September 17 this year (2021),  will mark 73 years since the annexation of the princely state of Hyderabad to India in 1948. The major historical event is remembered for the violence that people in the state witnessed after partition, and also post annexation.  For a better understanding of Operation Polo, oral history’s importance and partition, host Yunus Y. Lasania speaks with authors Aanchal Malhotra (Remnants Of A Separation, on the partition) and Narayani Basu (VP Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India). See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

If there is one place in Hyderabad that can usurp the Charminar and Golconda fort and replace both as the main tourist attraction in Hyderabad, it’s the Qutb Shahi tombs. The Qutb Shahi tombs are the royal necropolis of the Qutb Shahi or Golconda dynasty (1518-1687), which ruled from the Golconda fort, and later founded Hyderabad in 1591. The complex has nearly 100 structures, including tombs, gardens, pavilions and mosques. The site is currently being restored by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) in association with the Telangana Department of Heritage. In a detailed conversation, AKTC CEO and well-known conservation architect Ratish Nanda discusses the ongoing work on the Qutb Shahi tombs and how it has the potential to even surpass the Charminar, which is considered to be Hyderabad’s main tourist attraction. See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

When we think of history, we often ignore the most important and closest things – our own material possessions which connect us to our past. And one such person who has treasured his family heirlooms, and had literally preserved his own past in the form of small priceless possessions, is 74-year-old BS Prakash. An ex-banker who worked for SBI his whole life, he comes from a family which had formally educated persons even four generations ago, a rarity in the pre-independence period. Between his book collection of thousands of books, Mr Prakash has also seen Hyderabad evolve from the quiet city it used to once be, into the metropolis it is today.  We went down memory lane with him to understand how our city grew, just as he did alongside it. See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Many Hyderabadis often go to the Moula Ali shrine, sometimes with religious intent, and otherwise just to go up the huge hill for its view. However, many are perhaps unaware that the shrine is in fact one of the city’s oldest historic or heritage sites, that even predates Hyderabad. Not only does it go back to the time of the third Qutb Shahi (Golconda) king, Ibrahim Qutb Shah, the Moula Ali hill shrine has been in use since as far as the city has existed. Keeping that in mind, it may be noted that some years ago a ramp was built for vehicles to make it easier for people to reach halfway up the shrine. And the site’s original structure is about to be changed once again, as another ramp is being built by the state government, which heritage activists say will endanger the shrine.  In this episode, host Yunus Lasania speaks with budding architect Mohd. Sibgatullah, who also runs the Instagram handle The Deccan Archive, about how the ongoing work at Moula Ali hill will impact the heritage site. See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

The corona virus pandemic today has changed the world, and one by one, country after country, is dealing with challenges. While most of the problems are unique to what's happening, Hyderabad in fact also dealt with a similar situation a century ago under the last Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan, in the first half of the 20th century.  The city, and the erstwhile state of Hyderabad, was first hit by the bubonic plague, and later the Spanish Flu. Tune in to this latest episode, where host Yunus Lasania speaks with journalist, author and former colleague Serish Nanisetti about it. See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

In a city where students are still expected to study engineering, anyone choosing arts and social sciences is a step away from the norm. One can hardly imagine how difficult it must have been for anyone, especially women, to take up arts and pursue their own path.  And artist Fatima Ahmed, who left Hyderabad long ago to carve out her own destiny, is a fine example of how difficult life can be when surrounded by patriarchy and convention. But she broke the barrier and did what she set out to do. This is her story. See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Gone are the days when owning a radio even registered in our minds. Over the years, as we moved from tape recorders, LED TVs, to finally smartphones, the physical manifestation of radio has been long forgotten. But not at Mahboob Radio Service, a shop that has been repairing radio running from around Indian independence.   Set up by Shaik Mahboob, the store has been fixing old radios for decades, and it has still not stopped. The two siblings who run the place continue to do what their father taught them. Truly stuck in time, Yunus Y. Lasania, speaks to one of the siblings to understand the history of the place, and how its owners manage to fix radios from generations ago in this day and age.    See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

One of the idiosyncrasies in Hyderabad is its language – Dakhni. Known as ‘Hyderabadi’, ‘Hyderabadi Hindi’ or even ‘Hyderabadi Urdu’, people in general, in Hyderabad and even the Deccan region, don’t actually know what it is called due to lack of awareness. Many in fact are even unaware that modern Urdu is in fact younger than Dakhni. Host Yunus Y. Lasania did a three-part mini-series on the history of Dakhni, and how the language has managed to remain as a spoken vernacular over the last few centuries, and even till today.  For the final part of the mini-series, Let’s talk Dakhni, host Yunus Lasania converses with Prof. Zaubiulla, a faculty member from Bangalore University’s Urdu department, who has in fact recently written a book on Dakhni sayings, called ‘Dakhni Muhavre’. Prof. Zaubiulla also reads out a few literary verses from well known historical poems to make the case for Dakhni as a separate language, and for it to not be seen as a dialect (as many wrongly assume it is) See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

One of the idiosyncrasies in Hyderabad is its language – Dakhni. Known as ‘Hyderabadi’, ‘Hyderabadi Hindi’ or even ‘Hyderabadi Urdu’, people in general, in Hyderabad and even the Deccan region, don’t actually know what it is called due to lack of awareness. Many in fact are even unaware that modern Urdu is in fact younger than Dakhni. Host Yunus Y. Lasania did a three-part mini-series on the history of Dakhni, and how the language has managed to remain as a spoken vernacular over the last few centuries, and even till today. For part 2 of the mini-series, Let’s talk Dakhni, Yunus and Karthik Nalli continue their conversation about Dakhni, and talk about how the language evolved through the 16th and 17th centuries in the Deccan states like Golconda and Bijapur. See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

One of the idiosyncrasies in Hyderabad is its language – Dakhni. Known as ‘Hyderabadi’, ‘Hyderabadi Hindi’ or even ‘Hyderabadi Urdu’, people in general, in Hyderabad and even the Deccan region, don’t actually know what it is called due to lack of awareness. Many in fact are even unaware that modern Urdu is in fact younger than Dakhni. Host Yunus Y. Lasania did a three-part mini-series on the history of Dakhni, and how the language has managed to remain as a spoken vernacular over the last few centuries, and even till today. In the first part of the mini-series, Yunus and Karthik Nalli speak about the evolution of Dakhni in the Deccan and how the language forms from the 14th century onwards under the Bahamani Empire which spans parts of Karnataka, Maharashtra and even the Telugu speaking regions of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.