In Hyderabad—My Conference Presentation and Another Visit to the Salar Jung Museum

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... 

In Hyderabad—Second Day of Conference

Wednesday, October 11, 2018

Hyderabad

Second Day of Conference

Salaam Aleikum from Hyderabad!

Today was Day Two of our conference. It was another long, tiring and intellectually taxing day. I mean think about it: You are a captive audience expected to attend panel presentations and participate in discussions from 10.00am until 6.00 pm after which you are expected to attend poetry readings and cultural programs such as music demonstrations and performances. In the USA, conference organizers tell us at the beginning, during Orientation, to pace ourselves and not to feel obliged to attend everything. Here, in India, it appears you are expected to be superhuman—to attend everything. I was talking to some of the organizers who told me very proudly that the program was drawn up with the sole intention of making sure that participants are engaged every minute and that there is no opportunity for them to goof off!!!   

I awoke finally at 7.00 am after sleeping in fits and starts through the night and forcing myself at every stage to go back to sleep again. I washed, dressed and went out in search of breakfast at 8.00 am—cornflakes, an omelette sandwiched between two slices of toast and a cup of coffee (which I had to especially request as tea was made available for all delegates).

We piled into the shuttle bus at 9.00 and reached the venue at 9.15 am. Sessions were expected to begin at 10.00–I used the time to chat with some of the delegates and the students of the university who were very happy and excited to interact with an academic from New York. 

The rest of the day was a series of sessions—another plenary address was given by Monica Acciari, an Italian scholar of Indian cinema who is at De Montford University in Leicester, UK, but currently in Hyderabad doing research. Talking to fellow-academics here, whether they be Indian or from overseas, I realize how lucky I am to have a whole year off from NYU to enable me to take on the Fulbright award.  It appears that most universities will not permit their scholars to stay away from their teaching and administrative duties for a whole year and will demand that they return after a semester.  Indian scholars seem to be at the greatest disadvantage in this respect.

Monia’s talk on dubbing and subtitling of Indian cinema into European languages and the consequences of variations in language usage as evidenced there, made a very interesting talk. It set the tone for the rest of the presentations that followed on a vast variety of topics. It became increasingly clear to me that presenters totally disregard time limitations that are set in advance. They do not seem to understand that, at a conference, all you can do, if you are a presenter, is offer listeners a few germs of the ideas on which you are working to allow them to incubate in their minds. What they do is come with ambitious papers that go away beyond the 15 minute time limit.  What’s worse is that they totally disregard prompts from the Chairpersons when they are told that their time is up.  They say that they will “just conclude” and then go on speaking for the next ten minutes! In doing so, they cut into the time of presenters that are to follow or they leave no time for discussion—which is a real discourtesy to the audience that has taken the time out to listen to you. Rules of conference protocol do not seem to be followed here. Deborah Logan and I were amused initially, then angered, when this happened repeatedly. 

Lunch was served in the guest house dining hall which involved getting into the  shuttle bus again and taking it, once again, to get back. It was a delicious meal—pure vegetarian, but made up of some delicious gravy and brinjal bharta which is one of the great dishes of Hyderabadi cuisine. For dessert, we were served custard with pomegranate seeds which I thought was such a result of the colonial-Hyderabadi fusion cuisine of this state. I have not eaten custard as a dessert for a very long time. 

Back in the shuttle bus, we went through the afternoon sessions with breaks in-between for tea and biscuits. 

At the very end of the day, there was a lecture-demonstration of druppad music with which I am completely unfamiliar.  I stayed on,despite being very tired, because I thought I would acquaint myself with it. Sadly, it was far too monotonous and unappealing to my ears and I left after half an hour. I was later told that this is a highly acquired taste and that it is the most ancient form of vocal classical music in India and the origin of all Hindustani and Carnatic vocalization. There are very few practitioners of this musical form left in India as most singers opt for easy commercial success in the Bollywood genre. Although it did not appeal to me I was happy to have been introduced to it. I I thought I would have to walk back to my room (which I was quite prepared to do) but luckily, I ran into a Professor called Vijay who gave me a ride back. I was exhausted.

     I switched the geyser on (as I have realized that it takes about 20 minutes to heat up) and sat down to rehearse and go over my own presentation which is tomorrow, especially to time it.  The last thing I want to do is go over the time limit of 45 minutes that they have allotted me. When I was done, it was time for dinner.  I had a quick chat with Dad in Bombay to inquire if all was well with him and Russel and then I entered the dining hall for another simple vegetarian meal of rice, roti, dal, yoghurt, pickle and white pumpkin. 

Back in my room, I took a shower and got ready for bed.

Tomorrow will be an eventful day as I give my plenary address first thing in the morning. This will leave me free for the day. I have made plans to return to the Salar Jung Museum with another delegate named Ipshita who is more than happy to goof off with me. 

  Until tomorrow...

In Hyderabad—First Day of Conference Ends with Rollicking Qawali Performance

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...