Hyderabad Blues

Telangana Times

Telangana Rashtra Samiti supremo K. Chandrasekhar Rao is camping in New Delhi, holding talks with Vyalar Ravi, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Digvijay Singh, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Oscar Fernandes hoping to get the UPA government's nod for Telangana statehood. TRS sources told this correspondent that UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's right hand man Ahmed Patel has been in touch with Chandrasekhar Rao over the last two months. KCR has his family members, including son K.T. Rama Rao and daughter Kavithaas well as his grandchildren for company. Politics apart, the TRS president is enjoying playing the indulgent grandfather for which he seldom has time in Hyderabad. So it's also a kind of a holiday for the family.

Meanwhile, KCR's nephew Harish Raois managing to keep the T-fire alive in Assembly. Even as Lok Satta party MLA Jayaprakash Narayan was speaking in the House, Harish Rao decided to vent his fury by breaking a mike and flinging it at Narayan. The message is loud and clear. KCR might be playing the dove in Delhi as he chats up Congress leaders and there is talk of a merger, but Harish Rao will keep the aggressive image of theTRS alive.

Word emerging from the buoyant TRS quarters is that the centre will make a positive announcement soon with regard to Telangana. And till such time, KCR's family will stay put in Delhi. Congress leaders from Seemandhra however rubbish such statehood claims and say KCR is simply holidaying in Delhi since he has run out of ideas.

The Horror

The horror of corporal punishment continues to stalk schools in the state. In a recent incident, a14-year-old schoolboy who was forced to do over 300 sit-ups by his teacher at Royal Embassy High School in Santosh Nagar area of the Old City. Mohammad Ismail, a Class X student, was subjected to the punishment on September 4 by his teacher Mubin for being talkative in class. He died 10 days later while undergoing treatment in hospital. The boy had sustained a fracture in his leg a year ago and had a rod fitted in his leg. When Ismail returned from school on the day of the punishment, he developed fever and body pains and was treated for exhaustion. He was shifted to two other hospitals and his frail body finally succumbed 10 days later. The outrage over the boy's death led to tension across the area. Ismail's parents allege that he was regularly punished in similar fashion but had shied away from telling them because he was afraid. The tragedy brings to light that even today, especially across smaller schools, teachers see physical torture as the best form of disciplining the child.

Assets, Liabilities

Just ahead of his maha padayatra starting on October 2, Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu has declared his assets. For the record, Naidu and his family are worth Rs 35.59 crore. His wife Bhuvaneswari's net worth is Rs 24.57 crore while Naidu himself is worth only Rs 31.97 lakh. His son Lokesh has assets worth Rs 6.62 crore while daughter-in-law Brahmani is worth Rs 2.09 crore. Naidu, who had declared his assets last year as well, says his personal asset worth has climbed down by Rs 7.9 lakh. While Naidu owns an Ambassador worth Rs 1.52 lakh, Bhuvaneswari owns an Audi and Lokesh, a Ford car. Naidu proudly declares that following in his footsteps, several union ministers have declared their assets as well. What is a bit puzzling though is the Ambassador. One wonders what Naidu is doing with it because there isn't a single soul who has ever seen Naidu travel in his Amby. Meanwhile, Naidu's meagre assets have led both Congress and YSR Congress leaders to ridicule the declaration. They assert that this is all a publicity stunt and question the veracity of his declaration of wealth.

Beautification Drive

Hyderabad is playing host to a Convention on Biological Diversity from October 11. Beautification works are taking place on a war footing and there are obstructions on every major road starting from the Old City to HiTec City. So far, though, none of the beauty is visible. Only dug up maidans, roads and flower pots waiting for the flower plants. Traffic jams have intensified and again it is the common citizen who has no idea who is the worst hit. The driver of an auto in which I was travelling tells me, "Pehli baar Old City mein bhi roads achhe lag rahe, suna hai bahut saare log phoren se aa rahe (Even roads in the Old City are looking good for the first time, I hear some foreigners are going to be visiting )." The Chief Minister however asserts that this eleventh meeting of the conference of parties will boost Hyderabad's image as a destination for international conventions. Maybe Kiran Kumar Reddy could look into those daily 3-hour power cuts in the city before issuing such statements.

A Nizami Break

What is Sachin Tendulkar up to when he is not getting clean-bowled by the Tim Southees of the world? Hanging out at Hyderabad's royal Falaknuma Palace. The fading master blaster took a two-day break at the ultra luxury hotel along with wife Anjali. He is said to have relished the Nizami cuisine immensely. Sachin, who put up a photo of his at Falaknuma on his Facebook page also, hung out with his friend, former Andhra Cricket Association secretary V. Chamundeswarinath.

Fainting Spree

There's a mystery illness stalking actresses down south. At least three have of them have fallen ill suddenly or fainted on the sets of movies they are shooting for. It was first Samantha, then Isha Chawla and the next to follow is Monal Gujjar. In case of actress Samantha, there were widespread rumours about the actress falling prey to "black magic". "The competition among these actresses is so stiff these days that one really cannot dismiss anything," says a producer. After Bipasha Basu's convincing spooky act in Raaz 3, it seems actresses down south have become even more wary and are taking tips from various gurus to ward off the evil eye. Actress Ileana of Barfi fame ,who was always waif-like too appears extremely skinny of late, especially in her latest Telugu hit Julai. A censor board member tattles that is because Ileana is suffering from a thyroid problem.