Mohammad-bin-tughlaq and first theatricals

Over the week end, had a chance of using HBad's local rails.
Just for the heck of it got down at the HI-TEX station. Both the things,
the local as well as the station is BIG. Part of the majestic vision Naidu had.
Either it was an effort to start the city on the right footing to be the next
IT hub, steal and surpass the grandeur of Bangalore, a dream about a world-class
metropolis equal to the Londons and Parises and Tokyos; Or it was just
extravagance of NTR. Only extended in a totally different direction: from the
grassroots poor to the middle-middle and upper-middle classes.

There can only be a direct comparison with mohommad-bin-Tughlaq. The sprawling parking lot and the station at the HI-TEX in the eerie wilderness of the rocks of the deccan plateau look very much similar to the ruins of Daulatabad.

Tughlaq dreamt completely different strategies: introducing common currency (copper instead of god+silver), move to the center of the kingdom (From Delhi to Daulatabad near Aurangabad). While these strategies were a master stroke in the respective domains of state finance and state safety + administration, they were way before their times, too revolutionary; hence total failures.

Now I see the parking-lot and the station and I am distinctly reminded of the scene where Tughlaq is looking at his precious rose-garden destroyed by the copper coins he tried to introduce and had to take back.

May be I am wrong, may be the future will need this infrastructure and it will remain un-vandalized till then.

Like everybody else, I was introduced to Tughlaq by the play by Girish Karnad.

Speaking of theatre, I had my first tiff with the theatre at HBad this week end.
There was some dance-drama performance in Shilpa-Kala-wedike (Another example of the grandiose vision: a sprawling complex, enough to seat ~2000 people OR more, huge stage, fantastic acoustics). The performance was “Stories from Panch-Tantra”.

The execution was fantastic. The sets were designed intelligently and the dances were breath taking.

The theatre (I would rather call it a stadium) was full. We(7 of us: me, wifey,cousin, in laws, sis and her hubby) made it without even buying a single ticket. Will tell more about the entry sometime later.
As as old-timers may remember, if I gatecrash any party, it is always a tremendous success (Remember the cricket-match) ….