Summary:
My parents and siblings had made the journey to Hyderabad, our firstimmigration destination, by a passenger train that stopped at everystation helping them excitedly write down the name of every stationbetween Rayanapadu and Secunderabad from where they took a shambling meter gauge train to Kacheguda, a suburb of Hyderabad city. Under the Nizam the city had the highest mileage off cement roadsin the country. It also built a wall around Urdu graduates who couldn’t get a job or college seat outside Hyderabad. Hyderabad is a city where history is impounded like it is in Delhi. Charminar is a metaphor for Hyderabad, a matrix from where both its political and cultural life emanated..