A Riot of colour @ Charminar

March 27, Sunday a beautiful day to begin with, me at home. At that time I did not foresee what this fateful day has in store for us.

Previous day was a day of joy for me when one of my close friends got married @ Hyderabad and it is a marriage I attended after a long time. Many of my friends came down from Bangalore, Mysore and Mumbai to grace the occasion.

So the next day the plan was Hyderabad Darshan and finally after a lot of group discussion and MBA type brain storming we have decided to go and visit Salarjung museum, Charminar and if time permits Birla Mandir as our friends have a train to catch at 7 PM to Bangalore.

March 27, 11:30 AM (Salarjung Museum) -
5 of us reached Salarjung museum after haggling with the autowallah's on fare. Being in Hyderabad one might think that they have seen Salarjung Museum and there is nothing much to see in it. But I was proven worng as they have added two new galleries of WEST and EAST and personally I feel that the clock has been overrated and it is fortunate for us to be in the museum at 12:00 so that we can hear all the 12 gongs. We have successfully completed the darshan of Salarjung Museum in 3 hours.

March 27, 2:45 PM (Charminar)-
Finally we arrive at Charminar and my friends were pretty excited to see the real face of Hyderabad in the bylanes of the old city with its narrow galis and crowded markets.


Author along with his friends in front of Charminar.

Being a Hyderabadi and also being a proud Hyderabadi I was ashamed not even to tell my freinds, what is the significance of Charminar except for some itsy bitsy details.
Charminar was built in 1591 by Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah to commemorate the elimination of a plague epidemic from this city.

This was the first time I am going on to the top of Charminar as during my childhood days, going to the top was prohibited as some lovers had preferred to turn this historical monument into a suicide spot.

The passage was very narrow and a claustrophobic person would have fainted during the ascent tot he top from the minarets. The view of Hyderabad city from the top of Charminar was Panoramic to say the least. But, I was stunned to see the general apathy of the public towards the cultural symbol of Hyderabad as it was desecrated to the hilt by people who want to make their names remain in history by etching their names on the walls of this famous monument. If we are not going to take care of this monument then who will?

There was an elaborate photo session on the top of charminar and we took pictures with Mecca Masjid int he back ground and also the hospital. We saw Golkonda from Charminar and it was a wonderful sight.

We descended finally as time was running out and we also had a plan to eat mouth watering Hyderabadi Biryani near Charminar. We came out and went to G.Pullareddy Sweet shop which was famous among all the Telugu speaking people. Our frineds bought some sweets and we came out to board our Activas to go.

March 27, 3:30 PM (Charminar)-
When we came out it was all jolly well. In a matter of 2 minutes i.e. the time u can prepare Maggi the scenario has changed completely. People came running furiuosly to wards Charminar and all the daily vendors started to get their merchandise out of the way. We thought that police might be clearing the roads which are jam packed with these daily vendors.

Then we saw a rare sight of all the shops downing their shutters, then we ran inside the sweet shop which had only half the shutter open. We inquired what happened and the shop keeper told that there has been some argument between Hindus and Muslims over the reservation and riot has started. Till then also I thought that it was a rumor mill working over time. Then I peeped out and saw FEAR in the eyes of daily vendors whose merchandise has been strewn across the road and he trying to shift it hastily.

We thought what would happen to out Activas as they were parked outside (Indians have more concern towards their material wealth than their life). One of our friend from Bangalore suggested that Insurance will cover any damage. We thought "To hell with Insurance, first let us get out of this Old city"



We got on our Activa, then I saw all the muslims near charminar are holding sticks and media personnel with their video cams have already reached Charminar. The mob was still running here and there and my pity for the daily vendor who will loose his livelihood for the cause of religion. The power to the mob comes from the fear of the masses and they feed from that fear and grow strong unless there are some one to resist them. We rode for our life and luckily my friend who is by God's grace a sales man knew all the routes in and out of Charminar. Then it occurred to me that it will always help to have a salesman as a navigator. Without much untoward incident we reached Chaderghat and had Niagara Spl Chicken Biryani.

This incident has left an indelible mark on my memory and it will remain with me forever and I can never forget it in my life.

Footnote: The riot has started on the flimsy grounds of who will keep the flags depicting their religion near a main road junction. Whether it is GREEN or SAFFRON we should keep in mind that we are all INDIANS first and after that HINDUS or MUSLIMS or any one. These riots are being done just to gain some political mileage with some communal parties trying to be the divisive forces in our harmonious society.

Hope our sanity remains intact and there would be no further riots any where in the country basing on religion, region or language.

Mera Bharat Mahan.....