Tuesday, October 10, 2018
Hyderabad
First Day of Conference in Hyderabad
Salaam Aleikum from Hyderabad
Today was the first day of the conference on ‘Translation Across Borders: Genres and Geographies’ for which I was invited to give the plenary address. The campus of Maulana Azad National Urdu University is located way in the south of Hyderabad on a vast stretch of property that is beautifully landscaped and well-laid out. Delegates were put up in the guest house that consists of rooms and suites—I was allotted a suite consisting of living room and bedroom with en suite bath.
I awoke feeling very rested after waking up at 5.30 am then forcing myself back to sleep and awaking at 7.00 am. There was not a decent channel on TV although I tried to find even a basic Indian news one. I washed and dressed and went out to find breakfast in the dining hall where a number of delegates from around India had already gathered. I joined one of the tables and discovered that it was a buffet breakfast. I had a bowl of cornflakes and served myself some poha (beaten rice) which was cooked with vegetables and flavored with turmeric—a typical North Indian breakfast. A thin coconut chutney flavored with curry leaves and mustard was served with it. I also asked for a cup of coffee as I did not wish to drink the kadak chai that was served.
A half hour later, we climbed into a shuttle bus that was hired to take us to the conference center where the panel sessions would be held. As in all Indian events, it began twenty minutes late as the chief guests had not arrived. The first session involved a number of welcome speeches from a number of people who represented various organizations that had clubbed together to finance and organize this conference.
This was followed by the first plenary address by another Fulbright-Nehru Fellow, Deborah Logan of the University of Western Kentucky who is based at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi where she is researching Indian womens’ magazines of the colonial period this year. Her talk combined a number of disciplines including womens’ writing, Nationalism, Feminism and the impact of Victorian culture upon Indian women writers. It was a wonderful start to the conference and was much appreciated. As the days went by, I got to know Deborah well and bonded strongly with her. We have decided to keep in touch.
For the rest of the day, we heard a number of presentations from a wide range of people—from undergraduate students to seasoned senior well-published scholars. One of the stalwarts that presented today was Prof. G.N. Devy who is revered in Indian academic circles for the amount of work he has done on Indian linguistics. Among other interesting things that happened today was the launch of a new book of fiction entitled ‘The Butterfly Effect’ by Rajat Chaudhuri who read from it.
In the evening, after the sun had set, we assembled outside to witness the cultural program that was sponsored by the Andhra Pradesh State Department of Tourism. It was divided into two parts and included classical Andhra dance called Perini which presented female dancers, richly costumed, beautifully jeweled and made up, presenting a traditional harvest dance as well as a troupe of male dancers who presented a warrior dance.
When this part of the program was over, we reassembled in the auditorium on the ground floor to listen to a Quawali performance by the Warsi Brothers of Hyderabad. This was definitely one of the highlights of the day for me and of the conference as well. It had been a very long time since I have seen and heard a live quawali troupe. I had forgotten how enjoyable it can be. And I was left dumbfounded by the power, vitality and rhythmic quality of the performance that involved sterling voices, the echoes of harmony provided by a chorus in the back ground and the use of vigorous clapping which acted like another voice. It was truly incredible. Although I could not understand a lot of the lyrics (and much of the appreciation lies in comprehending the lyrics), I was completely taken by the rollicking nature of the singers. Best of all, the troupe ended with one of the best-known quawalis on the Indian sub-continent: ‘Duma Dum Mast Kalandar’ which is part and parcel of most Pakistani wedding receptions or celebratory events.
Dinner and Rest:
It had been a long day and most of us were dead tired after going from one panel discussion or academic presentation to the next.
It was with relief that we returned to our guest house on foot as the bus had left for the day. We assembled in the dining hall where dinner was a very simple vegetarian meal consisting of dal, rice, stewed brinjal (eggplant), rotis, pickle and yoghurt.
I returned to my suite to switch the geyser on and it was only twenty minutes later that I went in for a shower. By that time, the water had heated well and I had a really good satisfying shower. Without any further ado, I brushed and flossed my teeth and went to bed.
Until tomorrow...
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