Gautam
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Jan 7, 2012, 03.45AM IST TNN
HYDERABAD: The Hyderabadi
diaspora is either forced to shed its
Hyderabadi tag due to powerful
geopolitical forces or for others, it
remains deeply rooted in their culture.
Professor of Anthropology at the
University of California, Karen Leonard
observes that Hyderabadis who moved
to Pakistan at the time of the Partition
still carry with them the 'mohajir'
label, struggling to find acceptance.
They have now started moving to
western countries in search of a better
future.
With the creation of Urdu societies in
North America, Europe and the Middle
East, Hyderabadis are making efforts
to go back to their roots. While some
are making efforts to cling to their
culture, others are intermarrying and
mixing with people of different races.
Visiting the city after three years to
attend a conference, Leonard
describes the Deccani synthesis as a
model for tolerant society.
Speaking to TOI on Friday Leonard,
however, notes that she has seen a
decline in communal harmony in the
city. She is also worried about the
Telangana movement. "While young
Hyderabadis are busy creating a new
mixed culture_ creating their own kind
of plural society_ the people from
Andhra have not recognised the
legitimacy of the Nizam's state and
culture and are not proud of its Indo-Muslim architecture," she observes.
She says that the populace still thinks
that the previous rulers were Islamic
when they were actually tolerant. The
term Indo-Muslim, she explains, does
not emphasize on a religious culture,
but on a civilization instead.
Leonard's association with India goes
back to 1961 when the she was a
student in Miranda House in Delhi.
Little did she know that she would be
enamoured by the composite Indo-Muslim art, culture and architecture of
India. It was her contact with this
multilayered, multifaceted pluralistic
society which urged her to understand
it better by deciding to become a
historian of the Mughal era.
However, there was one hurdle: the
hundreds of documents chronicling the
Mughal era were either in Farsi or
Urdu so she started learning the
languages. Her first encounter with the
city of the Nizams was when she had
stopped for the night at a sarai in
Nampally on her way from Delhi to
Chennai. She returned five years later
to complete her dissertation on the
Kayasths of Hyderabad. "The number
of documents in the Nizam State
Archives was more than that in Delhi,"
she says. "They were more recent and
interesting. That's why I chose to
study the Deccan."
---------- Post added at 11:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:05 AM ----------
The Times of India on Mobile
HYDERABAD: The Hyderabadi
diaspora is either forced to shed its
Hyderabadi tag due to powerful
geopolitical forces or for others, it
remains deeply rooted in their culture.
Professor of Anthropology at the
University of California, Karen Leonard
observes that Hyderabadis who moved
to Pakistan at the time of the Partition
still carry with them the 'mohajir'
label, struggling to find acceptance.
They have now started moving to
western countries in search of a better
future.
With the creation of Urdu societies in
North America, Europe and the Middle
East, Hyderabadis are making efforts
to go back to their roots. While some
are making efforts to cling to their
culture, others are intermarrying and
mixing with people of different races.
Visiting the city after three years to
attend a conference, Leonard
describes the Deccani synthesis as a
model for tolerant society.
Speaking to TOI on Friday Leonard,
however, notes that she has seen a
decline in communal harmony in the
city. She is also worried about the
Telangana movement. "While young
Hyderabadis are busy creating a new
mixed culture_ creating their own kind
of plural society_ the people from
Andhra have not recognised the
legitimacy of the Nizam's state and
culture and are not proud of its Indo-Muslim architecture," she observes.
She says that the populace still thinks
that the previous rulers were Islamic
when they were actually tolerant. The
term Indo-Muslim, she explains, does
not emphasize on a religious culture,
but on a civilization instead.
Leonard's association with India goes
back to 1961 when the she was a
student in Miranda House in Delhi.
Little did she know that she would be
enamoured by the composite Indo-Muslim art, culture and architecture of
India. It was her contact with this
multilayered, multifaceted pluralistic
society which urged her to understand
it better by deciding to become a
historian of the Mughal era.
However, there was one hurdle: the
hundreds of documents chronicling the
Mughal era were either in Farsi or
Urdu so she started learning the
languages. Her first encounter with the
city of the Nizams was when she had
stopped for the night at a sarai in
Nampally on her way from Delhi to
Chennai. She returned five years later
to complete her dissertation on the
Kayasths of Hyderabad. "The number
of documents in the Nizam State
Archives was more than that in Delhi,"
she says. "They were more recent and
interesting. That's why I chose to
study the Deccan."
---------- Post added at 11:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:05 AM ----------
The Times of India on Mobile
