I like it when people are looking out for me. I've been truly blessed here in this "Vale of Sorrow" to have so many wonderful friends, dear fraternity brothers and terrific in-laws. I know that they really care, and that is comforting. I'm not sure how I feel about them WORRYING about me!! Anybody who follows world events knows that the political situation in Hyderabad is - - well, a bit "unsettled" right now. What people need to understand is...politics here in the U.S. is a game of tiddlywinks compared to how things are settled in India. "As it was in the beginning...is now, and ever shall be." The situation is simply that one group of people have been asking for a seperate state: "Telangana" - - which would be carved out of the very center of the current state of Andhra Pradesh, of which Hyderabad is in the dead center.
Those who support a seperate Telangana state say that "the demand for a separate state of Telangana isn't new. Telanganites have very clearly expressed their opposition a decade before Andhra Pradesh was formed. They reasoned that in a united Andhra Pradesh they will not get justice. Even after five decades, this demand is continuing."
Seperating out a Telangana state would be like Southern California and Northern California drawing a line at about Fresno and being divided into two states. And, honestly, some of the issues here are identical with those we will find in Telangana and Andrha Pradesh. Sure, it's political...but, according to proponents, 45% of the AP state income comes from the Telangana region. However, they say, when it comes to utilization of funds, the share of Telangana is only 28%. It is also about water rights and useage and proper use of the water from the region's two main rivers. Much like NoCal and SoCal!
Of course, where we Americans might paint some picket-signs, stage noisy protests, go to tea-parties and town-hall meetings to make ourselves heard...some in the Telangana movement have committed suicide by immolation...and one prominent politician went on a hunger strike. In India, politics could be described as a "full-contact sport".
The most recent unrest has been in the Old City...and it is true that there have been curfews in force in about ten different neighborhoods...including Hyderabad's largest outdoor market of Begum Bazar. Things have calmed a bit. My best friend in the world, Andy Murray, told me to buy a Kevlar vest.
Am I scared? Is Amy? Not really. We really feel called to do this move. We would not have gotten this far if we weren't. Heck, there are areas not far from where we live now that I wouldn't go into after dark. Hyderabad is a huge city of 4-million people...the majority of which are peaceful, law-abiding citizens.
Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and order will be restored.
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