The Bindaas facets of Hyderabadis

Hyderabad : The word "Bindaas"in Hyderabad lingo conveys 'hajjar' meanings, it may mean: take it easy,cool,breaking the conventional, and above all it reflects the Hyderabadi attitude. This attitude manifests itself in every day life of the Hyderabadi. Well to trace it back one has to go down memory lane to the Nawabs who ruled Hyderabad .The Nizam of Hyderabad was once considered to be one of the richest man in the world and has set standards for a care free & laid back  life and this legacy has been passed on quite effortlessly to the present generation of Hyderabadis who indeed take quite a lot of pride in exhibiting their bindaas culture. In no other city of India will one see the kind of leisure time that's available over here. People in the metros of India are on a running spree all the time while in Hyderabad everything seems to at a  'bindaas' pace. At weekends all the people gather, justifying that they need to take a break from their 'bindaas life'('boy o boy') and the outcome is that all the restaurents,theatres,parks and every other amusement centers of the city are occupied. Even the Tank Bund road is closed for traffic to accommodate the crowd. Any exhibition that is organized in the city is assured of a house full crowd. You wont believe it, the other day when there was a flower show organized at the Public garden, there was a one kilometer queue and people stood for hours to have a "dhekko" at the flowers.

Here's a glimpse into the various facets of the bindaas Hyderabadi

A Hyderabadi on the road
It some time looks stranger than fiction when a Hyderabadi while driving on the road feels that he is the 'king of the road' and the traffic rules are meant (only )to be broken, so don't ever cross the path of a Hyderabadi when he is on the move. In case if you cross his path, he invariably tries to get into an argument as if 'raking up a fight is in the blood' of Hyderabadi.Even if he is wrong, as the proverb goes "barking dogs seldom bites", he tries to get you by neck but the crowd around him stops him by holding his hands while he vainly tries to get his hand over you (a Hyderabadi seldom gets into fitscuffs )so don't worry you won't be beaten but you have to bear the choicest abuses in the 
Hyderabadi slang.

The Potti Patana Hyderabadi
So far so good, the other aspect of a hyderabadi life style or rather estyle is "potti patana". It is the favorite pastime for some while for others it is a fulltime job. A Hyderabadi would try all the tricks in the book and outside the book to get hold of the woman of his dreams. With the girls of the generation next it is "potta patana hai". If people in rest of India were carried over by the movie "Hyderabad Blues" that it is taboo for guys and girls to be seen in public together,then they are going to have a culture shock if they come to Hyderabad.So don't believe those confused desh returned non-real Indian (NRIs).If you don't believe me have a dhekko on the Necklace Road -the scene would put to shame  even the overly romantic French.

Bindaas Batein
The bindaas attitude of Hyderabadis is personified in the numerous cafes of the city where in you get to see a whole lot of bindaas Hyderabadis sipping tea for hours together. One might wonder as to how these people have all the time in the world to indulge in such long sessions. There is so much of time available with folks over here that at times you have to literally ask them to go for want of peace.

The filmi Hyderabadi
Hyderabad has got the maximum number of theatres in India thanks to this vast bindaas population of the city. Can you believe that a small cross road over here boasts of almost one dozen theatres which are just a stone throw away from each other. Mind you,  you will still have to buy the tickets in black over here. Most pictures  run for over  100 days and people take hell a lot of pride in talking about the movies. "Kya picture hai baap". "Picture tho mast hai". The advance booking is over even before it actually begins.

Hyderabadi Baitak
Leave alone weekends, the "baitaks" over here are the order of even the weekdays. whenever a group of men meet together then its three cheers to their friendship and the corks are in the air. If pubs were given permission over here, then Hyderabad for sure would have one in every other lane. The best part is any good or bad, wonder or catastrophe, in this world is appended with a four letter slang word at the starting. The more  you write the lesser it will be about the Hyderabadi baitaks. 

The height of Hyderabadis
The bindaas attitude of Hyderabadis can very easily be tested by asking them just two questions. All that one has to do is just get on to a bus stand on the road and just pick up a friendly conversation with a typical Hyderabadi and ask him as to when the next bus would come. The instant reply you would get is "Abhi ata" (it will come just now). You wait and wait and the bus never comes and you ask him when it would come and he will say again the same thing. Meanwhile you would have wasted an hour or so waiting for the bus to come. Actually when an Hyderabadi says "Abhi ata", do take it for granted that it would come an hour or two later. On the other hand if you ask him as to when the last bus passed by ,he would say "Abhi gaya"(it just went), while in reality it would have left hours back.

The Spirit of Hyderabad
Special is Hyderabad’s Biryani (cuisine)
Typical is Hyderabad’s zubani (language)
Wonderful is Hyderabad’s sherwani (clothes)
Flexible is Hyderabad’s zindagani (culture)
Unforgettable is Charminar’s charm and 
people’s agvani (warmth)

The morning tea: irani
The lunch recipe: biryani
The attire: sherwani
The attitude: chedkhani
The outcome: pareshani

This is not the end of the story of Hyderabadis.There is more to come of  them. Hyderabadi people are an interesting lot. Stay tuned for more...

This article does not reflect on  Hyderabadis bad attitude. Instead the surroundings are sometimes ambient and sometimes love is in the air. So everyone goes with the tide. 

"YET HYDERABADIS RULE THE ROOST TO THE PLACE WHERE THEY GO.How?"

(with special inputs from Maju)

-Ajay Goka
Reachout's News Bureau
February'2002

More 'Hyderabad Watch'......