Thursday, October 12, 2018
Hyderabad
Conference Presentation on Third Day
Salaam Aleikum from Hyderabad!
It was the last day of our conference at Maulana Azad National Urdu University and I was all keyed up as I was giving the plenary address today. Accordingly, I awoke several times during the night, nervousness probably waking me until I got up finally at 7.00 am. I washed, dressed and got my materials organized for my talk and the PowerPoint presentation I wished to project.
By 8.15 am, I went to the Dining Hall for breakfast and ate a bowl of cornflakes with hot milk, and an omelette sandwiched between two slices of toast. This was washed down by a cup of coffee. By 8.30 am, the rest of the friends I have made arrived (Divya Joshi, Aliya Choudhury, Ipshita Ruchi and Kavita Sharma) and we sat chatting as I prepared mentally for my talk. By 9.15, we were in the shuttle bus, headed to the conference venue.
Myself and my talk were introduced by Prof. Nikhila H who did a good job based on notes that I had given her. When it first began, it felt as if no one was present but in about five minutes, the crowd came in and by the time I got started, there was a very good audience present. As always, one feels a few nerves at the beginning but I eased into the talk and showed the slides that were manned by a female student fully covered in a black burka. My presentation was entitled “Does Media Affect Message? A Critical Analysis of Three ‘Raj Revival’ Films from the 1980s from Page to Screen.” At the end of it, there was a comment from Prof. Vijay and a couple of other comments and questions from other students. I was congratulated by Vijay in public not just for the content but also for the clarity of my presentation and so many people came and told me how clear it was and how easy they found it to follow me. As always, I made a lot of eye contact and made it appear as if I was talking to the audience rather than reading from sheets of paper.
As soon as my talk was done, I was asked to present two tokens of appreciation to two ladies who had conducted the Art workshop. There was tea to follow and a few students came up to talk to me at that stage too. However, I was running off with Aliya, Ipshita and Kavita to the Salar Jung Museum as I really did want to go there again and take a look at those bits that I had not seen the last time as well as get pictures of those items that had caught my fancy but which I had not found the time to photograph.
We called for an Uber that cost us Rs. 100 each way—a real steal—and we were at the museum by 12. 15. We stayed there up to 2. 30 pm. I had to hurry this time too, but I guess unless one has a whole day here, one could not really be satisfied.
Another Visit to the Salar Jung Museum:
You can tell that this Museum really had an impact on me for I did something I have not done before—returned to the same Museum twice in four days. Well, okay I have done this when I lived in London and was studying the National Gallery. But still...
This time I also took in the Carpets Gallery, the Toys Gallery, The Jade Gallery and the Western Paintings Gallery in detail. I realized that there is a landscape by John Constable here as well as a large still-life by Jean-Baptiste Simeon Chardin plus a portrait of Venice by Canaletto. Aliya, who stayed close by me, was so stunned by what she saw and was so awed that she could barely speak as she took in the explanation I occasionally provided.
This time, I paused to take really carefully composed pictures of so many of the items that I had not had the time to peruse when I was there in a hurry, four days ago. I got pictures of all the walking sticks that I adored. I photographed the ivory boxes and figurines. I got pictures of all the porcelain and glass. I will feast on these pictures I know as the weeks go by and I will savor my memories of this splendid place.
We had paused to eat a snack lunch—two Punjabi samosas and a can of Pepsi Zero for me before we began our perusal of the galleries. We took another Uber back and were on campus again at 3.30 just in time for the Valedictory Address and the final goodbyes as people took their leave of everyone. I thanked Vijay and Nikhila for their invitation and their hospitality.
I had seen the many different faces of Hyderabad—from its remnants of a royal past to the chaos of the contemporary period where lack of maintenance has turned old buildings to real eyesores and narrow streets to traffic-choked mazes. The campus, by contrast, was this glorious, well-laid out haven clothed in lush greenery with flowering tropical trees and gardens. It really was a lovely break for a few days from the bustle of a big city.
My new friends wanted to go on a shopping spree but I’d had enough. I was ready to return to my room and unwind with a magazine on my IPad. I wanted to take a nap, do my packing and have a shower before going out again to the dining room for dinner—which is what I did in exactly that order. By 8.30, I was calling Dad to check on him and make sure he was okay in Bombay and then I was sitting down with my friends and eating another simple vegetarian dinner of rice, rotis, dal, yogurt, pickle and gherkins. We laughed a lot, exchanged phone and other contact details and said our goodbyes. I tipped the wait staff who had been so kind and so good to us for so many days—Rs. 500 for about 5 of them. It was not much but it would go around. I then said goodbye to my friends who saw me to the door of my suite.
It had been a very good conference,if a packed one. I had the fine opportunity to re-visit Hyderabad in a most unexpected fashion—it was not on the list of places I wished to see in India when I had arrived here. I also made many new friends and interacted with another Fulbright scholar, Deborah Logan, as well as met a European academic in Monia Acciari.
Back in my room, I washed, changed, brushed and flossed my teeth and got ready for bed. I set my alarm for 5.30 am, ordered an Uber to take me to the airport at 6.00 am and hope that all will go well as I turn off the light and prepare for bed.
Until tomorrow...
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