Not once in my 26 years of life, did I ever regret the fact that I come from the city of Hyderabad - The city of Pearls, The city of Hearts , The city of verve, The city of vivacity and The city that is looked up by several other places in the world. For the first time, I feel sorry for myself for having lived among people who are senseless and heartless. I wandered around every nook and corner of Hyderabad and always loved the composite culture and beauty of the city. I spent the adolescent years of my life in Basheerbagh which is just adjacent to the Burgula Ramakrishna Bhavan (just 10 minutes of walk from Secretariat, Tank Bund, Necklace Road and Himayat Nagar).
I walked atleast a 100 times on the Tank Bund even before most of the surrounding areas weren't developed. There was no Viceroy Hotel, Buddha hadn't secured his place yet in the waters, water in the Hussain Sagar was clean and there were no eateries alongside. By that I meant that I had seen it in the most original state. I can safely recall most of the weekends where my parents used to drive us brothers on the much reliable Bajaj Chetak to the Tank Bund and show us the city. I remember the times when we used to park the scooter at a point and just stroll down the lawns across the 2.3 kms stretch, stopping at each statue of the famous personalities and reading the description underneath the statues (Both in Hindi and Telugu to improvise our reading skills). Sometimes my dad used to narrate a story on one of those eminent people on how they impacted the society. I grew up reading and listening to stories about each and everyone of them. I also remember the days I repeated the names of each person in order, on my way back from school and I was right everytime I attempted. That is how I am associated with those figures.
Yesterday, when I heard the news, I realized that I was raised among the people who could bring the lives of all the great personalities like Sri Annamacharya, Sri Sri, Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Gurajada Apparao, Sir Arthur Cotton and 8 others into their scummy Regional Differences. I felt bad for myself and pity for the agitators having lost their brains. I felt numbness in my eyes when I watched the footage and I wanted to express my anguish which was felt deep within.
How could they forget Veeresalingam's effort to curb Sati? Pothana's work in Telugu literature? Sir Arthur Cotton's dedicated life to Prakasam Barrage? They possibly forgot the fact that they wouldn't have been existing on this earth if Sati was not curbed and one of their grand mothers or great grandmothers had to sacrifice her life during that time. They must have ignored the truth that the grains that they are feeding on is a result of the Dam built by Arthur Cotton who is no way linked to India. Did they even forget that Annamacharya was just a devotee of the Lord that everyone of us pray? This is what one gets after they do so much to the society. The same hypocrites who associated the establishment of YSR's statues in a various parts of the city have lead the groups to demolish the statues of the more respectful people who made an impact on the Telugu society. Why don't they dare to touch the statues of NTR or YSR? Don't they have balls to do that?
Besides, after all the damage was done, our great political leaders enter the arena and declare the Million March - "A SUCCESS"? I was pondering over it all night and was shocked to see some TRS leader speaking on TV9 - justifying the acts of vandalism. I was checking out the news today and people commented on various articles on the internet saying "There is nothing called telugu pride. This is sychopathic imagination of andhrites." I assumed that the people who can access internet should have been well educated and I was shocked to see many such people backing the vandals. Once again, I went into stealth mode for being living among them for 22 years.
Dr. J.P's speech on the tragedy was so emotional, I was moved; You should listen to that. A senior from my school said this in Telugu
Shame on you people who instigated this and people who support this!
I walked atleast a 100 times on the Tank Bund even before most of the surrounding areas weren't developed. There was no Viceroy Hotel, Buddha hadn't secured his place yet in the waters, water in the Hussain Sagar was clean and there were no eateries alongside. By that I meant that I had seen it in the most original state. I can safely recall most of the weekends where my parents used to drive us brothers on the much reliable Bajaj Chetak to the Tank Bund and show us the city. I remember the times when we used to park the scooter at a point and just stroll down the lawns across the 2.3 kms stretch, stopping at each statue of the famous personalities and reading the description underneath the statues (Both in Hindi and Telugu to improvise our reading skills). Sometimes my dad used to narrate a story on one of those eminent people on how they impacted the society. I grew up reading and listening to stories about each and everyone of them. I also remember the days I repeated the names of each person in order, on my way back from school and I was right everytime I attempted. That is how I am associated with those figures.
Yesterday, when I heard the news, I realized that I was raised among the people who could bring the lives of all the great personalities like Sri Annamacharya, Sri Sri, Kandukuri Veeresalingam, Gurajada Apparao, Sir Arthur Cotton and 8 others into their scummy Regional Differences. I felt bad for myself and pity for the agitators having lost their brains. I felt numbness in my eyes when I watched the footage and I wanted to express my anguish which was felt deep within.
How could they forget Veeresalingam's effort to curb Sati? Pothana's work in Telugu literature? Sir Arthur Cotton's dedicated life to Prakasam Barrage? They possibly forgot the fact that they wouldn't have been existing on this earth if Sati was not curbed and one of their grand mothers or great grandmothers had to sacrifice her life during that time. They must have ignored the truth that the grains that they are feeding on is a result of the Dam built by Arthur Cotton who is no way linked to India. Did they even forget that Annamacharya was just a devotee of the Lord that everyone of us pray? This is what one gets after they do so much to the society. The same hypocrites who associated the establishment of YSR's statues in a various parts of the city have lead the groups to demolish the statues of the more respectful people who made an impact on the Telugu society. Why don't they dare to touch the statues of NTR or YSR? Don't they have balls to do that?
Dr. J.P's speech on the tragedy was so emotional, I was moved; You should listen to that. A senior from my school said this in Telugu
Telugu jathi siggutho tala dinchukunna vela....Telugu saahitya ownatyanni chatina annamayyanaa meeru nela koolchindi..Telugu vaari raacharikanni ellalaku chupina Sri Krishna Devarayala vaarina meeru mattubettindi...Telugu aadabidda roudramunu teliyaparichina veera Rudramma naa meeruu....auraa...siggu sigguuu
Shame on you people who instigated this and people who support this!