UK envoy blown away by Hyderabad’s warmth, friendliness

British Deputy High Commissioner to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Dr Andrew Fleming, says the universal warmth and friendliness here has blown him away.

Hyderabad: This is one city that leaves an imprint on the mind, forever. If you aren’t convinced, ask British Deputy High Commissioner to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Dr Andrew Fleming, who says the universal warmth and friendliness here has blown him away.

“The very best thing about Hyderabad is the people. Indeed the people are always the best thing wherever I live; you make the effort to reach out and get some really good connections. However, in Hyderabad, the universal warmth and friendliness has blown me away,” says Dr Fleming, who via his Twitter handle, @Andrew007Uk, has been showing Hyderabadis many facets of their own city which they miss in the hurly-burly of life, right from heritage structures, stairways, and stepwells to its beautiful doors.

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“I like to go to new places but favourites in the city include the back lanes few visitors see (be they those of Banjara Hills or Charminar) and out of town, lots of places to walk around Osman Sagar,” says Dr Fleming, who is among the very few foreign diplomats in the city who enjoy a deep rapport with the public here. And that is why perhaps, his birthday earlier this week saw several Hyderabadis wishing him, some calling him ‘our very own Hyderabad storyteller’.

Pointing out that Hyderabad’s visibility on the global level had gone up in the last couple of years, Dr Fleming feels the future too is bright. “It is never easy to predict the future, but, Hyderabad has been voted the best city in India to live in each year since my arrival. There are many different reasons for this but one I like is that it is a very inclusive city and reminds me of my own city, London. It is also regarded as a safe city,” he says.

He has a few worries, though. “I do worry about the conflicts between necessary development and modernisation and preservation of the heritage which, to me, and from my experience of visiting more than 1,000 cities in 115 countries, is important. A city without its heritage is a city without its heart and whilst Hyderabad has an abundance of heritage buildings, a global brand of cuisine and the region, a diversity of arts, crafts and traditions, some aspects of the unique heritage of the city and region need attention,” he says, pointing out that the rocks of the Deccan Plateau, over two billion years old, were vanishing apace.

“On heritage buildings, I applaud works at a number of premium heritage sites including Qutb Shahi Tombs, Paigah Tombs, Old British Residency and so on, but worry about many other buildings around the city,” he adds. “Khursheed Jah Devdi, Sardar Mahal and the now anonymous house that was the birthplace of Janab Zakir Hussain, the third President of India in Begum Bazaar, are but three examples. We should invest more energy in educating the youth why heritage matters,” says Dr Fleming, who vows that though he might leave in 2022, he is sure he will always be an ambassador for Hyderabad.

 

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