Music & Arts in erstwhile Hyderabad - Deccan

2017-05-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

The book Music & Arts in Hyderabad - Deccan is a complete guide to all forms of arts and entertainment which took place in the bygone days . It contains many articles on courtesans , their life styles , stage shows by various celebrities , singers & dancers who visited the city and gave memorable performances . It has many rare images and description of the programs conducted by them . The book is edited by Prof Surjit Singh and has a foreword by Dr Mythili Anoop , a well known dancer of Mohini attam and Kathak .

For readers in USA - UK - Europe

https://www.amazon.com/Music-Arts-Hyderabad-Deccan-Contribution/dp/1546355898

The book can be purchased from Barnes and Noble

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/music-and-arts-in-hyderabad-deccan-kamalakar-pasupuleti/1126312023?ean=9781546355892

For readers in UK and Canada

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&an=Kamalakar+Pasupuleti&tn=&kn=&isbn=

For readers in India

https://pothi.com/pothi/book/kamalakar-pasupuleti-music-and-arts-erstwhile-princely-state-hyderabad-deccan

Contact the Author - email -kamalakar345@gmail.com, kamalakarp_2000@yahoo.com

My second book The lost treasure. Early Hindustani takies

LutfunNisa Imtiaz - The first women poetess of Hyderabad Deccan

2012-10-22T07:38:00.001-07:00

A lady in prayer - Namaz
Photo credits - httpwww.artistsgthakursingh.com

Introduction :

For many years it was thought that Mahlaqa Bai Chanda the famous courtesan of Hyderabad was the first Women poetess of Hyderabad Deccan . The efforts of Mr Naseeruddin Hashmi in tracing out the works of LutfunNisa Imtiaz has made it very clear that she was the first Women poetess ( Sahibaan-e-divan ) of Hyderabad Deccan . Her collection is huge and consists of Ghazals , Masnavis / Mathnavis and Qasida's etc . Her biography was not known fully . A very brief mention is made in the writings of Naseeruddin Hashmi along with few sample pieces of her poetry . Ms Khadija Hashmi the daughter of Naseeruddind Hashmi who lives in UK was kind enough to mail me a couple of pages written about her by her father . I thought it would be appropriate to place them on my blog . I hope learned readers would appreciate this article devoted to her .

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Here is the translation ;

Imtiaz -
Her name was LutfunNisa Begum . Her pen name was Imtiaz . She was a native of Hyderabad Deccan . She lost her mother at an early age . The noble family took care of her with all comforts . She was married to Asad Ali Khan Tamanna . Unfortunately , she became a widow at an early age . She became a devotee of Shah Ataullah on account of her deep love for the religion . She went on a Haj pilgrimage and attained the status of a revered person .

Haj Pilgrimage - 1800s
Photo credits - httpsnapscoop.blogspot.com

Her Divan ( Collection of poetry ) was published in 1212 Hijri . It was mentioned that the Divan was published in her 36th year and hence her year of birth is 1176 Hijri . Unfortunately the year of her death could not be ascertained . The original manuscript ( Qalmi nuskha ) is available at the Salar Jung Library . It gives an impression that she covered all the genres of Urdu poetry . Apart from her Divan a heavy , voluminous Mas'navi "Gulshan-e-Shura " was traced which bears the testimony of her name . It contains eight thousand couplets . The couplets enlighten many aspects of society and the life style of those days .

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Mr Hashmi Has given the date of publication of divan as -
1212 Hijri = 1797 AD . Her Year of Birth = 1761 AD .
Else where on the net the death of her husband Asad Ali Khan Tamanna is given as 1789-90 .
It appears that her divan was published seven years after the death of her husband .
Mahlaqa's divan was published in 1798 an year after LutfunNisa's Divan .
- Author

A lady in writing
Photo credits - thoughtfulspot.typepad.com

na samjhey kufr ko kya hai na kuch jaaney musalmani

hamen deir-o-haram yeksaaN a'bas sab ko ho hairani .

( I do not know what is Infidel and what is Muslim,
Though the world wonders ! in my eyes
TheTemple and The Mosque are but one )

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Mr Hashmi had furnished only few samples of her poetry which are given below . I am extremely grateful to my good friend Sarwar A Raz for making many corrections in transliteration of the poetry to Roman Urdu . Author

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Masnavi / Mathnavi

too ishq-e-haqeeqee se madhosh hai

sharab-e-mohobbat se behosh hai

ataa vah kiye ma'rifat ka kalaam

Ataullah saccha mere murshid ka naam

Aminuddin A'la jo hain in ke jad

woh ilm-e-haqeeqee ke hain mujtahid

jahaaN tak zameeN hai wahaaN tak ameen

haiN sab auliaa meN woh misl-e-nageen

ye qisse ko mere too maqbool kar

paRhe aur sune koi ahl-e-hunar

jo is wahm meN dil nipat kat gayaa

jo ek bibi ne yahi mujh se kahaa

jo Lutfunnisa sach hai tera hi naam

tere sh'er kaa shohra taa Room-o-Shaam .

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Ghazaliyat ka namoona .

maiN ne jab khwaahish-e-sharaab kiyaa

muhatasib kaa jigar kabaab kiya

imtiaz ab tera laqab hum ne

jaaN fida'e Abu Turab kiya .

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Original Ghazal in Urdu

dekhlayi kis maze se ab ke bahaar holi

khelein haiN jama' ho kar sab gul-a'zaar holi

saaree paree-rukhaaN mil kaisi machaen mojaiN

rang zard-o-surkh lekar khelein nigaar holi

soney kee thaliyon men rakh kar abeer-o-abrak

oopar se qum-qumon ke hai maar maar holi

saarey tawaifon ne naache haiN kya mazey se

Inder ka hai sabha dekh hai be-qaraar holi

jab raag ka sama' kar gaaven hain kis adaa se

nikley hai munh se un ke be-ikhtiaar holi

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na samjhey kufr ko kya hai na kuch jaaney musalmani

hamen der-o-haram yeksaaN a'bas sab ko ho hairani .

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tadap kar jaan deta hai arey qatil zara aaja

hai rukhsat koi dam men haye ye bismil zara aaja

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Qasaaid ka namoona

jab kaheeN aata nazar woh chehra-e-gulnaar hai

silsila hota hai barpaa ek aatish baar se

dekhne men hai mazaa ya kuch dikhanaa lutf hai

jee men aata hai ke poochuN saaqi-e- sarshaar se

darte darte kehdiya keh kar kaha deejo jawab

kuch to farmaao ki na maaloom ho izhaar hai

sunte hi ro ro kaha sun le arey ghafil mizaaj

mujh ko aatee hai haNsee is tere istefsaar se .

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I earnestly hope the readers would appreciate her poetry .

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All the articles on this blog are written by Kamalakar Pasupuleti is meant to be posted in kamalp.blogspot.com .If these articles appear in other sites with out permission of the Author ia a violation of the copyright content of the Author and is a punishable offence under the existing laws

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Memoirs - Reddy Hotel - KL Saigal remembered .

2012-07-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

KL Saigal

Moazamjahi Market a near by location , the tall building on rt is Bachelor Qrs . Murlidhar Bagh is just 100 yard away on the left . ( Google Photo - 1937-39 )

Murlidhar Bagh was one of the landmarks of erstwhile Hyderabad . It is on the Nizam Shahi road ( Abids to Moazamjahi market road ) , close to Moazamjahi Market . It was a big gated area spreading over few acres . It belonged to Raja Murlidhar ( He was known as Raja Saheb ) . It had a big wooden gate and the Raja Saheb's building was just at the entrance to the right . On the opposite side there is a temple of Godess Lakshmi which is believed to be 200 year old . There is one more temple deep inside and a big well . The Raja Saheb's building and the temples still exists today . The Raja Saheb's family members still live around in that old building . The place was very famous for Dussehra celebrations . On the Dussehra day the effigy of the ten headed Ravan was burnt with many crackers kept inside his belly . Huge crowds used to join to watch the burning of Ravan and many will visit the temple . It was also a place for meeting friends and relatives and hug each other which was customary then . I have no idea whether these celebrations still take place at this place .

A view of the Main road opposite Murlidhar Bagh - Dec 2011
Reddy Hotel was located close to the Yellow auto parked on the road .
Photo by - Shri MV Surender , A Saigal fan
www.kundanlalsaigal.com

The Lakshmi Temple inside Murlidhar Bagh
Photo -courtesy Shri MV Surender

Unfortunately , many people are unaware of the grandeur of those days . Today Murlidhar Bagh is a fast fading name of the past . The NTR Estate with two theaters and many shopping complexes is the modern landmark of the city which is just opposite to the Murlidhar Bagh .

There were a number of shops adjoining the compound wall of Murlidhar Bagh on the main road . The first shop belonged to a photo frame maker His daughter was a lame girl , physically handicapped . The next two shops were occupied by a restaurant known as the Reddy Hotel .

It is not known when the hotel was opened for business , but many old timers are of the view that it was around 1935-36 when the Moazamjah market became operational .
I first saw the hotel in mid forties walking along with my father to Abids which was considered the heart of the city . My father had many friends living around the Murlidhar Bagh area . He also knew the owner of the hotel . On one occasion the owner of Reddy Hotel was standing outside his hotel and he greeted my father . My father wished him and both were conversing . I was just looking inside and listening to the songs being played . To my surprise song after the song was heard but did not notice any one changing the disc being played .

I went a little close and to my surprise I found a record changer . A number of 78 rpm records were stacked and housed in the upper compartment . At the end of the song the stylus lifted on its own and shifted to make room for the next disc to fall on the turn table . I was curiously watching the machine . My father called me but , I was still watching . The owner came to me and explained everything about the mechanism . I remember seeing one with the Nawab Saheb living adjacent to our home . It was a different model , Nawab Saheb's son was my friend who told me that it was a German make .

It looked a bit strange as most street side restaurants in those days had only record players and some small ones even had hand cranked gram phones most of them played Na'ats and Qawwalis . These hotels were meant for the poor customers . Reddy Hotel was meant for an average middle class citizens .

My father told me that the owner is very fond of music and a great fan of KL Saigal . He had almost every disc of him in his collection . The main attraction of his hotel was the quality of snacks and tea which was served to the customers . He had some buffaloes and the secret for the rich taste of tea was the quality of buffalo milk . Apart from Hindi film music he had a good collection of European music records . During the second world war there was plenty of troop movement through Hyderabad and the passing by soldiers became the main customers of the Reddy Hotel . The owner was very enterprising and he prepared some simple western style food such as soups , sandwiches , salads , egg and meat dishes with very little seasoning and spices to suit the taste of the western troops . This was just a street restaurant and the price of the dishes were very reasonable . The high ranking officials chose classy restaurants but the poor soldiers were so happy with this small and cozy place . They gave a good publicity and more soldiers were becoming his customers ..

In addition to this he also introduced the European music to entertain them . The hotel flourished during the war days . I heard the owner telling my father that now the war has come to a close my business is going dull .

It was Jan 1947 and the evenings were very chill . The sad news of KL Saigal's death was something very painful for the music lovers . My father received an invitation from the owner of the Reddy Hotel . The invitation was regarding a Memorial Service to Late KL Saigal . I accompanied him in the evening . Many people were returning home from offices , some were heading to the the nearby theaters . We reached the hotel .The gathering was limited . I understand that it was only for the invitees . There were around 20 persons including four ladies . Gulfarosh Hussain Brothers Qawal were present in the gathering . The restaurant was closed sharply at 6 PM that day . The invitees were served with tea and biscuits .

The owner spoke a few words of introduction . He heard about a Memorial Service to KL Saigal by the Gulfarosh Hussain Brothers Qawwal and being a great fan of him he thought of this program . He invited the Hussain Brothers to speak a few words about Saigal and their memorable meeting with him . Both the brothers spoke in detail and rendered a thumri babul mora which was one of a favorite song of Late Saigal . A lady from the gathering rendered ' soja rajkumari soja ' . The qawwals accompanied her on the harmonium . Few members spoke about his charitable nature and the painful work he undertook of finding time and spending a large sum of money on the repairs of Ghalib's tomb . The meeting concluded with the last song ' jab dil hi toot gaya ' . It was a memorable evening for all those present . I found a small crowd gathered outside the hotel watching the proceedings taking place inside .

It became customary for me to stop by few seconds everyday at the hotel while going and returning from school only to watch the automatic record changer . The hotel was in business some time up to 1950 . Then it was found closed for some time and later the the hotel board was removed and some civil work was in progress . The shop was hired by another business . The reason for its sudden closure was not known .

According to many old timers and KL Saigal fans Gulfarosh Hussain Bros Qawwal and the owner of the Reddy Hotel were the fore runners of the annual celeberations of Saigal day each year at Hyderabad . I have no idea whether the same practice exists today .

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On a recent visit to Hyderabad the author along with Shri MV Surender a great fan of KL Saigal walked inside the Murlidhar Bagh to find more about the owner of Reddy Hotel . None of the family members of Raja Murlidhar Saheb could answer . However , one of the family member guided us to the 86 year old temple priest who has been living inside the temple premises . He could confirm about the existence of the hotel up to 1950 . He told us that the owners son was not an enterprising man . He later worked for a hotel and his where abouts are not known .
Asked about the famous courtesan Shankara Bai living there , he answered yes . She owned a house here . She was famous for singing thumris . Her daughter Vimla a good singer got married to a rich Reddy business man and lives in the city
Vimla was a great singer often participated on Hyderabad radio in the early 1940's .

Author conversing with the temple priest Dec 2011
Photo - courtesy Shri MV Surender

Author conversing with the Temple priest .

Author with the Temple priest and Mrs Prasad a family member of
Raja Murlidhar . Photo - Courtesy Shri MV Surender .
www.kundanlalsaigal.com

Mrs Prasad - A Family member of
Raja Murlidhar who guided us to the Temple priest .

- -

Temple Priest

Note - Shri MV Surender is a great fan of KL Saigal and has a website -
www.kundanlalsaigal.com

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All the articles on this blog are written by Kamalakar Pasupuleti is meant to be posted in kamalp.blogspot.com .If these articles appear in other sites with out permission of the Author ia a violation of the copyright content of the Author and is a punishable offence under the existing laws

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Mohtarma Khadija Zubair Ahmad - An acknowledgement in appreciation

2012-07-11T14:41:00.003-07:00

Ms Khadija Zubair Ahmad

Mohtarma Khadija Zubair Ahmad ( Maiden Name Khadija Hashmi ) is the daughter of Late Naseeruddin Hashmi an eminent personality of Hyderabad whose contribution to the Urdu literature is well known . Mohtarma was excited to read an article on her late father on my blog . Interestingly enough , she was very happy to read the word by word translations of his three film reviews - Mahabharat - 1933 , 300 days & after - 1938 and Pukar - 1939 which were published in a book ' Film Numa ' in 1940 . She often wondered , why no one ever chose to mention her father's role in the field of Urdu literature and the services rendered by him . None of the papers and magazine ever published an article on him . Well , it is a matter of regret to ignore an eminent personality who worked hard and brought out many hidden treasures of Deccan literature like tracing the long hidden works of Lutfunnisa Imtiaz ' which includes her Divan and Masnavi , rare letters , manuscripts and documents of historical importance . The book ' Naseeruddin Hashmi ' Ek Mutala ( A Study ) which was authored by Ms Wajida Farzana was a gift from her and I sincerely thank for this gesture .

Khadija Hashmi was born and brought up in Hyderabad Deccan . After her college education from the Osmania University she took up teaching as her profession . Her students are spread all across the globe occupying high offices . Ms Wajida Farzana was one of her distinguished student , a disciple and a relative who had fulfilled her wish of authoring the book on her late father Naseeruddin Hashmi .
Ms Khadija Zubair Ahmad is a prolific writer in Urdu and several of her articles were published in various magazines in UK .

Mohtarma Khadija Zubair Ahmad resides in UK and leads a retired life . I wish her a long and healthy life .

About the author .

Ms Wajida Farzana - was born in Hyderabad - AP in 1957 . She passed her Matriculation exam with distinction from Khiyaban Girls School .

Bachelor of Arts from University of Hyderabad .

M Phil & MA from University of Hyderabad .

Doctorate from Osmania University Hyderabad .
The thesis topic for her M Phil was on , Naseeruddin Hashmi , A Study .

The book is lucidly written and enjoyable to read . This book is certainly a treasure for all those readers looking for detailed information on the life and works of Naseeruddin Hashmi .

Ms Waijida Farzana has contributed a lot to Urdu literature . Her articles were published in many leading Urdu papers and magazines . However , this is her first book as an author and now enjoys the status of a full fledged author . I wish her success in her future publications .

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All the articles on this blog are written by Kamalakar Pasupuleti is meant to be posted in kamalp.blogspot.com .If these articles appear in other sites with out permission of the Author ia a violation of the copyright content of the Author and is a punishable offence under the existing laws

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Naseeruddin Hashmi -

2011-06-09T13:54:00.000-07:00

Naseeruddin Hashmi ( 1895 – 1964 ) was an accomplished scholar of Urdu . He belonged to Hyderabad . He authored several books on Urdu literature and History . While films were of no big passion for him he contributed some articles to various news papers and magazines mostly about bringing reformation in movies , role of language in movies , the need of education among the movie stars etc . The Muslim actresses and reasons for not many girls coming forward from educated and well to do families , their need to step forward and bring about change , refinement and reform to improve the existing social pattern of life in the community . With out mentioning directly to the nautch girls and courtesans he addresses them as a community belonging to different class or a community who are looked down by the society or coming from ill-famed houses who have captured the cinema industry due to the absence of Muslim girls from educated and well to do families .

He also published a book on collection of his articles titled ‘ Filmi Numa ‘ in 1940 . In his foreword to the book he mentions about the growing popularity of film magazines . While the demand for literary and historical magazines tend to remain popular but the field of movies are some thing a new area and many magazine editors look forward for articles on movies and movie stars to make their magazines profitable . The youngsters who are very active and enthusiastic on this matter keep submitting their articles only to find their name as a prolific journalist of movies . Most of such articles lack in substance of literary and artistic value .

Some of his historic articles published in various magazines were later published in others sometimes quoting his name and sometimes without mentioning . His first movie article titled – A view on film “ Mahabharat “ was published in the Urdu magazine Aaina from Delhi in 1933 . The second one titled – “ The actresses of Europe and India “ was published in “ Musavvir “ Bombay in 1934 . After that about ten to twelve articles were published in “Movieland “ and “ Film “ in 1939 . He also wrote his review on two more films 300 days after and his last one was on film “ Pukar “ .

To criticize about a movie it becomes necessary for one to watch the movie several times , be fully aware of the background of the theme , the period of the story related to etc and any shortage of this will lead to a wrong assessment of the movie .
He had endeavored to write only about the correctness , change , refinements and reformation needed in a movie but nothing glamorous and spicy was ever written about the movie stars and their personal matters as some others . It is on account of lack of time for this and therefore did not contribute later to pen articles related to movies in future . It is also interesting to note that he did not mention anything in particular about songs , music and music directors .

A translation of three movie reviews out of total of sixteen of his various articles originally written in Urdu are reproduced here . Some more articles on actresses and film industry in general are also published for he benefit of the readers .As with any translation it is almost impossible to maintain the original tempo and beauty of any language but every effort has been made to the extent possible to retain the originality of the articles . The author being a scholar had emphasized on matters of education among the actresses , change , refinements and reforms necessary in society and the need of training for enhancing the performance of the artists . The articles were published between 1933 -1940 .

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All the articles on this blog are written by Kamalakar Pasupuleti is meant to be posted in kamalp.blogspot.com .If these articles appear in other sites with out permission of the Author , it is piracy of the copyright content of the Author and is a punishable offence under the existing laws

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Ashraf Khan - Actor turned Sufi Saint

2011-01-01T10:49:00.000-08:00

Ashraf Khan in Film Roti - 1942
( Google images )

One actor who inspired thousands of movie fans in the 1940's in Hyderabad with his acting and singing and still holds a wide popularity even today with his magical healing powers half a century after his demise is none other then Ashraf Khan . He had comforted many families and gave a new life for those whose avenues were at cross roads or even totally closed . Many attribute his spiritual powers were on account of his great devotion and dedication towards his mother who was widowed when he was seven . Some feel it is on account of his self imposed discipline , honesty and deep sense of faith in the Almighty . He is considered by many as Wali ( a holy man , a friend of God , protector , guardian ) . In Hyderabad and the neighboring Deccan area he is known as Baba Ashraf Waley .

Ashraf Khan shot to limelight with film Baghban - 1938 . He played the role of a mendicant and rendered three lovely songs composed by Music Director Mushtaq Husain . Ro ro nain gavanvun , sajanva aan milo was the most popular song among the three songs he rendered . The movie was a great hit and all the nine songs in the movie were popular .The movie was directed by AR Kardar . The lyrics were penned by the comedian Mirza Musharraf . He was paid Rs 90 / - for the nine songs he wrote for the movie . It is important to know how he progressed in is life and attained the spiritual powers with which he helped millions of people across the globe .

Ashraf Khan was born in Indore in 1901 . He lost his father at a young age of seven . The burden of taking care of his widowed mother and a young sister fell on his shoulders . Indore was a famous city for wrestling and the wrestling competitions were held for all ages including children . He took wrestling as a profession for some time . He later became a Shepard boy and guarded the sheep .

He had a good voice and used to sing while taking the sheep in and out of the city . One evening while returning home from the outskirts he started singing loud . A Gujrati's drama company was stationed in a near by bungalow . The owner of the drama company heard his song and was called inside . The owner asked the boy if he is willing to work for the drama company . The boy replied Yes . There upon the owner asked him if he can play the role of a girl . The boy daringly replied No , will play the role of a boy . The owner was impressed and he got into the Gujrati drama company .

He started playing small roles and as he grew up was given the role of a hero .
His salary increased periodically and by the time he was playing hero roles he was paid Rs 600 / per month . He used to give away his entire earnings to his mother . His mother used to give him four annas a day as his allowance as he had the habit of eating Paan ( betal leaf ) , but Ashraf Khan used to return back the four annas to his mother in the evening

Ashraf Khan's mother tongue was Urdu and Pushtu but he learnt to speak Gujrati with ease and he rendered his dialogues fluently . He gave record breaking performances in Malopati Manjh ( Pritnvi Vallabh ) . He played the role of a hero Prithvi Vallabh in three thousand shows . Prithvi Raj Chauhan was another stage performance in which he played the hero role of Prithviraj Chauhan in two thousand shows . Ashraf Khan's heroine on the Gujrati stage was Sandhya wife of V Shantaram . Ashraf Khan was associated with the Gujrati stage even after joining the films .

With the advent of talkie he moved over to Bombay in 1932 . With his experience in stage he was hired for three movies Bhartruhari , Gul-e-Bakavali and Veer Kunal . He played the role of a hero initially and later in life played character roles . He acted in more then a dozen movies . Mehboob Khan portrayed him as a mad professor in his famous film Roti - 1942 . It was during the filming of Roti he came in contact with Peer-0-Murshid ( Spiritual Guide ) Ghulam Sarvar . Ghulam Sarvar belonged to Lahore and was employed in railways as a guard . He had many followers in Bombay . Ashraf Khan's devotion towards his spiritual guide was so great that when ever he visited Bombay he used to carry his luggage on his head and escort him home .
Large crowds used to gather to meet Peer-o-Murshid Ghulam Sarvar in the 1940's and among the film personalities the notable were AR Kardar , Mehboob Khan , Yaqub , Prithviraj Kapoor , Trilok Kapoor , Sardar Akhtar , Akhtari Faizabadi , Jaddan Bai etc etc to name a few . Akhtari Faizabadi and Jaddan Bai used to sing devotional songs during the assembly .

Taking care of the visitors foot ware was the first duty assigned to him by his Peer and Ashraf Khan never thought it was a menial job .He knew that the peer is shedding his ego by assigning such tasks . Peer-o-Murshid Ghulam Sarvar was so pleased with his devotion that he handed over his Gaddi ( seat ) to Ashraf Khan . Ashraf Khan became a Peer .
His association with the Gujrati stage lasted till his end . In 1962 after his last stage show at Dharoji in Gujrat he returned to the Durgah where he was stationed with his family . It was the ninth day of the Gyarhvi Sharief ( the eleventh month of Islamic calender ) . He lied down on his bed and spoke few words to his wife and fell unconscious , but his lips started moving as if he is narrating verses from . This situation continued the whole of that night and the next day . His wife , family members and devotees remained at his bed side reading verses from Ayat Sherief . He opened his eyes in the evening . His devotees asked him how he was and he replied that where ever he is , he is doing well .

He was brought to the hospital at Rajkot in this condition . Ashraf Khan passed away at eleven PM on the eleventh day of the Gyarhvi Sherief , the eleventh month of Islamic calender . His mortal remains were brought to the residence of Dr Malik who was a friend and a devotee for funeral . His devotees were chanting holy verses from Ayat Sherief and Darood Sherief . Around 4 O' clock in the morning he opened his eyes once again , looked all around him with a smile and closed his eyes . This was a surprising moment for all those who were present around him . A dead man opening his eyes and smiling was some thing strange . The crowd shouted Hazrat is alive , Hazrat is alive , call the doctor .There are several people alive today who witnessed this strange incidence . Dr Malik examined him and pronouned him dead . He was buried at Gunj Shahda which is located on the Ahmedabad - Delhi highway . The Urs is celeberated every year and lakhs of devotees all across the globe visit his Mazaar ( Tomb )

Among the film personalities who used to attend the Urs were Mehboob Khan , Sardar Akhtar , Zaibunissa , Mehtab , Begum Akhtar , Prithviraj Kapoor and Trilok Kapoor etc .

There are hundreds of families in Hyderabad whose vows were fulfilled by the spiritual powers of Hazrat Ashraf Khan . Each family has a different story to narrate . Many sickly got cured , many got rid of financial troubles , rivals became friends , many women became mothers after best efforts by doctors failed .

Amirbai Karnataki rendered a couple of devotional songs in his praise . Some disc collectors of Hyderabad had them in their collection .

Bibliography

1. Hazrat Ashraf Khan , a booklet in Urdu published by Sultan Ahmed of Baroda 1964 .

2. Ashraf Khan , Article in Urdu by Music Director Naushad in Shama a monthly magazine from Delhi .

Filmography of Ashraf Khan .

Aaiye 1949 , Phool 1945 , Roti 1942 , Baghban 1938 , Ajamil 1934 , Roop Basant 1933 , Malati Madhav 1933 , Husn Ka Gulam 1933 , Veer Kunal 1932 ,
Gul-e-Bakavali 1932 , Bhartruhari 1932

List of songs renderd by Ashraf Khan in movies .

Baagbaan 1938 Basaa Le Apane Man Men Men Preet - Asharaf Khan
Baagbaan 1938 Prem Jhoothaa Prem Jag Jhoothaa - Asharaf Khan
Baagbaan 1938 Ro Ro Nain Ganvaaoon Sajanawaa Aan Milo - Asharaf Khan
Baaghi 1939 Holee Khelat Tumase Main Haaree - Amir Jan & Asharaf Khan
Baaghi 1939 Mrig Jal Ko Saagar Jaan Gote Maarataa - Asharaf Khan
Baaghi 1939 O Charkhe-jafaa Parvar Jee Bhar Ke Sata - Asharaf Khan
Aazaadi-E-Vatan 1940 Kuchh Socho To Duniyaawaalo - Asharaf Khan
Aazaadi-E-Vatan 1940 Yah Duniyaa Hai Ek Khawaab - Asharaf Khan
Roti 1942 Ab Peenaa Hai Haan Peenaa Hai - Asharaf Khan & Anil Biswas
Roti 1942 Gareebon Par Dayaa Karake - Asharaf Khan
Roti 1942 Raham Naa Khaana-2 Hai Makkaar zamaanaa - Asharaf Khan
Roti 1942 - Kyoon Ratataa Rotee Rotee - Asharaf Khan
Pagli Duniya 1944 Kyon Lalachaataa Us Duniyaa Par - Asharaf Khan
Naiya 1947 .. Raam Naam Kyaa Japnaa - Asharaf Khan
Naiya 1947 - Siyaaraam, Tan Kaa Pinjaraa Soonaa - Asharaf Khan

Addendum -

Dinkar Rao Amembal ( 1909 - 1990 ) .
Musiclogist AIR Bombay

Shri Dinkar Rao Amembal one of the pioneers of All India Radio , Bombay was a great devotee of Master Ashraf Khan . He considered him his spiritual guide till his end . D'Amel as he was affectionately known as had composed many signature tunes for AIR . He was with AIR Bombay from 1937 - 1967 .

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All the articles on this blog are written by Kamalakar Pasupuleti is meant to be posted in kamalp.blogspot.com .If these articles appear in other sites with out permission of the Author , it is piracy of the copyright content of the Author and is a punishable offence under the existing laws

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Beginning of a new Era of Arts , Poetry & Music 1800-1920

2010-11-05T14:35:00.000-07:00

With the decline of the Mughal Empire a large number of musicians left Delhi for good . A similar situation prevailed in places like Lucknow , Agra , Allahabad , Gwalior , Baroda etc and the migration lead them to Hyderabad Deccan where poets , musicians and courtesans were admired and paid sufficiently for their existence .

The sixth Nizam Mir Mahbub Ali Khan was only around three years of age when he succeeded the throne in 1869 . He was educated inside the four walls of his palace .
Nawab Sarvar-ul-Mulk , the grandson of of renowned urdu poet Mirza Ghalib was invited from Delhi to tutor the Nizam who taught him Persian , Urdu and Arabic . He later became his private secretary . Captain Clark was his tutor who taught him English . It was during his rule that the official language was changed from Persian to Urdu .

The Nizam was a man of taste , a connoisseur of good food , clothes , great love for poetry and music . He had such a big ward robe and was unwilling to wear any of his garments the second time and used to donate them to the needy . This charitable nature was a blessing for musicians who received a lot more then expected for their performance at the royal court .

Mir Mahbub Ali Khan - The sixth Nizam of Hyderabad

Inayat Khan

Many notable musicians and poets were invited with royal honours while others lined up in front of the palace gates of his Chow Muhalla Palace close to Charminar for an audience . One such lucky musician was Inayat Khan ( 1882-1927 ) who migrated from Baroda . He was an excellent classicalist and a Veena player . The news of his arraival reached the Nizam and was soon invited . He gave several performances in the royal durbar both vocal and instrumental . The Nizam was so much impressed with his music that he conferred the title of ‘Tansen of Hyderabad ‘

The Nizam got some of his songs recorded on to the discs by Victor Co, of Calcutta around 1907 . They were both vocal and Veena recordings . One performance of him at the durbar was the famous Thumri ‘ babul mora ‘ penned by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Audh . This was a master piece . Many disc collectors of Hyderabad had all these discs in their collection . A number of photographs of him along with the Nizam and the Royal courtiers were also available with some collectors . Inayat Kan was a very humble and un-assuming person . He lived a simple life and helped all those who visited him . He also was very charitable and donated some of his earnings from his shows to the orphans .

He spent a couple of years in Hyderabad but , suddenly he came under the influence of the great Sufi saint Muhammed Abu Hashim Madani and upon his advise he left India and traveled to US and Europe and held several music concerts . He propagated the path of Sufism and came to be known as Hazrat Inayat Khan . He authored several books . While his books are popular through out the world but , unfortunately most of his discs were lost . A few vocal recordings which were traced back at a later time have been restored and are available on Cassette / CD at some select places around the world .

Pt Motiram

Another notable musician of the Mewati Gharana who won the praise of Nizam was Pt Moti Ram . He spent few years in Hyderabad and was the court musician for some time . He holds the distinction of making the Nizam sit on the floor by rendering a beautiful Hamd ( A religious song ) . The lyrics of the song had the names of Hazrat Ali , ( Son-in-Law of Prophet Muhammad ) Hasan and Hussain . On hearing the names of Hasan and Hussain the Nizam got up from his seat and simply sat on the floor as a mark of respect to the Holy Prophet .

His youngest son Pt. Jasraj is the leading classicalist today who was awarded the Padma Vibushan in 1999 . He has many followers and produced many great desciples in the field of music . The famous playback singer Sadhana Sargam is one of them .
Janaki Bai of Allahabad

By 1908 Janki Bai was a very popular name and word soon reached the Nizam who was thinking of inviting her to the royal darbar but the great floods of Hyderabad of 28th September 1908 was a very sorrowful event which made Nizam fully occupied in the relief work and large sums of money was spent on rehabilitation and restoration work . His sudden and untimely death in 1911 was a greatest loss for the music enthusiasts.

In the early 1900’s a sweet vendor Hari Ram of Allahabad moved over to Hyderabad for a living and opened a small shop near the Afzal darwaza area . His business soon picked up and became famous around the city . He was a friend of Jankibai’s father Shiv Malikram who was also a sweet vendor . The people of Hyderabad soon learnt about the story about her famous stabbing incident by her lover Raghunath Dubey . She survived 56 stabbings and came to be known as Chappan Churi . Hari Ram lost everything in the great floods of 28th September 1908 . The greatest loss for him more than the shop was his dear wife .The Nizam took care of all the flood victims and were compensated adequately but Hari Ram was a broken man after loosing his pregnant wife who was washed away in the floods and so decided to go back to his native place .

Gohar Jan of Calcutta

The famous courtesan of Calcutta Gohar Jan of Calcutta visited Hyderabad during the years 1910 -11 . Her performances were witnessed at the Krishna theatres ( later re-named Zamrud Mahal ) by thousands of music lovers . She was accompanied by her personal servants some of them were Europeans who received a hefty pay .

Dagh Dehlvi

He was a poet of repute . He did not sing but had great love for music . After ending his term in the Rampur darbar Dagh reached Hyderabad in 1891 but had to wait 10 long years before he was taken into the court . His luck changed when the Nizam ordered the payment of arrears in full in bulk for the whole ten year period . There was no paper currency in those days . The huge sum in silver coins bundled in sacks were carried in a bullock cart and delivered at his residence . He spent the rest of his life happily . Dagh was fond of music and Nautch girls . He loved a courtesan Munni Bai of Calcutta . She moved over to Hyderabad for some time and lived with him . Many of the ghazals of Dagh were rendered by singers both in the royal court and by the courtesans of Gol bungla . Some of his ghazals chosen by the courtesans of Gol Bungla which were popular with the admirers are given below . The tunes were composed by their own musicians and were accompanied on harmonium , sarangi and tabla . Wind instruments like clarinet etc were rarely used .

Ajab apna haal hotha jo visaal-e-yaar hota
dil gaya tumne liya hum kya Karen
dil ko kya hogaya khuda jaane
Uzr aane men bhi hai aur bulaate bhi nahin

Ameer Minai -

Ameer Minai visited Hyderabad on the invitation of Dagh Dehlvi . He lived near Osmanpura area close to Dar-ul-Shifa for a very brief time . Unfortunately he fell ill and despite the best medical treatment and care taken by his friend he passed away in 1900 . Many of his ghazals were rendered by famous musicians including KL Saigal .

All the articles on this blog are written by Kamalakar Pasupuleti is meant to be posted in kamalp.blogspot.com .If these articles appear in other sites with out permission of the Author , it is piracy of the copyright content of the Author and is a punishable offence under the existing laws

Mahlaqa Bai Chanda

2010-11-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

Hayat-e-MahLaqa
Image from Authors Copy of the book By Ghualm Samdani Khan Gohar 1906

Tomb of Mahlaqa Chanda
( Google images )

Mahlaqa Chanda ( Google images)

Taramati and Premamati were the greatest courtesans of the Qutub Shahi era of Golconda . After few decades of lull Mahlaqa Chanda emerged as one of the greatest courtesan , poet , musician and philanthropist of Hyderabad- Deccan .

Mahlaqa was born in Aurangabad in 1767 . Her real name was Chanda Bibi . Her titile was Mahlaqa . She was called Chanda Bai probably because of her interest in dance and music .
At the tender age of eight she penned her first ghazal in Urdu

Nizam Ali Khan the second Nizam knew her well from her child hood and recognized her talent . When the capital was shifted from Aurangabad to Hyderabad in 1776 she moved along with the Nizam and settled down at Moula Ali and established herself as the finest courtesan of the 18th century . She had a big clientele of the nawabs . Many nawab’s and nobles of that time sent their sons to Mahlaqa Bai for learning the manners , customs and discipline of the royal court .

She was famous for her beauty , poetry , dancing and singing . It is said that her poetry was inspired by the writings of famous Siraj Allahabadi . She penned her ghazals in Deccani / Dakhani Urdu under the pen name of Chanda . Her collection of poems 'Gulzar-e-Mahlaqa’ was published after her death .
Her Deccani gazals in Persian style often mention about Jaam (the cup ) , Saaqi ( the bar tender ) , Bulbul ( the nightingale ) etc .

She was an accomplished singer who could compose her own ghazals and set to fine tunes . The Nizam bestowed her with a big Jagir ( estate ) . The areas of Osmania University campus , National Institute of Nutrition , The RRL etc are located on the lands once owned by her . The university authorities also could trace back one of the big wells inside the university campus and have restored it and today it is a place for visitors

Traces of Mahlaqa Bai’s existence still appear on the hillock at Moula Ali where the annual urs ( Death anniversary of a Saint ) takes place during the month of Muhurrum . She was a highly sophisticated and educated lady .

After her death in 1824 her properties were taken over by the Government . Later a part of the property was given to Haseen Laqa Bai and Haseen Afza Bai . The present day Nampally girl’s high school building once belonged to Haseen Laqa Bai .

The story of her family is very interesting , full of troubles , adventures and escapades to save themselves from the treacheries of those days , They were forced to take up this profession driven by circumstances and later continued to live the lives of a courtesan . I hope some day her story Will come to light of film makers and can be seen on the silver screen .

It is possible that Mirza Hadi Ruswa was inspired by her biography and later authored his novel Umrau Jan Ada . He lived in Hyderabad - Deccan while working for the Bureau of translation at Osmania University . His novel was filmed twice .

For further reading about her life and poems ,

Hayat-i-Mahlaqa – Gohar , Ghulam Samdani Khan . Hyderabad 1906 .

Gulzar-e-Mahlaqa - by Gohar , Ghulam Samdani Khan

Divan-i-Mahlaqa Bai Chanda – Shafqat Rizvi .

Mahlaqa Bai Chanda – An article by Tamkeen Kazmi .

All the articles on this blog are written by Kamalakar Pasupuleti is meant to be posted in kamalp.blogspot.com .If these articles appear in other sites with out permission of the Author , it is piracy of the copyright content of the Author and is a punishable offence under the existing laws

Re-emergence of Arts & Music .

2010-11-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

Emperor Aurangazeb passed away in 1707 . What happened in Hyderabad after the fall of Golconda in 1687 to the death of Aurangazeb in 1707 is not well known . After the death of Aurangazeb the Asifjah ‘s have established the rule and the first Nizam-ul-Mulk Asifjah I ruled from Aurangabad . During his reign some courtesans from the neighboring Marathwada moved over to Aurangabad . The Nizam II , Nizam Ali Khan was one of the memorable rulers of Asifjahi dynasty . During his long rule of over 40 years 1762-1803 he moved back the capital from Aurangabad to Hyderabad in the year 1776 . With this change the good period of ghazals , poetry and music returned back to life once again in the city of Hyderabad . A number of courtesans , musicians , poets moved over to the new capital city of Hyderabad . Most of them settled down around Charminar and the surrounding localities . The re-emergence of dance , poetry and music commenced on a grand scale with the arraival of Mahlaqa Bai Chanda to the Hyderabad city .

All the articles on this blog are written by Kamalakar Pasupuleti is meant to be posted in kamalp.blogspot.com .If these articles appear in other sites with out permission of the Author , it is piracy of the copyright content of the Author and is a punishable offence under the existing laws

Fall of Fall of Golconda - Period of Turmoil for Arts , Music and Culture .

2010-11-02T14:12:00.000-07:00

After the fall of Golconda to the Mughals Aurangabad was made the capital . The Tanasha was taken captive and imprisoned at Daulatabad Fort near Aurangabad . Aurangazeb himself moved over to the new capital city Aurangabad . The city of Bhagyanagar ( Hyderabad ) was deserted for sometime and all the activities moved over to Aurangabad . A trusted general of the Emperor Aurangazeb was appointed as the Govorner stationed at Hyderabad with his garrison to look after the administration . The Governor with many of his soldiers were staying in Mughal pura area close to Charminar . The courtesans were afraid to move over to Aurangabad as the Emperor was stationed there . They had a dull business during those days . The soldiers were the main customers and sometimes the courtesans had a tough time handling them . Many courtesans and musicians moved over to Bijapur and sorrounding places .

All the articles on this blog are written by Kamalakar Pasupuleti is meant to be posted in kamalp.blogspot.com .If these articles appear in other sites with out permission of the Author , it is piracy of the copyright content of the Author and is a punishable offence under the existing laws

A short history

2010-11-02T14:08:00.000-07:00

A Short History of Music in Early Deccan

The fall of the Bahmani kingdom in 1483 gave rise to 5 different dynasties in the Deccan platue of which the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur and Qutub Shahi dynasty of Golconda had attained more prominence in the fields of music , poetry and art . Nothing much is documented about music and poetry during the days of Bahmani kings .

Arts and Culture in Bijapur Kingdom

It was during the reign of Ibrahim Adil Shah - II the Bijapur had seen its brightest days of music . He was a contemporary of the great Mughal Emperor Akbar . Akbar came to know about the Sultans love for music through one of his court musician by name Asad Baig . The sultan himself was an accomplished singer and was said to be an authority in the Dhrupad style of singing . He was trained by a Sufi Saint Bakhtiar . He was an excellent sitar and veena player . He authored a book on music ‘ Kitab-e-Navras ‘ in Dakhani . The book contains various types of raags and raaginis . Many miniature paintings depicting various ragas like Hindola raga , Vibhasa raga and Gambhir raga are available even today in handicraft stores and the finest ones in some of the museums . The Dakhani language was a combination of Persian and Indian dialects like Hindi , Marathi and Kannada and others which later developed into what is now called Urdu . The Sultan was a great humanitarian and worked for the unity of Hindu and Muslim . He constructed temples of Saraswati and Ganapati in his palace . He learned the language of the locals , Kannada and Marathi . It is believed that there were around 4000 musicians in and around Bijapur and many of them were acknowledged by the Sultan . There used to be periodical assembly of musicians in his court .
On learning about Bijapur the cultural seat of music , poetry and art many musicians and poets made their way into the Deccan and settled down . Musicians , Artists , Poets also migrated from Persia and Turkey and the Deccan area soon became a big seat for learning .Many youngsters joined the masters as their disciples and later became famous musicians .
In the field of poetry there were two Persian poets in his court named Urfi and Zuhuri .
Later they were joined by a number of others who migrated from north .Many historians believe that the first ghazal emerged in Deccan area somewhere between Bijapur and Golconda . The first ghazal was penned by Wali Dakhani . The ghazal later traveled north and became popular . It was in this region the term ‘ Mushaira ‘ was first coined for the assembly of poets reciting their ghazals before the audience . The mushairas became a regular feature both in Bijapur and Golconda . The mushaira too later traveled north along with Wali Dakhani when he visited Delhi and other regions of the northern India .

Arts and Culture in Golconda Kingdom

The hill was known as the Mangalagiri from the ancient times . During the reign of Kakatiya Kings in the 12th century a shepard boy found an idol and handed it over to the ruler , who inturn built a mud wall on the hill for the idol . The place came to be known by its modified name Golconda . During the Bahmani Sultans they built a fort with mud and stone . At the collapse of the Bahmani kingdom in 1518 the Qutub Shahi Sultans took over the power and built a solid fort with stone and extended it considerably to avert invasion by the Mughals from the north .
Similar to the Bijapur Sultans the Quli Qutub Shah’s of Golconda were great lovers of music and poetry . There was however one exception . While the Adil Shah – II himself was an acclaimed singer and composed book on music the Tanashah’s of Golconda as the Sultans were called were great admirers of music . They were well versed with the various ragas but did not compose any of their own . They were gifted poets and they were the first to have a complete collection of Persian poems authored by them . The book was known as ‘ Kulliyat-e-Quli ‘ . They were great admirers of the local languages and since a vast majority of people spoke Telugu . they not only learnt the language but also wrote poems in Telugu . However , the collection of Telugu poems were lost during the invasion by Aurangazeb .
The Tanashah’s not only admired the local languages but gave equal opportunities to the local Telugu people . The famous Akkanna and Madanna brothers who worked as his ministers are the best examples . They were also fond of the local culture and culinary art . The Tanasha cooks noting this had introdued many variety of dishes of the locals on to the royal table . They even modified some of the Persian dishes by mixing with the local ingredients like green chillies , tamrind , tender tamrind leaves , ambada leaves etc . The dishes became very famous and came to be known as Qutub Shahi dishes . These dishes are a favourite among the locals of Hyderabad even today.

Legends of the Deccan
Taramati and Premamati:

The Tanasha’s in particular the last one Abu Hasan was very fond of music . The famous courtesans of his time Taramati and Premamati were legendary for their art of both singing and dancing . Most of the ghazals rendered by them were from the poems composed by the Sultan and the tunes were set by the Persian composers of the royal court . They also rendered other ghazals and local folk songs in Telugu . The songs and ghazals of those days were heard for many centuries and some remnants of those still survivie . The two monuments of Taramati and Premamati Baradari with beautiful twelve see through arches on the hillocks facing the royal chamber of the Sultan stands as a testimony of time even to this day . The Sultans were Shiite muslims and music was prohibited during the month of Muhurram , only Marsia were recited at the Ashur Khanas .

Some authors had knit their own stories about Taramati saying during the full moon days she used to visit the Sultans chamber simply by walking on a thick rope tied between the Baradari and the Bala hisar (the Sultan’s chamber ) . Such stories are untrue and it is believed that during the full moon days she used to present the Mujra on the balcony of the Sultan . She was transported to the Sultan’s chamber by palanquins .

Folk songs on Bathkamma and the songs during the festival of Holi composed during those days need a special mention . The Chinna Bathkamma festival begins on the Vinayaka Chavathi day and goes on for 10 days . This is mainly meant for young girls aged 3-12 yrs . The Saddala Bathkamma is played by the grown up ladies during the Navratri days of Dussehra festival . The Bathkamma festival is now forgotten in the urban areas and still popular to a lesser degree in the rural areas . The modified versions of the Holi festive songs are still popular with the gypsies and village folks.

Bhakta Ramadas:

Another notable personality of those days is Kancharla Gopanna who was the nephew of Akkanna and Madanna brothers who worked as minsters for the Sultan . While working as a Tahsildar ( Revenue Collector ) of Bhadrachalam he utilized the official funds and diverted them for the construction of the Rama temple . He was imprisoned for eleven years . He composed many Kirtans ( Hindu devotional songs ) in praise of lord Rama and became famous as Bhakta Ramadas . His Kirtans are well documented and their popularity can be witnessed even today as many famous singers got some of his kirtans recorded which can be heard on radio and are also available in the music stores .

Kshetrayya:

He was a noted poet and Carnatic musician famous for his compositions on romance . During the reign of Sultan Abdullah Qutub Shah 1626-72 the Sultan came to know about his talent and finding similarities between the Persian and Telugu poetry invited him to Golconda . Kshetrayya accepted his invitation and spent few years in his court and was richly rewarded by the Sultan.

Reasons for the popularity of Music in Deccan

The reign of Akbar the great witnessed the golden period of music of the Mughal empire with the legendary Tansen and singers like Baiju Bawra . Following the death of Akbar in 1605 the admirers of music declined . Emperor Jehangir spent most of his time on alchohol and his wife Noorjehan who was busy with the official affairs had little time for music . Only a handful of singers used to entertain her when she was at leisure which was rather rare . Emperor Shahjehan spent most of his time on Architecture and building monuments and music was no forte of him . Later during the time of Emperor Aurangazeb music was prohibited in the royal court and the musicians received no admiration from the state . This was the basic reason for a large scale migration of the musicians to Deccan.

The music in the Bijapur and Golconda of the Deccan area was flourishing at its best and they welcomed the migration of musicians from the north .
Few famous musicians received the pataronage of the Tanasha , the lesser ones according to their credibility were engaged by the rich and the nobles . The others were engaged by the Tawaif’s ( Courtesans ) of that time for training the girls in their possession who would later become the prospective courtesans to serve the nobility .

From the earliest times of Deccan , the areas near the foot hills of Golconda , the Lungar Houz and the Kaarwan Sahu were some of the localities for the courtesans of those days . After the city was established it was initially known as Bhagyanagar , later it was named Hyderabad . The city became the hub of activity for the nobilities and many courtesans moved over to the city area for prosperity . The famous ones were located near Husaini Alam and the Charminar areas . Some of the less famous Tawaif’s lived near Champapet and Madannapet localities .

All the articles on this blog are written by Kamalakar Pasupuleti is meant to be posted in kamalp.blogspot.com .If these articles appear in other sites with out permission of the Author , it is piracy of the copyright content of the Author and is a punishable offence under the existing laws

Introduction - About the Blog

2010-11-01T07:52:00.000-07:00

I have great love for my city Hyderabad . I was born and brought up here in this historic and cultural city .

This blog is regarding the Arts , Music and Entertainment in the Erstwhile State of Hyderabad Deccan between 1500 - 1948 .
It also covers a brief account on History and Culture of those bygone days . It contains my Memoirs , what I had seen , read and heard from my elders .

I hope the readers will appreciate my articles .

Author -
email - kamalakarp_2000@yahoo.com
kamalakar345@gmail.com
p_kamalakar@hotmail.com

All the articles on this blog are written by Kamalakar Pasupuleti is meant to be posted in kamalp.blogspot.com .If these articles appear in other sites with out permission of the Author , it is piracy of the copyright content of the Author and is a punishable offence under the existing laws