I’ve been in Hyderabad the last few days. I haven’t really had time to update my blog because I’ve been busy with my family. One would think that’s when I’d have some downtime to sit and relax a bit, but most of my family in India is concentrated in Hyderabad. My time here is rather limited, so I’ve been trying to see a lot of people in a very little amount of time. I’ve been staying with my cousin Prashu and his wife Clara since I arrived. Their daughter Melissa, 7, is my goddaughter and they now have a son Aaron, who is 2.
View from Indu and Venkat’s Home in Hyderabad
Tonight, though I’m staying with my cousin Indu, who has 3 kids, Vivek, Namitha, and Angel. Angel is 4, and the other two are teens (or almost, in Namitha’s case). Indu’s husband is out of town tonight, but I’ll see him on the 7th, which is Indu’s birthday. Their house is absolutely beautiful and has a gorgeous view of Hyderabad. Tomorrow, I’ll go back to Clara’s because her birthday is the 6th, and we’re going to celebrate there. And when we’re not having birthdays, I’ll try to see other family members, run some errands, possibly see a couple of interesting things in town…? We’ll see what happens….
My father’s family is from Andhra Pradesh. The capital of that state is Hyderabad. Actually, the state is about to split into two states, Andhra and Telangana. Hyderabad will be in Telangana, as will my father’s home village, but the places where he did a lot of his schooling and where a lot of my family still lives lives, all along the east coast will still be Andhra Pradesh. Most of the family from the rural areas of Telangana-to-be, however, has now moved to Hyd. It’s a very busy city (twin cities, actually with Secunderabad attached), with very active IT centers – which means it’s quite possible that the “Steve” or “Dave” with the slightly sketchy American accent you’re talking to on customer service is actually “Dev” or something most Americans won’t even try to pronounce from right here in busy, bustling Hyderabad!
Although English is the language of the government here in India, and Hindi is the national language, Telugu is the state language in both Telangana and AP. I actually know some Telugu, so I am not as completely lost here as I have been in the rest of India. I at least have an idea of what is going on and can get from point A to point B. I have been able to read the script as well, so it’s nice to be able to brush up on that. Also, when people are talking about me, I know for sure, rather than just suspect it!
Last time I was here was in August of 2008, which was the monsoon season. Not too much has changed, and simultaneously, many things are different. There are many more flyovers (highways over the busy city roads); yet the traffic is still insane. There are many more malls now – fancier than ever before – with more and more western shops (Marks & Spencer, Adidas, Bose, Claire’s, Domino’s and Pizza Hut – frequently next door to one another – a multitude!); yet the shops with signs that have clearly never heard of spell-check are more than plentiful, to my great delight and enjoyment. Some are just spelling errors, some are just language translation issues, or just funny in general (such as the sign for ANU’S restaurant, where the apostrophe is very small, almost negligible)!
And true-to-form for India, just beside the most extravagant elegance and riches, you will find the poorest, most derelict things you can imagine. On streets crowded with Audis, BMWs, and luxury SUVs, mingled in among the auto-rickshaws (those yellow and black three-wheeled taxis) and the motorcycles and scooters crammed with anywhere from one to seven – I’ve seen it – people, beggars (often missing limbs or in tattered clothing squeeze between the vehicles to knock on tinted windows and ask for alms. The roadside is covered in garbage, dirt, urine, feces, animals and people, simultaneously seething with life and rotting with death. Vendors hawk their wares in the stores, on the sidewalks, by the road, in the road, and people walk about doing their business, rich rubbing elbows with poor, all busy living their lives. Homes are constructed along the sidewalks, temporary homes for migrant workers who follow the construction and seasonal jobs, their cooking fires set up in the gutter amongst the rubble and trash. Others simply sleep in any available patches of shade – every possible space is occupied. And always, there is noise – honking horns, revving engines, ringing of temple bells, blaring of speakers, talking and yelling of people, music, laughter, birds, animals. True, there are pockets where it is less or more, better or worse, but the chaos is pervasive and all-encompassing. India seems to have a life of her own.
