The books are numbered and read. The house of the late Vasant Bawa and his wife Oudesh Rani Bawa on Road No. 12, Banjara Hills, is filled with books, which are now going to be moved to the Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU).
“The books need to be read and used by researchers. Here, they are gathering dust and I would like them to be of some use for the next generation,” says Ms. Oudesh, who called up the MANUU officials to take the books.
Inside the house that has a faint smell of vintage books, there are shelves full of them, including some rare first edition copies, maps, manuscripts, and fascimile copies of books that Mr. Bawa called up a librarian at the Nehru Memorial Museum Library to send them over. The fascimile copies, some neatly bound, some still with primitive binding are also part of the collection. Among the books is a Bhagwad Gita in Hindi, written in Urdu script, by Ms. Oudesh’s maternal great great-grandfather Bhupat Rai. There are also trove of material on Latin America as Mr. Bawa researched and wrote extensively on the subject.
“We wanted this to be a full-fledged resource centre for researchers. Attached to this room is an apartment where a person can even stay while doing research. There have been many researchers who fashioned their work here,” says Ms. Oudesh.
Among the earliest researchers was Karen Leonard, who wrote “Social History of An Indian Caste” that dealt with the Kayasth community and its growth in Hyderabad during Nizam’s rule. “Karen donated a part of her research documents to us. This will also move to MANUU,” she says.
The maps are part of the collection from a time when Mr. Bawa in his role at the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority planned precincts and zones so that the city’s historical character is not lost. The three stints Mr. Bawa had at the State Archives helped him after he retired voluntarily in 1980.
Among the books Mr. Bawa wrote is “The Last Nizam – The Life and Times of Mir Osman Ali Khan”, which is considered an authoritative history as it jettisoned palace gossip and instead used archival material. “Latin America – An Introduction” is in a different league as it can serve as a primer for understanding the history of the continent.
“When I began helping him in his research due to my knowledge of Urdu, Telugu and Russian, I realised that the collection was disorganised. He was focused on the subject but the books were scattered all around,” says Ms. Oudesh, who shaped the library into what it is today after the couple got married in 1992.
“I was not keen as he was 60 and I was 50. I set three conditions: I will not leave the Communist Party, I will not quit my job and I will not be following any religion. He agreed,” says Ms. Bawa.
As MANUU’s library acquires this collection, a cherished memory of Hyderabad will get a place that hopefully lasts for posterity.
