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An encaged golden bird called Telangana

I had been to Warangal recently and this is a trip, which I gift myself, whenever I find time, as it is always a pleasure to hit the road and the beauty of Telangana always refreshes you and invites you, to come back, again and again. I wanted to share my reminiscences of the trip, with you all, as it would be of interest to anyone from Telangana.

Seemandhra businessmen’s tentacles have spread far and wide. The entire Telangana is being used as some kind of an occupied land, by them, for furthering their greedy interests. One can easily understand, why they are so forcefully resisting any attempts to separate Telangana, and why, not just Hyderabad, but our entire Telangana, is, like the proverbial golden bird, which they have caged and had been, abusing as much as they can.

25th December ’2012

We had started for Warangal, in the morning. The road from Hyderabad to Warangal used to be lined with trees and one could see mountains of all shapes and verdant green fields abounding the land. But, unfortunately, this road has become a victim of ‘real-estate’ development.

With passing of years, the trees have gone, the fields had made way to real estate plots, the mountains had been blasted for stone quarrying and now there is a tollgate, charging hefty fees on passing vehicles which is making huge profit for Andhra businessmen and the tollgate is manned completely by Andhra employees. We start the trip every year, with witnessing, the destruction of large parts of Nalgonda and which our Seemandhra counterparts, would like to show as development.

26th December ’2012

Set off from Warangal early in the morning to Medaram, greeted by a cool breeze, serene lakes, majestic mountains and dense forests. Can there be places more magical than these, I wonder. This area was the stronghold of naxalites for many decades and a lot of police encounters had taken place here too. Quite chilling to know that such beauty is marred by bloodshed, but then this is where Samakka’s spirit pervades, it forces you to defy all kinds of injustice.

I came across a lot of villages close to Medaram, which had been, colonized by Andhra people, such as, Govindaraopeta. Someone told me that a lot of Andhras came here with nothing and then prospered a lot. One can see why, as these are fertile, water rich areas.

Time: 11.A.M.

At Jampanna vaagu: Last time when I had been here, there was no water, but a stream of water runs clear and fresh, now. This was, to be, our first stop as we got down and waded into the water. No one is around; breathtakingly beautiful valleys surround the stream. Can’t believe this laughing brook was witness, to some hoary legends in the past. In the war with the Kakatiyas, a besieged Jampanna was supposed to have committed hara kiri by jumping into this very stream, after stabbing himself. I found it difficult to break myself away from this place; it is like something, right, out of, the lonely planet.

At Medaram: The tribals have been able to keep the place sacred and untouched by any kind of commercialization of the place, for, a long time, and it should remain that way. I paid my obeisance, to the goddesses.

Time: 1.00 P.M

On the road again: To Laknawaram lake. Infrastructure is still being developed, but what is quickly developing is the hotel, which is, to be, managed by Haritha. The Laknawaram lake’s length and breadth spans, across miles, and the fact, that this, is actually man made, makes you, admire the engineering skills of the Kakatiya rulers.

Plastic is strewn all around the overflowing stream or matthadi, this used to be filled with clear water but is murky now. We need to create more awareness for tourism to these types of places, not the totally commercial Haritha kind, but an eco tourism kind, with the involvement of locals, in it. Protection of our environment should be the priority in our state.

Time: 4.45 P.M

It is evening, by the time we reached Ramappa, and we had to scout for a place to stay for the night. The cottages facing the Ramappa Lake were earlier, under the tourism department and were cheap, but now on account of Kakatiya festivals, they had been handed over to the Andhra management which is what Haritha is. The rates had been doubled and I found the attitude of the Andhra manager to be very arrogant. Found to my chagrin, that it was Andhra employees only, over there, whether it was the cook, helper, assistant or the boy. No one from Telangana was found worth even a single job, here and this is Warangal, not even Hyderabad.

No wonder, all the cottages lay vacant. I think this comes alive, at the weekends, when may be all the Andhra loaded guys land up here and have their parties. The monkeys here, are keeping the rebellion alive, they are very aggressive, giving everybody the fright, when they are least expecting.

27th December’2012

Time: 8.00 A.M

At the Haritha hotel, morning breakfast was oily Poori and potato in water, curry. Had another war with the manager, he still had the spunk to ask us to have our meals there. Checked out from this Andhra adda immediately and visited the temple.

Ramappa temple is often described, to be like, the poetry in stone. When I had visited it some thirty years ago as a child, it was surrounded by dense, thickly entwined vegetation filled forest and the effect of seeing the temple in such background, was almost dreamlike. Now, shorn of such a background, it may not have the same effect, but nothing can be taken out of its description, as poetry in stone. Just four years back, I found it to be a picture of neglect, but this year on account of the festivals, it is getting some attention in its maintenance.

Time: 11.30 A.M

We are at Ghanpur, which is just a short distance away from Ramappa, and here, we managed to find the kotagullu, these ruins had been found and spruced up for the kakatiya festival. Hardly any visitors were there, no one, even knows, the way to this place. An old and emaciated but eager priest is there, to explain about the place and conduct pooja for us.

The temples’ sculptures had been defaced, with a lot of effort, put in, by the people, who, must have been, at the job, for many years. I was told that, razakars from the Nizam’s rule were instrumental in such destruction, with an eye, to mutilate; every single artwork and they were successful, at it. Could not find faces to the art, only form. Thank goodness, at least the pillars and the structure had been found, and painstakingly put back I think. This place is a must see, for people who come to see Ramappa, as it is very close and equally spell binding in its beauty. Care taker priest is doing a good job.

Time: 12.30

We, then, drove by another engineering marvel of the Kakaityas, the Ghanpur Lake. I suddenly saw what looked like wild geese and thousands of them, moving in the streams coming out of the Ghanpur lake, stopped the car to admire, but was astounded, when told that, these ducks were not wild but domesticated and brought from Nellore, to feed, in the water, here and after that, they are taken back to Nellore, where they sell, the eggs of these ducks, at a high price, in the Chennai market. The caretaker of the ducks explained the same to us and I see firsthand, that Andhra businessmen are profiting through Telangana even this way. They think of bringing their ducks also, all the way from Nellore to feed here.

What an idea, Andhra sirji!

Time: 1.00 P.M

Headed towards Kaleshwaram in anger, at finding such crooked work in our heartland, had lunch at Bhupalapalli town, saw the huge water pipes for bringing water to the coal mines, have LANCO written all over them. Locally made pipes were being discarded to be replaced by the pipes branded with LANCO. There is a BHEL like township for the mining employees of Bhupalapally, but how many Telangana people are actually employed in that grade, is anybody’s guess.

Open-cast mines have converted, large parts, of an otherwise, densely forested area surrounding Kaleshwaram, into barren lands. Singareni miners constantly complain about this scourge of open cast mines and they are very right, I used to see a thick forest with a variety of colourful birds, on the way to Kaleshwaram. But now, this is not the case, the forest is sparse and that too, if you come during winter, then only, it is green. Close to where the thermal plant is, the land is like a graveyard, it is black with soot.

We are paying a heavy price for the mining of coal, but who is making profit out of it and enjoying the power-Seemandhra businessmen. Reminds you, of what has been written about power shortage and its costs, the recent article by T Harish Rao, never sounded more true.

Time: 4.00 P.M

At the Kaleshwaram, all the boarding houses were full, to accommodate some religious leader and with great difficulty, we managed to find rooms for the night. Weather is extremely chilly as we walked through the streets of Kaleshwaram in the night. Sripada Rao, Minister Sridhar Babu’s father’s statues are everywhere. In the morning, set off to the Godavari, only to be driven away, to the side which was filthy, as some top police officer had come for completing the rituals for his dead mother.

Gun toting men were guarding and had sealed all points of entry to the Godavari. I was terribly disappointed that, I could not get to enjoy being in the lap of Godavari. I heard Marathi voices everywhere on this side of the shores, the boats were busy plying them, back and forth across the river. Here, the river runs through two states. Last year, I saw rampant sand mining taking place and this has left its scar on the river. It is all shrunk and ribbon like in its meandering.

Time: 12.30 P.M

In the afternoon, from Kaleshwaram, we headed back towards Morancha, a village near Chalpur, where we had a summer house, some eleven summers ago. I have nothing there, but memories and the villagers do not think them to be of any value, as they took at us, to be strangers and asked us 101 questions, on why we were there. The prices of the land have skyrocketed, heard Konda Surekha had grabbed most of the lands here and I heard the same thing getting repeated at many places, that way Konda Surekha owns half of Warangal. She must be holding a lot of lands in proxy for her seemandhra bosses or her demi- gods. And through these proxies like her, that, Seemandhra people are so blatantly exploiting and doing their business, while making inroads, into the deepest parts of Telangana.

I had wondered why a Telangana villager who asks anyone, looking like a stranger, so many questions, about their purpose of visiting or who fight a lot, when their hen is lost, have kept quiet when these kind of open incursions have been made. I understand, that it is, through the use of willing proxies like Konda, or Ponnala and their likes; Seemandhra businessmen have, had their way, completely cleared for them. YSR had of course, removed, the most important obstacle in the way of these marauders, and that was to destroy the naxalites. I have not seen this kind of rampant destruction, when, naxalism was at its peak in these areas.

29th December ’2012

I was back in Warangal on the eve of Telangana bandh. Was forced to stay indoors but had the satisfaction of seeing a total bandh being followed.

30th December ’2012

Time : 2.30 P.M

Came to the ruins of the Kakatiya fort, I was taken aback by its splendour. This must have been one great palace, reminded me of the Cambodian Angkor wat. I was completely mesmerized by the statues here; this should be a world heritage site along with Ramappa and Ghanpur. I am sure it would have won recognition from UNESCO, had our Seemandhra rulers shown, even a bit of interest in showcasing them. We have a lot to do, when we start rebuilding Telangana.

Hundreds of years of wanting to erase, even the trace of this magnificence, seemed to have not worked. The stupendous structures remain, as a token, of the bygone days of glory. It was at this time that it struck me that, even hundreds of years of Deccan rule, could not destroy these forts, but sixty years of Andhra rule had plundered the very earth of Telangana. When I look at these ruins, I think that somewhere in its might, was also written its destruction. The grandeur of the palace is testimony to the wealth and power of the Kakatiya rulers and this must have made them, arrogant enough to wage war on the tribes led by Samakka and Saralamma.

The seeds of their doom lay in that battle.

Time: 3.30 P.M

To the Pakala lake- Here we had to go through Narsampet and again, I heard that, this is Konda Surekha’s territory. Our Telangana betrayer, Rani Rudrama (news anchor), is banking on the menacing power which the Konda couple wields, out of their, having, a hold over half of Warangal’s lands. I was feeling low at seeing so much of poison being injected into our lands by outsiders, by using our own people. It was dusk, we were ending the trip, parrots were gathering in large numbers on the trees lining the road, then I saw Chakali Ilamma’s statue and my spirits rose again.

We can defeat these people. Our courage comes from this land and its terrain, which has been endowed with such rare and rich, loveliness. We can never be cowed down by any invaders. We are the children of Telangana, a race that never bows before anyone and a blood that makes you rise in revolt, against people, trying to enslave you.

Our clinched fists rise to the sky and the clouds should really burst with our cries, Jai Telangana!

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