Binary Bonsai                        Surojeet's World

Far from Hilsa, but right at Home!

Go to any shopping mall, the Ryuthu Bazars or exhibitions and you are sure to rub shoulders with at least a few bengalis at a time. Fishmongers keep a diary of telephone numbers with them always. As soon as a fresh catch of hilsa hits the market, their Bengali customers get a call at home. So what has made them fall in love with the city of Hyderabad and, sometimes, turn their temporary abodes into homes? They find a bond between the Hyderabadi tehzeeb and the Kolkata hospitality.

About a century ago Aghornath Chatterjee, father of Sarojini Naidu, came here to teach at the Nizam College. Thus started the long association between the twin cities and Bengalis. But surely just these factors would not have drawn a few lakh homesick Bengalis to the City of Pearls. Then it must be the myriad job opportunities that are up for grabs here.
Besides IT, most Bengalis are associated with research, medicine and banking. Bengali craftsmen also dominate the city's gold business. Coupled with better job opportunities, the city is too good to resist.

Bengalis have deep roots in the city

The Bengali community is not new to Hyderabad. The Bengalis have been here ever since the days of the Nizams and also served them in high capacities.

Though there were extremely few Bengalis during the 1920s, they held high posts in the then governments. A few prominent among them are: Secretary of YMCA Hyderabad - Niranjan Shaw; a geologist of the Nizam State Service - Sachikant Mukherjee; accountant in the Improvement Trust, Hyderabad - Kishorimohan Ganguly; a professor of mathematics in Nizam College - Prof Amritlal Sil; professor of geology department at Osmania University - Prof B K Das; principal of Engineering School of Nizam State - Prof Lalitmohan Mukherjee and a CID in Nizam State police - Sushilkumar Banerjee.

Among the many other prominent Bengalis who served the Nizam administration were a radio engineer in 1936 who holds the credit for installing a radio station in Hyderabad - Saroj Datta, an artist and principal of Nizam Fine Arts College of Nizam - Vishwanath Mukherjee and chief accountant of Azamjahi Cotton Mills - B B Sengupta.

Today, the Bengalis number about four lakh and have made the city their home. Most of them have not gone to Bengal for years, as they feel much more at home, here in Hyderabad than they do in Bengal. The Bengalis are spread out in the city especially in clusters in Ameerpet, Begumpet, Secunderabad, Himayatnagar and Banjara Hills.

Culture@Hyderabad

Bengali Associations/Temples

• Hyderabad Kalibari, Vivekanandapuram, Sainikpuri PO, Secunderabad-94, 27115193
• Bharat Sevashram Sangha, Lower Tankbund, Hyderabad - 80, India, 27612284
• Ramakrishna Math, Domalguda, Hyderabad-29, India, 27627961

• Hyderabad Bengalee Samity, 178 RK Mutt Marg, Domalguda, Hyd-29, 27635920, 6580896
• Bangiya Sanskritik Sangha, 6-1-133/23, Brooke Bond Clny, Plot 23, Padmaraonagar Clny,

       Hyd-25, 27508298

• Uttarayan Club, 104 Gayatri Gardens, Dharam Karam Rd, Ameerpet, Hyd–16, 237332032

Durga Puja Pandals

• Bangiya Sanskritik Sangha-Keyes High School for Girls, Near Secuderabad Railway Station
• Hyderabad Bengalee Samity-Sree Ramakrishna Mutt Marg, Domalguda, Tank Bund
• Hyderabad Kalibari:  Vivekanandapuram, Sainikpuri
• Hyderabad Bengali Association: Masab tank, Banjara Func. Hall, Banjara hills, Rd no 1