Deccan (Dakhan) hai Nageena, Angoothi hain Jag, Angoothi ko hamesha nageene se lag
My poor translation of the above reads as follows:
The Deccan is a jewel and the world is a ring, the Jewel is invaluable to the Ring!
(Old Hyderabad couplet)
Former ITC Hotels veteran
Born of privilege in a large prosperous family of mixed parentage, a Deccani mother and a father from the frontier province, Mr Rehman was a prodigious man of greatness. He was a very proud Hyderabadi, a city which then was, and perhaps still is, the microcosm of India.
Life was simpler, he would state. His gang of merry young men would combine education with sports, musical concerts, and natty dressing with mushairas.
One of their gang members was a trained Gazhal singer, Vithal Rao, who later would become fairly popular.
But above else the mainstay of the leisurely lifestyle of the Deccan was the variety and vibrancy of its cuisine. Blessed with a mild climate (yes, two months are warmer with the days radiating heat from the scenic rocks, but the evenings are cool, thanks to the abundance of lakes), the bounty of its soil produces an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as game, poultry and fish.
Mr Rehman very eloquently would state; “In many ways, the history of Hyderabad is the history of the cuisines, fragrances, fabrics and architectural styles that came with various waves of dynasties that ruled over the Deccan, the Kakatiyas, Qutb Shahi, Asif Jahi and the independent kingdoms run by local Rajas called Samasthans (perhaps a mirror image of maharajas elsewhere). These were so seamlessly adapted into the indigenous culture and practices that their origins are often forgotten or mindfully overlooked.”
The markets were also transformed by the dietary needs of these cross-cultural communities. A variety of Central Asian fruits like yellow plums, melons, grapes of different kinds, and dry fruits such as almonds, pistachios and raisins were imported from Bukhara. The sweetest yellow melons were cut into strips, dried and packaged to be sold in Hyderabad. A bewildering variety of meats, fish and birds like chicken, waterfowl, pheasant, partridge, quail and button quail were also available. The fundamental difference that emerged in the marketplaces in the Deccan Sultanate was the opening of catering shops or dukanan-itabbakhan where cooked food was sold.
Locals were not used to buying cooked food, whereas visiting travellers, itinerant traders and warriors had no religious inhibitions about it. So, restaurants selling baked bread and meats became commonplace in the market squares. Therefore, it is not surprising that all the old markets Charminar, Abid’s, Basheer Bagh, Himayat Nagar etc. are much-visited food streets of the city.
The impact of these diverse cuisines on food habits especially in Hyderabad was a lasting one. The Deccan sultanate traditions emphasised communal dining as opposed to Indian traditions where meals were closed exclusive affairs.
The Sultans of Deccan patronised large kitchens where food was cooked for hundreds of people. They also appear to have been rather fond of organising lavish meals on occasions like Id, Shab-ibaraat, and Nauroz, also called Jashn-e-bahaar, Ugadi and Diwali. It was cooked by expert matbakhyans or cooks under the guidance of specialised chashnigirs or tasters and eventually institutionalised as a position called Mir Bakawal, the Head of the Kitchen and Food Safety- (later replicated at ITC Hotels Microbiology labs)
The banquets usually began with the serving of refreshing sherbats made of fruit juices and sugar candy. This was followed by several kinds of preparations of meats roasted or gravies, rice, cooked as qubuli (Cloved, vegetable /lentils and Desi Ghee infused Rice), Khushka (Plain Rice Salted) Kacchi Biryani (Layered Curried and Rice on Dum), Pilaf (Rice cooked in Yakhni) Khichdi (Rice cooked with Lentils and Vegetables) mutanzan (sweetened rice), breads like Tara Naan (leavened flatbread) bakharkhani.
Hyderabadi food he stated was categorised like so.
- Bhagara khana (tempered)
- Nizami or Farmaushi (Royal) like shikhampur kebab, pasanda
- Barkas (barracks). Food for soldiers like Chakhna, Haleem, Haris, etc
- Pingle Reddy or Telangana cuisine like gonkura mutton, fish curry
- Sweets like badam jali, double ka meetha and more.
- Dum ka khana, like dum ka murgh, dum ki biryani
Eating was a ritual like everything in Hyderabad. Mushkab (pyalas were used rather than plates).
It was this composite culture that perhaps reflected in his work over time. The builder in him, the leader in him, his integrity and a man of his word, I do not need to elaborate on his legacy, that is been written about often.
Our idea is to express his thinking on how his life panned out neatly and precisely. His detailing in engaging with product, people, processes, room and time segmentation, cuisine dominance, sustainability, product differentiation and above all else his love of country, company and culture.
I once called him (bravely) a man of war and peace.
The short answer is that he was a stern man and yet compassionate. Biographical essays often express fact and fiction, as contradictory terms but the deeper and more interesting answer is — that writers do not give us the whole truth about what happened in the workplace or anywhere else for that matter. They give us only their particular slant on what happened, distorted by their prejudices, interpretations, and fantasies. The writer is, then, much more akin to a creative writer than a factual one. I have been as honest as possible to my professional and to my personal memory of Mr Rehman, which I shall always cherish in the resonance of his greatness.
In tribute, I can only sign off in the thought:
Jiski khushboo se mehek utthe fizza, jiski rangat se bhi aa jaye maza, ho nafees aur lazeez har luqma, zaiqa iska ho har ek se juda, khaa ke ho jaye khush jo mehman, hum bechaate hain wahi habibia dastarkhwan!
The aroma of which pervades the air, A sight, which adds to its flavour, Aesthetic and appetizing in every morsel, with a taste unmatched and unique, Prepared just to please our guest, is the meal /That we serve at our HABIA table.
