‘It’s time Telangana ghazal got the respect it deserves’

Hyderabad-based Himaja Ramam stands out among the vocalists who have been popularising Telangana ghazals since the State’s formation. through her powerful songs that talk about social issues, revolution and unique facets of Telangana, the young singer has carved a niche for herself in this lesser-known genre. Explaining what makes Telangana ghazal different from regular Telugu ghazals, Himaja says, “It’s not the Telangana dialect that makes these ghazals different.It’s the content of the songs. Through our ghazals, we discuss the State’s history, glory and its lesser-known stories,” adding, “Though Telugu ghazal has been around for long, not much effort was made to highlight the sentiments of the Telangana region. I am happy to be the voice that’s taking stories from the Telangana soil to listeners.”
While she is inspired by her mother Indira Bhairi, who is the first-ever female Telangana ghazal writer, it was legendary lyricist and poet C Narayana Reddy who initiated her into Telangana ghazals, says Himaja. “A few years ago, a compilation of my mother’s ghazals was unveiled by C Narayana Reddy at a cultural venue, which I happened to attend. I sang a few of my mom’s ghazals at the event. Narayana Reddy garu came up to me after that and said that I should take up the onus of popularising my mother’s ghazals by singing them, since I do such a good job of it. Though I used to sing at small cultural events back in my hometown Kothagudem, I had never taken singing seriously until that day. His words of encouragement inspired me to give music a shot,” she adds.
Talking about the hard work that went into becoming the professional that she is today, Himaja says, “I had to work really hard to understand the nuances of ghazals — the shers, maktas, takallus etc. The more I read and sang the ghazals, the more I fell in love with the wordplay. My mother verses, such as ‘Kadupu ninda palu jillala kanna talli telangana, balidanapu tangedai poosindile Telangana...’ (Telangana, the mother of many districts is a tangedai flower that blossomed thanks to so many sacrifices...) or ‘Nithyam kothaga brathakalante sutrame panduga, anandaniki andaru chadive slokame panduga’ (Celebration is the secret code that lets you live life anew; celebration is the hymn you sing to live joyfully) give me the motivation to surge ahead. My counterparts, Srikantha Chari and Kothakapu Swaroopa Rani, have been pillars of support.”
However, the journey so far has been anything but easy, says the Kothagudem-born singer. In the initial days, criticism was aplenty. A few learned lyricists and litterateurs even ridiculed her endeavour, alleging that a Telangana flavour to the ghazal format didn’t make sense. “This is not something I’ve invented myself. I just
followed the footsteps of veterans such as C Narayana Reddy, who widened the scope of ghazals, which aren’t about just romance and longing since a long time now. Our ghazals are about societal enlightenment. That’s why people like it. Sadly, many don’t give it the importance it deserves even today,” she says, adding, “There is a need to document the history of ghazals in regional languages. that will hopefully get Telangana’s literary fraternity more interested in the genre.”
Himaja hopes to use ghazals to get youngsters interested in Telangana’s history. “The Telangana ghazal is a very interesting way to introduce history to children. it’s sad that not many know about Telangana sayudha poratam, Komaram Bheem and Chakali Ailamma. Thankfully, the government is now doing a lot of work to reintroduce Dasaradhi and Kaloji to youngsters. my mother’s ghazals too have often been part of the events commemorating their birth anniversaries,” she reveals.
So, did she ever think of writing ghazals herself? “Not yet. Though I consider myself a budding poet and keep myself updated with many forms of literature, I am yet to mature as a writer. This is only a beginning though. There is a long way to go, a lot to learn and so much to achieve,” she says, signing off.