of the severe factors which worked against the revolutionaries was Ronald Reagan who backed a covert operation to destabilise them fearing a spread of communism in Central America. The Contras (counter-revolutionaries, CIA) waged a guerrilla war with a motive to harass. They attacked soft (civilian) targets, infrastructure – bridges, schools, hospitals. The new government could not do much country building as they were losing the backbone infrastructure. This was another 8-10 years of fighting which stopped when Reagan left and the good man Jimmy Carter arrived. But as this all happened pretty recently (1980s) the country still doesn’t have much infrastructure. It’s not possible to go from coast to coast on road even today.

16)   In 1969 during the Sandinista revolution the ruling forces learnt about a safe-house where the revolutionaries were hiding. Somoza the dictator sent a force of 300 men, tank and an artillery plane to destroy them. He broadcast the attack live on TV. But after 3 hours of fight when the forces finally entered the house there was only one dead body there – Julio Buitrago. This one man’s fight against the army made the revolutionaries even bigger heroes in the eyes of the public. The live broadcast had backfired massively.

The End!