Hyderabad: From being a time pass creative to becoming part of political campaigns, memes have come a along way today, allowing creators to even earn their livelihood through them.
In the world of TikTok and Instagram, artists on such platforms even earn enough to even splurge on luxuries, by creating memes. On the flip side, it also gives a chance for some to reconnect with their culture and city, which is exactly what Nammakpare, an Instagram handle, is doing.
And it’s doing that in literally one liners like these: ’Osmania biscuit goes to hi-tech city and becomes a cookie’, is one such example. It’s probably what a true-blue Hyderabadi would say after going to Hi-Tec City, a concrete extension of our city.
Hyderabad, with its rich history and culture, always leaves an imprint on its people, even if they don’t realise. The longing for our city, or even cringey moments from college, often end up becoming a ’thing’. And Nammakpare perhaps captures it best.
It’s timely and witty one-liners, always posted on a yellow background, resonate with a lot of Hyderabadis. A page wich stated with a few hundred followers a year ago, now has a base of over 30,000 Hyderabadis.
Unlike other pages which rely on videos and reels heavily to grow, Nammpkare has a set of slides you’ll read. And it’ll crack you up for sure, given that there’s stuff like this on the page:
’Shaadiyo pe laakho daaldete magar apni qaum charminar pe woich 50 ki cheez 20 tak chukaatii’ (Our people will spend lakhs of weddings, but will still bargain something worth Rs 50 down till Rs 20 at the Charminar).
How it started
Boredom. That’s how a lot of things begin. And the founder of Nammakpare, who wished to remain anonymous, said the page began on Instagram a few years ago in an attempt to break out of the boring and tedious COVID-19 lockdown routine that was imposed in Hyderabad, along with the nation at different times between 2020-21.
“Nammakpare is a small snack bite, that people enjoy, and the name for the page came from the idea that people look for short and small bytes that make them laugh,” said the creator of the page, who is a young Hyderabadi man in his 20s.
In an interview with Siasat.com, he said that Nammakpare was created spontaneously with a humourous take on life. He picks up little nuances from daily life, especially from that of youngsters such as himself, and turns those into humorous one liners that leaves Dakhni (the language spoken in Hyderabad the Deccan) speaking folks in splits.
While talking about the process of creating the content on his page, the creator, who is a student of business administration said, “My posts are based on daily life instances. I pick from conversations and observations from my life and that’s the reason why it becomes relatable to people and funny,”.
He added that the page is his attempt to break stereotypes around Hyderabad and it’s language, and also to make content that is relatable to Hyderabadis.
“I try to have a different outlook towards things. Bollywood has created a stereotype of Hyderabad and the language Dakhni. I want to break those stereotypes with my posts and show people that the city is more than what has been portrayed, time and again,” he said, while explaining the thought process that goes behind his creative work.
One criticism the page has faced is that it only speaks or relates to the lives of Hyderabadi Muslims. However, the creator of Nammakpare said that Hyderabad or the city is his “niche”.
“If I attempt to expand the niche of my page it may become generalised and repetitive. I am a Hyderabadi Muslim who creates content that caters to the people of the city. I would call myself a liberal with a lot of biases. I am biased towards my religion. We are a community of people who do not have enough representation and this is my attempt in doing that,” he added.
As far as future plans are concerned, the anonymous creator told Siasat.com that he wishes to expand his work beyond Instagram posts. “I want to start a podcast, have conversations with people. But it will only come when I have completely figured out my plan and will not be done half-heartedly,” he added.
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