For a typical Hyderabadi the title ‘Beyond Biryani’ instantly arouses curiosity. What’s new to know about this delicious dish that has become ubiquitous in the city?
As I took a closer look at the book by Dinesh C Sharma, I got a whiff of the real story in smaller print-The Making of a Globalised City.
By a clever play on the popular biryani, well-known Science Journalist and author, Dinesh Sharma, a Hyderabadi himself lures the reader into a fascinating journey of how the City-synonymous with the Charminar, Pearls and biryani to name a few has emerged as a vibrant, global city in a span of 100 years.
Growing up in Petlaburj in old city, educated at the top Institutes like Vivek Vardhini, Nizam College and Osmania University and being a Journalist, Dinesh Sharma enjoyed a natural advantage of having a deeper connect and understanding of both the history and the modern developments of the 433 year old Hyderabad.
It’s no wonder that the 300 plus page book, categorised as non-fiction has turned out to be a well researched, well structured and easy to read work on Hyderabad. It fills a void in the genre of stories capturing the lives of great cities, their evolution and the many facets. Beyond Biryani present the modern Hyderabad which nearly coexists with the rich heritage and past built by the Qutub Shahi and Asaf Jahi rulers.
Dividing the book into three broad sections, the author builds his narrative from the role of the Princely State, especially under the Nizams—Mir Osman Ali Khan and Mahboob Ali Khan (The last and the sixth) in promoting science, education, health, astronomy etc and establishing institutions like the Industrial Laboratory, the Nizamia Observatory, the Osmania University, hospitals and medical colleges etc. which laid the foundations for expansion in the post independence era.
The book throws light on how ‘Hyderabad technique’ of administering Chloroform safely was developed, Dr Edward Lawrie forming the Hyderabad Chloroform Commissions during 1880s to investigate and finally establish the efficacy of the anaesthesia that put Hyderabad firmly in the annals of medical history. He also reveals how the then Nizam Mahbub Ali Khan sanctioned 1000 pound sterling from his personal purse to Dr Lawrie to respond to criticism and witness animal experiments. It led to the Second Hyderabad Chloroform Commission in 1889 and a few years later confirming the positive and safe effects of Chloroform on humans. Another captivating medical development is titled ‘Hyderabadi Mosquitoes and a Nobel Discovery. It’s the work of the British doctor, Sir Ronald Ross on the malaria parasite in the city which got him the Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology in 1902. The section covering 1908-1948 contains many interesting stories that give a fair idea of the role of the Nizam’s in putting Hyderabad on the road to modernity.
The post independence period, especially up to 1991 is the consolidation phase in the transformation of Hyderabad into a hub for Pharma, manufacturing, life sciences, agriculture, electronics and computers. The city emerged as the bulk drug capital with the IDPL as the ‘mother’ industry. Similarly, a host of public sector undertakings-ECIL, BHEL, HAL, HCL, NMDC, NRSA etc were set up proving the foundations for manufacturing base, technology skills and trained manpower. A cluster of defence labs and another cluster of CSIR labs were set up. Yet another on Space and a string of universities that came to Hyderabad had exciting tales. The political leadership of the times played a significant part. Dinesh has interestingly unravelled them to make for delightful reading and as a reference.
Being an award winning Science Journalist, Dinesh focussed on the science, technology, IT, Pharma and emerging technologies to chart the growth trajectory of the city steeped in its culture, laid back style of working and Chalta hai attitude. His painstaking research and interviews with a large number of leaders in these sectors clubbed with the long time he spent in unearthing historical data from the State and National archives provides the reader with lots of factual information on the growth of institutions and the people behind.
The back story of how the entire IT sector took birth starting from the ECIL to the CMC, the STPI and the role of N Chandrababu Naidu and his dedicated bank of bureaucrats and technocrats in building the right environment, providing incentives and taking quick decisions to allow national and global biggies to invest or set up facilities is explicitly brought out with many nuggets. Similar are the stories in Pharma, biotechnology and life sciences where the ICICI Knowledge Park, the biotech park and the Genome Valley spurred rapid growth. They were backed up by the CCMB, CDFD the Universities. How, Hyderabad turned into a destination for all the global MNCs like Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, IKEA, Deloitte etc is in itself a racy read.
While the book is filled with a wealth of information for serious students of history, science and technology and growth of cities, for the common man Dinesh nearly summarises the key takeaways of a burgeoning, globalised city as: Every time you key in a word to search on Google, launch a Microsoft product on your laptop or mobile phone, click on Amazon to buy a product, post a picture on Facebook, book an air ticket online, use a map to navigate through city traffic, take a share taxi, make a financial transaction through a bank, pop a pill or vaccinate your child, watch a film on your favourite OTT or order your biryani from your favourite food app, you are most likely either using a technology developed partly or fully in Hyderabad.
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