The City of Golkonda

Many people think of Hyderabad as the City of pearls, the City of Nizams, the City of Biryani but for me it will always be the City of Golkonda.

Let's say I have this love-hate relationship with forts. I like to roam about where in old times the kings ruled. But at the same time I find such forts depressing, creepy and eerie, also rather sad. Many of them throughout in India are in a state of neglect. We have failed miserably in protecting our heritage. That makes me depressed and sad. About the creepy and eerie part - well, the deserted ruins do have that effect on me. Maybe the result of watching too many horror movies :-)

The feeling was not any different with Golkonda fort. I wasn't intimidated by the number of steps to climb but the ruins on top brought back that familiar creepy and eerie feeling. I remember I was very reluctant when friends told me to stay back for the light show.

What struck me as different was that this light show was not in any special area but right in the middle of the ruins. It was awesome to look at the fort in the gathering darkness. My enthusiasm was a bit dampened when some chemical was sprayed to get rid of the mosquitos but it was a minor inconvenience.

When the show started Amitabh Bachhan's rich baritone echoed through the ruins - almost taking be back to the era when the kings held courts, the queens walked decked in breathtaking jewellery and battles were fought with vigor. I vividly remember that at one point the narration was about the womenfolk of the royal family and suddenly on the left side of the audience there was this chiming sound of the anklets. The entire audience turned as one as if they expected some queen to walk out of the mists of time to be amongst us. I will always cherish that moment.

On teh downside, the narrative tends to ramble on a bit. They would do well to trim it down. It would be great if they could arrange for people to enact the scenes. That would make the experience so much better.

And as Sanjeev Kumar says to Suchitra Sen in the Fatehpur Sikri ruins in the movie "Aandhi" - "Kam se kam utane samay ke liye to yeh imaarate firse bas jayengi" (At least for that much time these ruins will bustle with people)!