12 FEATURES
Images of Hyderabad - Clockwise from left: an average day on a Hyderabad street; Hyderabad is the regional capital of Andhra Pradesh; Siddhi Hanuman temple in Dundigul Ashrama
Hyderabad -
a level that the term Bangalored is now Almost a tenth of the Nizam, who presided over a semi-
used for jobs that have been outsourced independent territory the size of France.
Hyderabad’s population
to developing countries. Just as this The various Muslim dynasties have a
boom city benefits enormously from work as economic strong mark on the city’s culture and
India’s new high tech and pharmaceuti- migrants outside the geography. In the crowded old city, with
The forgotten
cal industries, the less well known city city, doing anything its labyrinthine alleyways and backstreet
of Hyderabad is also making its pres- from labouring at bazaars most people are Muslim, who
ence felt in international commerce. make up half of the city’s residents. Suc-
building sites and
cessive waves of migration have also left
600 kilometres north of Bangalore, waiting tables to their mark and Hyderabad is a multicul-
the relatively unknown city of Hyderabad carrying out heart
boomtown
tural place, with Hindu Telugu and Tamil
has firm links with the rest of the world. transplants. speakers living alongside Urdu speak-
A British-Hyderabadi, Lord Billimoria, ing Muslims. The fruit businesses are
pioneered the Cobra brand of lager, controlled by the Chaush, descendants of
which has now become the classic ac- East African soldiers brought over to fight
companiment to most curries in Britain. for the Hyderabad Army. A number of the
Ravi Shankar Jayaram draws on his experience in India to shed Almost a tenth of Hyderabad’s popula- city’s Muslims also have almond eyes and
an insight into one of the regions most diverse cities. tion work as economic migrants outside distinctly Uzbek features, reminiscent of
W
the city, doing anything from labouring at the Central Asian soldiers and merchants
hen I first moved to Eu- office of the world”, has its roots building sites and waiting tables to carry- who migrated centuries ago to India.
rope, the popular image of in the Indian information technol- ing out heart transplants. If you ever visit
India was not dissimilar ogy boom at the beginning of the a glitzy Dubai shopping mall, chances are Just as its inhabitants lead varied lives,
to how my homeland was 21st century. People first got wind of your lukewarm and cautiously flavoured major buildings in the city also have a
portrayed by Indiana Jones’ Temple India’s IT prowess during the now Starbucks frappacino will be handed multi cultural feel. Like its trademark
of Doom, a land of odd dietary habits, long forgotten Millennium bug scare. to you by a Hyderabadi. Yet perhaps Charminar monument, all are heav-
elephants and a few beggars and can- Indian programmers worked round because of its relatively small popula- ily influenced by Islamic architecture.
nibals thrown in for local colour. Eight the clock to assure the world that tion and harder to pronounce name, it’s Competing with the Taj Mahal and other
years later there has been a radical shift civilisation would not collapse as the been overshadowed by India’s larger famous landmarks in the north of India
in how people see India. Indians seem to clock struck twelve on new years eve. metropolises. Indeed the only reason may be hard, but the buildings of Hy-
be less inclined to sacrifice you to some I’m writing about Hyderabad is because derabad have an oddly disproportionate
multi-limbed deity and more likely to The city that benefited most from this my father happens to be a Hyderabadi. and vaguely Disney World-like quality.
steal your highly prized call centre job. was Bangalore in South India. This south
Indian boomtown is home to offices from My grandfather made Hyderabad his Multiculturalism is not an unusual
Like all caricatures there are grains most of the world’s largest corporations. home, when it was a relatively sleepy concept in India. What is unusual about
of truth in both aspects of India. The Previously unknown, Bangalore has town. Hyderabad was never part of Brit- Hyderabad is that it’s relatively free of
second image, as the trite cliché “back entered the global consciousness at such ish India; it was ruled by a Muslim ruler, strife compared to other diverse places in