Azhar and triple-ton record
In the 140-odd years of Test cricket, only 114 cricketers have scored centuries on debut. Among them is Mohammed Azharuddin, the boy from Kumarwaid, who holds the record of scoring a century on debut and following it with successive tons with his wristy fireworks in 1984-85 against England
Bridge linking kingdom to port
Purana Pul, the bridge that connected Golconda to the yet-to-be-created city of Hyderabad, was built in 1576. It was among the first all-weather road that connected the rich kingdom with the fertile deltaic region and the port of Machilipatnam or, as it was known then, Masulipatam.
Railway station named after a queen
The Jankampet railway station on the Kachiguda-Manmad line is named after Rani Chilam Janaki Bai. The queen of Siranapalli samasthan was the prime mover for setting up of three railway stations in the region which was surveyed by Cyril Jones of Nizam’s State Railways.
Mainstreaming Dakhani language
Hyderabad Blues was among the first movies that spotlighted the NRI quandary and mainstreamed Dakhani that is spoken in Hyderabad. While Hindi comedian Mehmood spoke Dakhani, it was the Bangalore variant. It required Elahe Heptoola and Nagesh Kukunoon to reclaim the territory.
100 years of OU site plan
The area in which Osmania University came up was once the jagir of Mah Laqa Bai Chanda, the danseuse-poet during Nizam Ali Khan’s reign. Interestingly, 2023 marks 100 years of the plan submitted by Patrick Geddes, choosing the location instead of two other alternatives suggested to him.
(Contributed by Serish Nanisetti)
