Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

Rock of Ages

Residents of the Nizam’s city learn to value their monolithic heritage

By Amarnath K. Menon

The Deccan Plateau, that vast expanse of peninsular India south of the Vindhyas composed mostly of grey granite, is among the oldest and hardest rock formations in the world. There are few who care for it as Frauke Quader does. More specifically, care for the plateau in and around Hyderabad. Quader, who has made Hyderabad her home, developed an interest in rock formations while with the German Foreign Office in Bonn, Brussels and then in Delhi. The German woman has single-handedly forged a citizens alliance for preserving the fascinating rock forms that dot Hyderabad and its outskirts. Bringing together diverse sections of the city, Quader started the Society To Save Rocks (STSR) which till date has made the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA) declare nine such formations in and around the city as protected “natural heritage” sites.

Quader and the STSR have charted a rocky route trying to get citizens backing and official support after blasting and bulldozing of rock formations to make way for houses and for granite quarrying started picking up in the mid ’80s. In 1992 she got artist Laxma Goud, then a member of the Arts Commission of HUDA, and photographer Moyed Hasan to portray the stunning formations on canvas and in print. While some like Mushroom Rock on the University of Hyderabad campus had a name, they christened others Bear’s Nose, Cliff Rock, Monster Rock, Toadstool Rock, Obelisk, etc, depending on their shapes before putting the paintings and photographs on show. “Exhibitions highlighting the formations helped build sensitivity about their value and beauty,” recalls Quader, who moved into the city with her Hyderbadi husband, an engineer-turned-homoeopath, back in 1975. (ఇంకా…)