Hyderabad: Nanakramguda is a confluence of the hi-tech life led by non-locals and the reminiscences of erstwhile farmers and landlords. Older residents of Nanakramguda often sit at a dabha and discuss how the place has been transformed from agriculture land to high-rise buildings owned by bigwigs. The very spot on which the dabha stands was once farmland. An aggregation of several such lands is now known as the Financial District in Nanakramguda.
Locals say that the area was named by Banwar Lal Diddi and Heera Lal Diddi after their grandfather Nanakram, but there is no documented evidence of this. The land was purchased from the Nizams by the descendants of Nanakram. When the area was developed, land was bought by actors and other celebrities.
For 75-year-old Rajaiah Goud, who used to grow jowar and vegetables on this land, “this place is no more the place it used to be years ago. Not even a trace of the legacy of the village is left and part of it has transformed into a slum. We never thought such big buildings would come here. I thought my sons would be farming my land, but instead they sell mineral water. People here like to buy bottled water and it is a good business for them.”
While many of the original inhabitants have left and gone elsewhere, some have decided to stay on. Some are hoping that their children will find work in the high-rise buildings.
Seven generations of Muthyam Reddy’s family have lived in Nanakram-guda. He says that many of the old residents had hoped to get work in the tech companies that have come up here, but “not many original residents work in these IT companies.” He says they did not have the education and could not make the transition from farming to office work. “But now most of their kids are studying engineering and plan to work in one of these big companies and stay close to home.”
Sadananda Reddy, another old resident of the area, says, “My land is vacant due to a CBI case. They don’t let me cultivate crops nor do they allow me to construct a building. My son now owns a mobile shop and at the age of 35 has already got a heart problem. The kind of environment we are living in is not the kind in which I was brought up. People fall sick quickly. .”
Former University of Hyderabad professor Aloka Parasher Sen who has documented the history of the financial district said, “Some of them made a lot of money and could build a three-storey building. The life of the lower-strata has changed significantly. During the 1980s some of the weaker sections were not allowed into the temple, but now these people are able to make a decent buck. Dhobis and scrap dealers claim that there have more customers, but the Reddys and Patels are not very content with the changes.”
She says a toddy worker told her that due to the water pollution he is unable to cultivate fine quality toddy, which is impacting their lives. “People are apprehensive of celebrating Bathukamma due to so much traffic,” Prof Sen said.
In her study Prof Sen found that even though this was once an agricultural village belonging to Manikonda Zamindari, about half of the population is migrants from the Nizam era and some Lodha Khatri from UP.
