We have all known our National Monuments since our school days. And we are all proud of them. We all also know the 'real' state they are in, which is pretty contrary to their images that we see in print and digital media. And we also know the amount of effort and care that should be invested in keeping them as glorious as they are meant to be.
With me and the city of Hyderabad, it was love at first sight. And that love is here to stay. It is a city that has a mood and pace of its own, uninfluenced and unparalleled.
The Charminar is a landmark monument of this city, equally famous as its Biryani. It was constructed in 1591 by Mohammed Quli Qutab Shah to mark the end of plague in Hyderabad city. The Charminar is a massive, impressive structure with four imposing minarets, each 180 ft high above the ground and facing the four main directions. A small mosque adorns the top floor of the Charminar and that is considered to be the oldest surviving mosque of this city of Nawabs.
The Charminar is a global icon of Hyderabad and is listed amongst the most recognized structures of India.
This spectacular structure rooted at its spot has seen so many generations of people and has witnessed Hyderabad morph from its Nizam days into Cyberabad as is more commonly known today. The junction where it is located is one of the busiest and most crowded point in the city.
When I saw it, I wondered, what would it be thinking. If it could speak, what would it tell to the swarms of people who pass by it each day and to tourists who come to see it from all over the world. Would it sound happy and cheerful, like a song? Would it be sad and complaining like some of the people of older generations who do not understand why all of us now are running some random rat race, why is everyone so impatient and why does everyone honk so much? Or would it be a storyteller so good, that the anecdotes it tells would bring tears of laughter in our eyes?
This pic below that was shared by good friend Himanshu conveys something like this, and may be something much more...
Take a look:
Isn't this the Rad Radical Reality...!!!
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