Grasp The Untold Charminar: Writings On Hyderabad Documented By Syeda Imam Depicted In Electronic Format

have written articles covering the wide terrain of the city right from its history to its cuisine, films, heritage, rocks, poetry, language and sports.
While some of these have been reprinted from previously printed sources, many have been written specially for this anthology, Going through the articles one gets to decipher the city layer by layer, Interesting read for anyone who is interested to know the vibrant hues of this city Some stories worth reading, some not so much, It could have been a smaller book, filtering out the nonsense some writers wrote about the city, Whenever and wherever I mention that I live in Hyderabad, I am subjected to a pyroclastic flow of Hyderabad's glorious past gushing out with a sense of pride my tone shrieks with exclamation marks when I have to say Hyderabad!! Hyderabad founded by Quli Qutb Shah with a city plan ready in, incorporating many of the features of the mythical Islamic heaven, now abounds in recurrent images, phrases and stories that are less myth more truth, than most.
There is something dronelike about the cliches the state long presided over by the world's richest man, home to the Salar Jung Museum, the Charminar, the Golconda diamonds, and the most likely to the Kohinoor, the Orloff, the Jacob, the Hope, the Great Mughal, the DaryaiNoor.
Hyderabad is a distinct Deccani culture, the product of a very particular mixture of peoples and influences, It was based on religious tolerance, courtesy, hospitality, love of arts and a firstrate civil service which made no distinction between creeds or caste or class.
Religious tolerance that rare value of accepting different cultures readily has been an integral part of the culture of the Deccan for good reason.
  This hairraising book, the untold Charminar', Syeda Iman is a gleaning of many who touched the city and were moved who know and will tell who relish and wish to share that relish.
Finally, although the Hyderabad that I reckon the city of pearls, the city of lakes, the city of gardens has died, but Hyderabad lives on!! 

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A jewel of a book!

Such an eclectic collection of mostly personal accounts, memoirs, and commentaries on the city that I call home.


From Narendra Luther's "Hyderabad through Foreign Eyes" which sets the stage nicely for what's to follow, to Bilkees Latif's "Rare Visage Of the Moon" that talks about the lesser known Mahlaqa Bai an Urdu poetess and courtesan, and then you have Sarojini Naidu's "Letters too tell stories" which painstakingly unfurls the loss she felt after the death of theth Nizam.


Each chapter charts the evolution of Hyderabad, from the opulence of the Nizams to their eventual downfall, the accession to the Indian Union in, and what became of the city thus, how it transformed into the bustling concrete jungle of today yet never losing the spirit and harmony that has become its trademark.
The spirit of Hyderabad and its people being the unifying thread that runs through every essay,

There are other interesting essays that detail the inclusiveness of the Nizams and by extension the city, Yezdayr Kasooji's "Growing up a Parsi in Hyderabad" is a wonderful account of the Parsi community and culture and how they had adapted to the local traditions, in true Hyderabad fashion.
There's just so much here for anybody who's associated with Hyderabad that it makes for an overwhelming read, There's even an aside on how the peculiar Dakhani language came to be,

Reading this book has given me a newfound appreciation

for the city of Hyderabad, And I was saddened that there's such a rich history to this place that most might never know, This is definitely a book worth picking up! Hyderabad is a city that mixes cultures, cuisines, religions and languages, .