Image Courtesy: The HinduSeated beside him were his friends and some Indians, presumably their hosts, perhaps.. My auto was right beside their Innova..and it was not difficult for me to see the awe on their faces coupled with horror at the way traffic moved here...
And they pretty much had the same expression till Rasoolpura cross roads where we parted ways...and that got me thinking. What is Brand Hyderabad? Over the years, Hyderabad has been called Cyberabad, IT hub, Green City (this no longer holds true) so on and so forth.
What has remained consistent in the past ten years is this tag "Drive in Hyderabad and You Can Drive Anywhere in the World". Over the years, the tag, once said sarcastically has now become a proud statement. Something that is said by many of us (Hyderabadis) matter-of-factly. And this is the tag that foreigners or our 'Athithis' carry along with them. And believe me they don't do it in a nice way.Nor do they laugh over it.
During the recent Telangana agitations, lot of people (Hyderabadis) expressed their angst that Hyderabad's branding has taken a beating ..But then this happens almost every year doesn't it? Doesn't brand Hyderabad's image take a beating when we drive without lane-sense, traffic sense and civic sense? Doesn't it take a beating when we scribble sweet nothings on our heritage structures or encroach them? Doesn't it take a beating when we pollute our lakes and dirty our surroundings? Where does the thought of Brand Hyderabad go then??
When Hyderabadis and Indians can in general desist from breaking traffic rules, littering etc when they are in other countries, what makes it so tough for them to follow the same here? I have heard many NRIs tell me that the rules need to be more stringent here. I don't think it is about rules and regulations. It has more to do with us, individually and common sense. When we go to France, UK, US, we are awestruck by their heritage, take photos, go gaga over the buildings etc and when it comes to our own country, we go "tch-tch, this government isn't worth anything" and believe me we say this for every government.
So, next time we go 'tch tch Brand Hyderabad is taking a beating' let us think what Brand Hyderabad is in the first place. Is it just an image for wooing investors or beyond that? And what are we doing in contributing (or not) to this Branding?
7 comments:
Well said da, hyderabad is branded in a very wrong sense.. VIP's go in special cars from shamshabad airport on the flyover or till hitech city on the outer ring road and feel its perfect but its the common man who suffers the traffic chaos.. There is a lot needed to be done to change attitudes of people, APEC has done a good job of starting the educational campaign, it will take a long time but i hope they succeed..
@paddy
true.... !! :( ... but nice article :)
@every1 else
Yo'all do your bit.... thats more than enough...!! Thankyou..!! :)
So true di... We can't talk about city's brand names unless we behave... Hyderabad is just one example of how Indian cities work...Being stuck in traffic has just become a way of life for us... we just adjust and call the government names... dats all we dont take initiative
Yeah... very aptly put... I guess you began rightly - "yem Maya Chesave" - Hyderabad.
Bad roads, bad traffic sense, bad civic conditions, lousy politicians, care-a-damn citizens, non-existent government, the so-called students who construe studying as stu + dying ... and then the Brand takes a beating...
... but come what may... Yeh Dil hai Hyderabadi
Yes yem maya chesave Hyderabad... addicted to the city and its culture...!
@ All: Thanks for ur comments :) let's do our bit in making apun ka Hyderabad a better place or namma Chennai too ;)
Guess we gotta start it and people will follow! Lets do it together..!
Good write padu!
I think when Indians go abroad, they 'behave themselves' because the surroundings are so clean that you just dont want to litter. One tends to keep them clean because, one, they are clean, and two, other people are doing the same. The proof to this premise is that most people are cleanliness conscious when they are in these posh malls..same reason.
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