Hyderabadi Kalchar-Walchar -WaGhaira WaGhaira

[Guest]

Aadab Arz hay...... Hereunder is a master piece dipicting Hyderabadi culture in totality and can be understood well only by a genuine Hyderabadi ! Ahh Hyderabadi culture....Something we all know about, yet find it hard to explain. A philosophy, a view of life, shared symbols of what defines a Hyderabadi, and much much more. Not just consumption habits, not just language, not just religion, yet all of this and a whole lot more. Let me begin by scratching the surface. Sometimes confused with a so-called \\\'nawabi tehzeeb\\\', but erroneously so. Alive in the most opulent (and often decadent) devdis as well as the most humble jhopdi. \\\'Ghouse e-paak ka jhanda\\\' fluttering from trees or bamboo flagoples; \\\'rajab ke kunde\\\', \\\'moharram ka sharbat\\\', \\\'bismillah ke laddoo\\\', \\\'Bi ka alam\\\', \\\'milad un nabi ka jalsa\\\', chaders at Yusuf baba, Jahangir Peeran, Pahadi sharif and many other places. Trips to urs in Gulbarga, Ajmer, elsewhere, and for those called, the Hajj with fat imam-e-zamins. Much of this in spite of frowning ahl-e-hadisis and other self-righteous jamatis. Personal piety in life, with little patience for the \\\'mazhabi thekedars\\\'. Respect for the \\\'nek aadmi\\\', and disdain for the pompous. Little bowing to riches or power (\\\'hungey, yaan kisku?), yet deference to the good (\\\'aadab saab\\\'). An ethos much more egalitarian than one would find elsewhere. Over time, separation from the feudalism that characterizes the rest of AP or the Hindi belt. Respect for the individual within a clear social order, regardless of the person\\\'s economic status. Like rickshawalas and bawarchis being called this saab and that mian. Inviting the family\\\'s rickshawalla, dhobi, hajjam and others to weddings. Drainage and municipal workers receiving a share of \\\'qurbani ka gosht\\\'. Spirit of community. Disdain for the pretentious, but not for the faqeer. Balancing \\\'deen\\\' and \\\'duniya\\\'. A happy coexistence of \\\'fasih Urdu\\\' with \\\'pakki daccani\\\'. The fasahat of the zabaan never confused with the effeminate \\\'nazakat\\\' affected by Lucknowis. The language of the street sounding far sweeter and much more intimate than the street languages of almost anywhere else. Not just the kalaam of Maqdoom and Amjad, but also those of Gilli (Nalgondvi: \\

[Bhirr Ustaad]

Amjad, but also those of Gilli (Nalgondvi: \"Chaand Khan joru pe latthu
hotain
dekho\"), Sarwar Danda (\"Police ki diary mein, fullstop hai na
comma,...Sanjeva Reddy Mama\'). Knowing that Bollywood never really got the
Hyderabadi right. From Mehmood to Naseeruddin Shah, and sundry others, they
all
sounded coastal Andhra.

Of course, the food. Definitively the best rice dish anywhere in the world.
Best when cooked in house yards in big degs sitting on three large stones.
Scooped out with kafgeers, served in mushkhabs, with mirchi ka salan,
baghara
baigan, dahi ki chatni,.....best eaten on a red and green dastarkhan by the
unpretentious, on chowkis by the traditionalists, and on tables by the
pretentiously modern.

Nahari in the mornings, haleem in Ramzan (not Ramadan, mind you). \'Ambade ki
bhaji\' and \'imli ki chatni\', offered with love by strangers on the slow
train
to Gulbarga.

Yet,.....Halaal gosht sometimes bought with haraam ki kamai. Prejudices,
some
deep seated and some recent (\"Awwal Bidri, duvvam Medki, suvvam badzaat
Koheri\"). Looking the other way at minors being married off to pedophiliac
old
Arabs. Pettiness and \'chichorapana\'. Self-serving leaders. Exploitative
\'chor
murshads\'. Graveyards being levelled to make way for sheds. Opportunistic
autodrivers. Anarchic users of the roads. Wealth leading un unhealthy
ostentation among the privileged. And always, grumbling by the older
generation
that things are not the way they used to be. \'Hamare zamanae mein\' stories.
People, living life. The same as everywhere, yet unique. Tremendous
potential,
yet something holding them back. A people successfully making the transition
from \'loss of the riyasat\' blues to participation in the globalized economy.
Conversant not just in Urdu, but also in C++, Perl....

There! Have I scratched the surface? Please excuse factual and typing
errors.
Correct me if I am wrong, and add your own thoughts on what being a
Hyderabadi
is to you.

Khudahafiz.

[Awful Reader]

Dear anonymous friend - while your message is appreciated both in terms of contents and vocabulory, i would suggest that writings must be for the readers and as such the more you use simple to understand words the more you enhance the readability. Selection of words must suit the occassion and purpose. I would imagine that , out of 10 atleast 7 of the readers must have either left it halfway or if curious would have referred to the dictionary - and honestly i have referred to the dictionary to understand a couple of words. A good message is that which any one can understand and not that which is hard to understand. So please use simple english so that everybody can read and enjoy. Thesaurus can give many hard options for simple words - but the aim should be to make use of it to make life easy, not difficult.

[ShaadAabad]

Beautiful..!! that\'s all i can say...First Mr. Anonymous and then bhirr ustaad both have me completely mesmerised..My beloved Hyderabad, whose shores i have left in pursue of waealth and success, has been very well captured here...There are so many things distinctly hyderabadi and that can never ever be replaced by any place by any culture...I am all nostalgic...thanks to you both...Viva Hyderabad!

[Sher]

True very True awful reader..
i left it halfway..although i was trying real hard to grasp it as it promised to be a gud article..

[amer]

Hyderab is the best, that what i can say.. like all other will say that there place place is the best, but do they have substantial material to support them.. biryani.. the accent.. the whether.. the IT tech... the brotherhood.(dont know much about sisters.)and other stuff..
Salaam bombay.. jis hisaab se kehte hain... usi tarah se.. kya baat hain mian hyderabad ki... the moment u say ur from hyderabad and that too deccan hyderabad( \'cuz there is one in pakistan), that moment only people start saying .. kya mian kya bataan karrayan mian.. aisa nakku bolo nakko karo aur to aur how.. .. and other stuff.. these are the things that use to ring a bell in the people, earlier, but now a days people say .. hyderabad yaaani cyberabad.. thanks 2 our honourable cheif minister, Mr chandra babu naidu,we have made a noticeable change in the general public who r atleast literate enough to understand at what pace the world is moving and where we as hyderabad come into it. Its a recognition which since long time we have got, whether it charminar ke minaraan ho ya phir biryani ho ya phir haleem..
well i want to write more but .. words r not enough to understand what hyderabad is one atleast has be in hyderabad, if not being a hyderabadi.. jate jate.. is hyderabadi ka sab ko salaam..