Nicholas Graves looking at one of the photos inside the carriage used by the Nizam State Guaranteed Railways at Lallaguda on Tuesday.– Photo: By Arrangement
With just pension saving details dating to the era of last Nizam, Scottish national Nicholas Graves embarked on a search for his maternal ancestors at Lallaguda Railway Carriage Workshop.
On Tuesday, Mr. Graves looked for anything that could reveal information about his great grandfather from his maternal side, James Theodre, who worked for the Nizam State Guaranteed Railways (NSGR) as a loco fitter in 1932 at Lallaguda.
Mr. Graves has his ancestor’s pension saving details, couple of photographs of his maternal grandmother and grandfather who were married at a church in Lucknow, along with their marriage certificate.
“It started eight years ago when I developed interest in my ancestry. Researching my paternal ancestry, I have been able to track it back to four centuries. But I know very little about my maternal side,” Mr. Graves said during his tour of the workshop.
His ancestor James Theodre was born in India in 1897. The pension book with Mr. Graves shows that James earned Rs. 52 in 1932. His daughter and Mr. Graves’s maternal grandmother, Phyllis Margret Champion, was also born in India and later married an army man from England in Lucknow.
“After they got married in 1938, there is no record of my maternal grandparents visiting India or any clues about their parents, including James Theodre,” he said, pointing to an incomplete family tree he has put together.
Mr. Graves’s grandparents died when he was a child and there isn’t much he knows of them.
His mother and his aunt could only offer him the artefacts he has with him. But he knows it’s not much to go on.
His resolve to uncover his ancestry was motivated by Londoner Duncan Hart, who posted a video detailing his visit to Hyderabad to learn about his grandfather’s past more than two years ago. Though he did not meet Mr. Hart’s success at the workshop on Tuesday, Mr. Graves is optimistic.
Should he decide to persist with his search, Mr. Graves’s next stop would be St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Lucknow, where he hopes to get details about his grandfather and grandmother, which would later help build a bigger picture of his maternal ancestry.
Nicholas Graves, a Scottish national, is in the city in search of his maternal ancestor who worked for the Nizam State Guaranteed Railways in 1932 at Lallaguda
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Rohit P S / Hyderabad – February 18th, 2015
A photo of Bangalore Nagarathnamma from the frontispiece of the 1910 edition of the Radhika Santwanamu. / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
In light of the Perumal Murugan incident, here is a look at the case of Radhika Santwanamu, which was banned on grounds of obscenity 102 years ago.
The script that has played out in the Perumal Murugan case is all too familiar. A creative person offers his/her work to the public. It survives peacefully for sometime before certain vested and intolerant interests wake up to it. Protests and demands for the work’s proscription follow. The administration proves only too eager to scuttle the creation in the interests of ‘peace’. A long debate follows, which then plays on till the media keeps reporting it. What is left is a lot of heartburn for the creator. The intolerant elements tighten their grip on society and the administration pats itself on the back for preventing any untoward incident over the matter.
To students of history, these incidents have played themselves over and over again always to the same script. Remember M.F. Husain? We had similar depictions of goddesses in our temples, in art and even in hymns, for centuries. Nobody bothered about those but when Husain painted goddesses in a particular style, well… At the recently concluded Lit for Life, we had A.R. Venkatachalapathy telling us that the State enacted the Madras Dramatic Performance Act in 1954 only to gag M.R. Radha.
Interestingly, the very first case under the Indian Penal Code for the proscription of a work on grounds of obscenity happened 102 years ago and the book was Radhika Santwanamu. If Perumal Murugan’s Madorubagan sold for a year before it came to the notice of its detractors, the Santwanamu had been in existence for over two centuries! The creation of Muddu Palani, the concubine of the 17th century Maratha ruler Pratapasimha (r1739-1763), it holds the distinction of being one of the very few erotic classics written by a woman.
Saved from oblivion by the Telugu scholar C.P. Brown, it was published for the first time in 1887, and once again in 1907 by Venkatanarasu, an associate of Brown’s. The first edition was included in his 1887 compilation of Telugu works by the scholar and social reformer Kandukuri Veeresalingam Pantulu. In it, while he praised the ideal admixture of Telugu and Sanskrit in the work, Veeresalingam claimed to be shocked by its contents. He also added that this was not surprising as the work was that of an ‘adulteress.’
All would have still been well had not the powerful singer, courtesan and woman of letters, Bangalore Nagarathnamma brought out a new edition of the book in 1910. This was chiefly out of a desire to weed out errors that had crept into the published versions and also partly to expose Veeresalingam’s hypocrisy. Pointing out in the preface of the book that while denouncing Muddu Palani’s work, Veeresalingam had edited similar books by men with far more graphic descriptions of sex, Nagarathnamma questioned if an erotic work became shameless only if written by a woman. She also lampooned Veeresalingam for recommending similar works written by men be included in the syllabus of the Madras University.
The Veeresalingam faction could not bear to see their idol treated thus. The Telugu magazine Sasirekha carried a scathing review of the Nagarathnamma edition denouncing it as a grossly obscene work written by one prostitute and edited by another with descriptions that would corrupt the young by “by suggesting to their minds thoughts of the most impure and libidinous character”. Everyone overlooked the fact that the book had been around for years and jumped into the act immediately.
In order to make it appear that this book alone was not being targeted, the police in their raids on the publisher Vavilla Ramaswami Sastrulu & Sons, seized several titles, including some of Veeresalingam himself. These were later removed from the list and a final set of eight books was submitted to a committee to study their merits and see if any needed to be proscribed.
Radhika Santwanamu by Muddu Palani / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
It was in vain that Nagarathnamma, several scholars and Telugu aristocrats protested. Some even called on the Governor, Sir Arthur Lawley in Ootacamund to lobby against the ban. G. Venkataranga Rao, Secretary to the Landowners Association, asked if the Government would in the same light consider banning age-old English works such as Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis and The Rape Of Lucrece. But all of this was to no avail. The inspecting committee gave its verdict by end 1911. All other seven titles could be released from proscription. Radhika Santwanamu alone was to be banned, its chief crime being that it was an erotic work written by a woman. The Government moved quickly thereafter, and on July 4, 1912, passed an order to that effect.
It remained banned till Independence. During the brief period in 1947-48 when T. Prakasam was Chief Minister of Madras, he rescinded the order, stating that he was restoring a pearl to the necklace that was Telugu. Should we live in the same hope that Perumal Murugan will one day return to writing?
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Books> Literary Review / by Sriram V / January 31st, 2015
The city police recovered a 17th century antique cannon at an under construction site at Nayapool on Wednesday. The contractor, Lateef, found the cannon while digging for laying pillars.
“The State Archaeological department officials told us that the cannon might have been used during the siege of Golconda Fort by the forces of Aurangzeb. They surmise that it is one of the most advanced cannons of that period,” Inspector Task Force (East) team, Ch Sridhar said.
The cannon is 6.5 ft long with a diameter of 4 inches and weighs 800 kg.
Animal oil
extraction unit
The Commissioner’s Task Force (East) team on Thursday raided a godown at Chaderghat where oil was being extracted from animal fat illegally.
The police seized 24 barrels of oil, 50 kg of body parts of animals and a DCM vehicle.
Additional Deputy Commissioner, Task Force, N. Koti Reddy, said that the owner of the unit, Salar Qureshi, 62, procured organs of cattle and converted it into fat in big cauldrons. He claimed that the produce was supplied to soap manufacturing units in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Two persons held
Two persons who allegedly bought 1.5 kg of gold from a gang of chain snatchers were arrested by the West Zone police on Thursday.
The accused persons, Mohd Irfan of Bandlaguda and Shyam Sunder Sugand of Gulzar Houz, procured gold chains from a gang of chain snatchers, who were arrested by the police in December.
The gang members, including Lamba Hussain, Mirza Azmath Ali and Mohd Akheeluddin, were involved in 230 chain snatching cases reported in the city.
VRO arrested
Anti-Corruption Bureau officials on Thursday arrested Yakapur Shivakumar, Village Revenue Officer of Rompally in Bantwaram mandal of Ranga Reddy district on charge of accepting Rs. 3,000 bribe from a person. The VRO received the sum from a villager to change names in revenue records, according to a press release.
He will be presented before a local court.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / Hyderabad – January 30th, 2015
The life and history of Telangana prisons will come alive next month with opening of a 219-year-old jail building for public viewing on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Deemed to be country’s first ever prison museum, the Old Sangareddy jail will welcome people for the first time to explain evolution of prisons in the region.
Built in 1796 by the then Nizam’s government, the jail building spread over 3 acres, was in use till as recent as 2012 when a new jail was constructed in Kandi and inmates were shifted. Considering the heritage value and the intact nature of the building, the prisons department of the new state has decided to preserve it for future and to promote local culture, history, art and language.
The old jail was at helm of activity during the earlier Nizam’s dominion/British era and then during the Telangana struggle of 1969 where a number of freedom fighters from the region were lodged here. The jail was under direct control of the Judiciary and in 1982, it was handed over to the prisons department of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
Explaining more, Director General of Telangana Prisons and Correctional Services Vinoy Kumar Singh said that the building will also accommodate the art and cultural forms of the state. A sum of Rs.20 lakh was spent on transforming the heritage prison into a museum. ‘’We want to develop the prison into one of the important tourist spots in the district. In the first phase, we will display old handcuffs, weaving machines, telephones, photographs and other available artifacts. An entry fee of `5 will be collected from general public and entry would be free for schoolchildren,’’ he said.
The department will also open an outlet to sell products being made by jail inmates so as to generate revenue for maintenance. ‘’In other old prisons like Mahbubnagar, Karimnagar, Chanchalguda etc the old character is lost. Here, we have a heritage building that is still intact without any changes. This will be the first of its kind museum in the country,” he added. Various punishment methods too will be explained to the public using photographs and literature.
Spread across 3 acres and 10 guntas, the historic building was built in stone, sand, wood and lime mortar. It has 9 barracks including a separate female barrack, punishment cell, a staff quarters, kitchen, toilets and a watch tower. The initial capacity of the prison was said to be 90 male inmates and 5 female inmates. ‘’In 1947, the prison was under the direct control of district collector and in 1969, it was under the Judiciary and one Ramnath, who was civil surgeon was the superintendent,” said Santhosh Kumar Roy, district sub jail officer, Old District Jail Sangareddy.
Some of the names of freedom fighters who were lodged here during the independence struggle, Telangana armed struggle and separate state movement, according to data available are Chola Lingaiah, Datti Kistaiah, Godila Lingaiah Goud, Etla Guruva Reddy etc. Records here say that ex-Sangareddy MLA and former speaker of erstwhile AP Assembly P Ramachandra Reddy too was lodged here during the separate state movement in 1969.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Rahul V. Pisharody / January 14th, 2015
Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya greets former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma during the celebration of 300 years of Catholic Faith in AP and Telangana at a function held in Hyderabad on Sunday | NEERAJ MURALI
Hyderabad :
Although the Catholic community in the country is in a minority, it has contributed enormously to the development of the nation on all fronts, former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma has said.
To commemorate the 300 years of Catholic faith in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, a grand ceremony was organised by Catholic Reddy Association (CRA) at Loyola Academy here on Sunday. It was in 1715 that the Telugu Catholic faith had begun when Thumma Hanumantha Reddy of Anantapur was baptised by French Jesuit Fr Le Gac. Addressing a large gathering of Catholics, Sangma said the educational institutions run by the community had produced some of the greatest minds in the country in all fields. “Be it politics, industry or bureaucracy, the people who matter the most to this country are proud products of Catholic educational institutions,” he remarked referring to some top names including BJP leader LK Advani.
He requested the central and state governments to accord minority status to all Catholics and Christians in the country. To take up the issues of community in Parliament, he said, the Christian MPs Forum in Delhi would be revived.
Union minister of state for labour and employment Bandaru Dattareya he would strive to protect minority communities as per the constitutional rights provided to them. “Only when there is harmony between peoples of different faiths can the country surge ahead with development. Each community representing a faith should respect and protect other faiths,” he said.
CRA president Gopu Bala Reddy said the Catholic community believed in service and not in conversion. He sought both AP and Telangana governments to extend SC status to Dalit Christians and Muslims besides providing space for burial grounds and extending old-age pension scheme to Catholic fathers and nuns.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / January 12th, 2015
Noted revolutionary poet Nellutla Kodanda Rama Rao, popularly known as NK, died here late Saturday night. He was 70 and survived by wife, two daughters and a son. NK was one of the founder members of Viplava Rachayitala Sangham (Virasam) – group of revolutionary poets. He belonged to first generation Naxalbari poets in early 1970s along with Kondapalli Sitaramaiah, K.G. Satyamurthy, Tarimella Nagi Reddy and others.
He was a close associate of noted poet Varavara Rao and took to revolutionary path in writing. His father Nellutla Ramakrishna was also a popular poet in Telangana. Rao worked as Assistant Registrar at Kakatiya University. In 1980s, he wrote a 17 page long poem ‘lal bano, ghulami chodo, bolo Vandemataram’ which punned on the call ‘lal ghulami chodkar bolo Vandemataram’ given by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad asking people to give up Leftist struggles. The poem, which was written to inspire radical students who frequently quarrelled with the ABVP, earned him fame.
NK wrote his autobiography under the title “Amma Sparsha”. He went to jail during the Telangana agitation in 1969 and again during Emergency in 1975.
He was the main singer and poet for all people’s movements in Warangal. He also prepared the tune and sang several songs written by Satyamurthy from jail. On learning about his sudden demise, Kaloji foundation convenor Nagilla RamaSastry, Mithra Mandali convenor V R Vidyarthi and poet Potlapalli Srinivasa Rao visited the hospital to pay tributes.
VaravaraRao expressed shock and grief at his demise.The funeral would be held on Monday on return of his daughters from the US. A procession would be taken from his residence in Kumarpally.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Warangal – Hyderabad / December 29th, 2014
A motley collection of brilliant and rare maps from the 16th to the 19th century is on display at Heritage Arts in Mattancherry as part of ‘Cosmology to Cartography’, an exhibition—the first of its kind in India—jointly organised by the Hyderabad-based Kalakriti Archives and the Kochi-Muziris Biennale.
It showcases as many as 47 maps straddling four centuries and under ‘Jain Cosmic’, ‘Pilgrimage’ and ‘Cartographic’ categories. On display are the early cartograms produced with vegetable dye on cotton and the ones in woodcuts, copper engravings with colour or watercolour and ink on paper.
A pilgrimage map to Nathdwara temple are among the exhibits at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale.
Kalakriti founder Prashant Lahoti collected the unusual treasure of India maps. The brightly-coloured maps present the world in many fashions: some in sync with Jain philosophy where the earth is divided into regions of the Gods, mortals and the cursed; the pilgrimage maps, on the other hand, chart out panoramic routes to Badrinath in the Himalayas or Shatrunjaya in Gujarat.
“The exhibition displays move from the symbolic to the political, and there is a dichotomy in the first, the middle and the last few,” said executive curator Vivek Nanda, who is a town planner and whose current projects include the Mumbai-Delhi corridor. “The early part of the exhibition represents a world of meaning, while the political ones are a world of order. They depict coastal towns and sea ports, which were important trading indicators.” Also on show are the first Dutch map of the subcontinent and the Middle East, and the first map of India as a single entity, made in 1822, for the directors of the English East India Company.
The first Dutch map of the subcontinent and the Middle East done in 1596.
Arts and Medicine
The famed biennale programme, in its 43rd episode on the General Hospital premises on Wednesday, saw Kochiite Charles Antony crooning songs in at least 10 languages, including Italian, English, African, Sinhala and Japanese, as he played the guitar and the mouth organ. Mr. Antony had sung a Spanish song alongside Diego Maradona during his visit to Kerala in 2012. His 80-minute performance began with Jim Reeves’ ‘Welcome to my World’. Mehboob Memorial Orchestra provided accompaniment.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – December 18th, 2014
Canada-based Carleton University Assistant Professor Chinnaiah Jangam, on Saturday exhorted academics and history writers to include the stories of unsung heroes in their works.
Many Dalits and underprivileged persons like M.V. Bhagyareddy Varma did not find a place in history though they waged agitations against caste discrimination at least 30 years before the advent of the Ambedkar era, he explained.
Delivering the keynote address at the Lecture Series-2014, Dr. Chinnaiah spoke on ‘Role of Dalits in the Making of Modern India’ at Telangana University here. He stated that there was caste discrimination against Dalits in the writing of history too.
Stressing the need to rewrite history with a Dalit Bahujan perspective, he stated that it was time that the contributions of underprivileged sections get highlighted and are included in history books. There were numerous sacrifices and umpteen movements waged by Dalits in India and they remain unrecognised till date, he added.
You [students and youth] should not forget your roots and emulate the sacrifices made by your forefathers for the freedom that we are enjoying now, he said and emphasised the importance of achieving social freedom in the country where people belonging to underprivileged castes get equal respect and dignity.
Varsity registrar R. Limbadri said that Dr. Chinnaiah rose from a very humble background and went on to become a university professor in a foreign university through sheer hard work and passion for education.
Explaining the childhood plight of Dr. Chinnaiah, the registrar got emotional and broke down. Humanities Principal Prof. P. Kanakaiah presided over the meeting, while V. Triveni welcomed the guests and proposed the vote of thanks.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Telangana / by Special Correspondent / Nizamabad – December 21st, 2014
The CSI Garrison Wesley Church before the restoration. – PHOTO: BY ARRANGEMENT
The foundation for the church, believed to be the oldest situated at Trimulgherry in the Cantonment area, was laid in 1853
The 162-year-old Church of South India Garrison Wesley Church, which was meant only for British Army officers before Independence, has been restored to its original shape nd is all set to regain its glory.
The cornerstone for the heritage church, believed to be the oldest situated at Trimulgherry next to the post office in the Cantonment area, was laid in 1853 and completed in 1881. During last monsoon, the rafters of the church gave way prompting repairs.
Painstaking effort
The church built with lime and mortar has a hoary past and its construction was taken up only after Rev. William Burgess came from Madras in 1878. A Kanyakumari-based firm that specialises in conservation architecture and worked on heritage sites was assigned the task of restoring the church to its original shape. According to Mr. Thomas, who represents the firm, a mixture of eggs, jaggery, herbs, aloe vera leaves, fine lime powder and lime mortar were ground with jute to prepare the concentrate that was used for the finishing job. An amount of Rs 1 crore was spent on restoration work.
D. Sudesh Kumar, secretary of Pastorate Committee, told The Hindu on Saturday that there is a tragic tale to its construction. Lillian Burgess and Arthur Burgess, wife and son of Rev William Burgess had set sail from London with the bell to be fixed in the newly constructed church. But the ship they were travelling sank in the sea and the bell was never installed. Even today, there is no bell in the Church, which now has over 250 families worshipping every Sunday.
Rev William Burgess was assisted by Rev Charless Walker Posnett, who later went on to oversee construction of the imposing Medak church, according to Rev Jyothy Sunder, Presbyter in charge of CSI Garrison Wesley Church. The renovated church is being re-dedicated at a ceremony on Sunday by the Moderator of Church of South India Rev Dyvaashirvadam.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Telangana / by Ravi Reddy / Hyderabad – December 21st, 2014
Diplomats of France, Germany, Britain and Turkey along with Telangana representative BV Papa Rao (centre) paying homage to Indian soldiers of World War I memorial monument in Hyderabad on Friday | a suresh kumar
Hyderabad :
After 100 years of the first World War, Hyderabad hosted a rare moment where the diplomats from the belligerent countries of the historic war came together on a single platform to pay homage to the Indian soldiers who died fighting the war.
France and Britain together fought against Germany in World War-I. In fact they were rivals in the second World War as well.
The diplomats of the all three countries along with the Consul General of Turkey, shook hands with each other on the same stage and prayed for the world peace here on Friday.
This took place at the ‘World War-I monument’ at Chaderghat during the Commemoration Day of the Indian soldiers who died fighting the first World War. The historic monument which is located right next to the victory ground at Chaderghat was built in 1920 by the locals in the memory of Indian soldiers. Recalling the sacrifice of the soldiers, Andrew McAllister, the British deputy high commissioner in Hyderabad said, “We can’t forget the sacrifice they made in the war. This is a great opportunity for all of us to recall our past and build a bright future.” He also highlighted the role of Hyderabad in the World War. “Many soldiers from the Nizam’s Army fought in the war. In fact the Begumpet Airport played a key role as the air base for British empire during the war,” he added.
Achim Fabig, the Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany described the meet as a symbol of peaceful world today. “Once our countries fought against each other, but now we all are here and we all want the world to be peaceful” he said. Talking about current diplomatic relations, he said, now all the countries are making efforts to build friendly relationships with each other and it is indeed a good sign.
This commemoration meet was organised by the INTACH, Hyderabad chapter in collaboration with the Alliance Francaise, Hyderabad. “This monument has a great history and it needs to be recognised. This the reason we organised the event,” said P Anuradha Reddy, convenor, ITACH Hyderabad. Eric Lavertu, Consul General of France and Merad Omerogul, Consul General of Turkey were also present at the event.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / December 13th, 2014
