Hyderabad Blues

The Last Refuge

There were two VIP visitors at the Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirumala recently. The first was Indian Space Research Organisation chairman K Radhakrishnan. He was at the temple to offer prayers to the Lord for the successful launch of the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft. The second was BCCI chief N. Srinivasan who came out with a shaven head after offering his hair as obeisance to the Lord. Srinivasan, also the MD of India cements, is one of the accused in the quid pro quo CBI case against YSR Congress president Jaganmohan Reddy. A few days back, he appeared in a CBI court here along with the other accused in the case, namely Jaganmohan Reddy, Vijay Sai Reddy, IAS officers M Samuel and Aditya Nath Das. India Cements is named in the CBI chargesheet of having invested Rs 140 crore in Jagan's firms in return for favours extended by the then Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government in land and river water allocation. Meanwhile, Jagan, on coming out of court went up to select reporters and thanked them for their "neutral" coverage of the CBI cases against him.

Whose Line Is It, Anyway?

In these days of intense media focus on party leaders and heated TV debates, politicians are under a lot of pressure to deliver quotable quotes. Many Telugu Desam leaders who are pally with scriptwriters in the film industry seek professional help when delivering speeches or witty repartee. One director, who is known to have introduced several newcomers to the film industry, told Hyderabad Blues that he writes speeches for both TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and TRS MLA K.T. Rama Rao. "Needless to say it is the young MLA from Sircilla who imbibes the essence of these texts and delivers them with the right punch. With Babugaru (as Naidu is often referred to), it is not quite the same. He feels certain sentences may not suit him, so he asks me to edit out those lines," the director says.

Among the leaders who don't really need speechwriters are TRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao, Lok Satta leader Jayaprakash Narayan, MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi. Their speeches are always full of robust flavour. Neither Naidu, nor Jaganmohan Reddy nor Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy are any match for these politicians on an oratorial level.

Kiran Kumar mixes his Telugu and English in strange ways to produce a language which leaves many journalists scratching their heads. Referring to this particular weakness, K.T. Rama Rao remarked at a press meet, "Kiran Kumar keeps talking about his concern for Telugu jaati and its unity while championing the cause of united Andhra Pradesh. I challenge him to speak for 10 minutes in Telugu without any grammatical errors."

United by Division

The Group of Ministers set up to look into the Telangana formation issue has called for meetings with representatives of political parties on November 12 and 13. Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has said that while parties could send two representatives, it would be better if they sent one person. While Telugu Desam president Chandrababu Naidu sent a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to stop bifurcation, the party says it will not send any representatives to the GoM. While Telangana Congress leaders are pretty sure that the Statehood Bill will be tabled in Parliament on December 9, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's birthday, the Seemandhra lot is equally confident that the time is too short. Vijayawada Congress MP Lagadapati Rajagopal feels that the Constitutional process to form a new state would take much longer. "I am confident that we will be going to the 2014 elections as a unified state," he asserts. Some of his colleagues though are not so confident. Union minister of state for commerce and industry Daggubati Purandeswari says that while her first wish is to see a united Andhra Pradesh, if bifurcation is inevitable, she'd expect some concessions where Hyderabad is concerned. Many other leaders and ministers from Seemandhra are on the same bandwagon as Purandeswari now.

Hyderabad Blues

The GOM’s main focus is of course on the administration of Hyderabad during the proposed 10-year joint capital period. The ministers’ body discussed the feasibility of bringing municipal bodies such as Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority under the control of the governor. The MIM, which is vehemently opposed to the idea of Hyderabad as a common capital or union territory says that Hyderabad is the only growth engine for Telangana. “If you take it away, the region will die. We want Hyderabad to be the unconditional capital of the state as it is an integral part of this region,” says MIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi. The Old City leader continues to stress that Kurnool and Anantapur should be added to the proposed state of Telangana. Owaisi has another interesting suggestion. That the Seemandhra residents in Telangana be declared a linguistic minority under Article 29 of the Constitution.

Puuuuruu Passion

Ask a homegrown Telugu to say the word ‘pure’ and you will hear them say, puuuuru. It takes a bit of practice, to infuse just the right amount of vowels into the word and to say it with passion, with the right southie drawl. Telugus love puuuuru ghee, puuuuru entertainment in movies, puuuuru politicians (if there are any) and puuuuru vegetarian food. But get a Telugu to drink pure Scotch and you will run up against a wall. “I want Johnnie Walker and Coke also you put in it,” is what many Telugus tell bartenders at watering holes. For Scotch lovers, this would amount to sacrilege. But in Hyderabad, it is still quite a puuuuru drink.

Unconditionally...

Talking of purity, I recently met this schoolgirl participating in a debate competition at one of Hyderabad’s elite schools. Obviously bored with the debate fest which seemed to be dragging on endlessly, she asked me what I did for a living. When she heard the word journalist, she squealed, “Oh great, you meet film stars and all! Have you met Ranbir Kapoor?” My nay did not thrill her much. The girl then went on to describe how “pure” her love for Bollywood’s hottest star was. “I used to like him when he was with Deepika (Padukone) but I feel cheated now that he’s dating Katrina Kaif. However, I love him purely you know, so it’s okay,” she enlightened me. Now there’s unconditional love for you.