HYDERABAD: “We Hyderabadis survived plague twice, in a span of 300 years, and we won over tuberculosis. I don’t think this Corona- sharona can do anything to us toughies if we show some common sense.” Indira Devi Dhanrajgiriji, better known as Rajkumari Indira to the yesteryear Hyderabadis, dismisses the panic around Covid-19 in her inimitable Hyderabadi style. Heir to one of the most amazing palatial homes in the city, the Gyan Bagh Palace, the 90-year-old poet and writer says it is an exciting time of her life as she is all set to pen her biography in English.
Hostess with the mostest Dressed in a white and green chiffon one-piece, Indira is a warm host. She may occasionally be seen updating her status on Facebook, but she loves the old fashioned face-to-face meet up in her sprawling drawing room adorned with paintings, rare photographs, antique crockery and luxurious carpets. “I miss the long form of communication and that nostalgia is driving me to pen this book,” she says.
Will we get to read it this year? How about a book release during the 2021 Hyderabad Literary Fest? “Yes. Maybe no. Oh I don’t know. I have stopped living my life based on these deadlines. I write a bit everyday and write whenever I feel like. So I will go with the flow,” says the first President and Chairperson of Hindi Academy Government of Andhra Pradesh. The book, she says, will give rare glimpses of the beautiful city of Hyderabad.
Tales to be told “I have hundreds of anecdotes of the Nizams, the Paigahs, my own family, the way the city shaped up etc. As I read the news about Corona, I am reminded of how a family member of the Nizam contracted tuberculosis. The doctor said that she needs to be taken to another place and suggested a weather change and a sort of quarantine, but I remember she was just shifted to the top most room of the palace. Perhaps it was the clean breeze on the top, but she did recover. Haha, that’s how bindaas we are and panic was a word unheard of,” she reminisces.
More such anecdotes will be part of the book. Indira, a photography enthusiast right from the time she was a teenager. also has a good collection of photographs, which she says, are worth being shared in the book. She has already brought out a beautiful coffee table book titled Memories of the Deccan in 2008. She feels it is the right time to bring out another one. From memories of Princess Durrushevar in a long flowing gown to how my dad Raja Dhanrajgirji Bahadur introduced cricket to Hyderabad, she has many which are worth sharing with the world and which tell us about how Hyderabad shaped up in the coming years.
Shoot at sight “Oh yes, the famous movie Muthyala Muggu by Bapu was shot in my house, here. I can tell you youngsters how movies were shot in the 70s. I had the good fortune of having amazing Andhra butta bhojanam along with Bapu and Mullapudi when they came to shoot here. The kitchen was closed for all the days they shot here. I must put all this in my book,” she shares excitedly.
Besides having served in prestigious literary positions including Vice-President of the Telugu Writers conference in 1968, she has been on the advisory panel of the Sahitya Academy, Urdu Committee, Andhra Pradesh and State Handicrafts Board, Government of Andhra Pradesh, she is known to have donated generously to educational institutions including paying for the revamp of the auditorium in the Golden Threshold, University of Hyderabad. Married to the legendary poet Gunturu Seshendra Sarma, Indira’s love for art, culture, literature and community activities keeps her active. “We all must go with the flow. No other way,” she signs off.
kalanidhi@newindianexpress @mkalanidhi