Golconda Fort

The fact that I've witnessed the light and sound show at the Golconda fort countless number of times and that I'm never able to decline visiting the place, I reckon, is proof enough of my fascination with it all! That I couldn't visit there for the last couple of years is entirely another story...

I got lucky once more, however, when my friend decided an outing for us on a balmy Sunday evening, and and we found ourselves headed to Golconda Fort! Once there, we climbed right up from the 'Bala Hissar Gate', to the summit of the fort--to Bala Hissar, the baradari as it is called, and the darbar hall or deewan-e-khaas (where the king held his private courts) passing by the 'aslah khana' (armoury), the offices of 'akanna-madanna' (the two officers of the court) the palaces, the mosques, the Mahakali temple from the times of the Kakatiyas, with frescoes of Godesses Kali and Durga, 'Ram Mandir' (a prison house of Ram Das, a revenue official jailed by Abul Hasan Tana Shah for misusing state funds, who carved images of Rama, Lakshman and Hanuman on the rock surface in the cell.) among others, on the way. The journey up the 380 steps was also a journey down the memory lane! I reveled in each moment there, and relived my associations with the place.

A descent down steep narrow steps brought us from the Bala Hisar to the zenana quarters 'Rani Mahal' palaces that are built on massive platforms, have high ceilings, and walls covered with decorative niches, alcoves and cornices, essentially Persian in design. Our tour of the Fort culminated in the main Rani Mahal courtyard, and my visit to the Fort in the light and sound show that completes our journey into the past glory of Golconda! This courtyard of the Rani Mahal area, adorned with an ornate metal fountain in the center, hosts the famous light and sound show, that commences with the beautiful Ghazal rendered by Jagjit Singh, and features the breathtaking baritone of Amitabh Bachan, that add manifold to the beauty of the show and to the glory that was!

Ek Gulshan Tha...

A rant...

More than a year! Ya, one year and a quarter since I came here and wrote...surprised?! Not me...it's been more than two years since I 'traveled!' More than two years! Can you beat this! You'd think I've given up eh? Never! Never would! Just on the hold...waiting...And what about the rarings and the longings? Well, they put up the best they could...ya, for very long...even bringing in the pinings and whinings. But how long could they hold on to the fortress...they had to give in, and they did! 'Accepting' what seemed like their 'command'...so it seemed. But did they really? Nope! Aren't they still waiting to raise a hood at the first instance? Sure are! There's this whimper from here or a whine from there, every now and then...that subsides of its own...thankfully! They've gotten used to it--the placidity of it all, and the giving up! Why whine then, you'd ask...And why not?! I'd say...two years is a very long time! And it's been more than two, to be precise, and, there's yet no end visible...yet no end to it all!

Ah!! the ordeal! There! There we go again! The whimper yet again!