inXights

Hyderabad rising

“Hyderabad is a unique amalgamation of rich culture, tradition, entrepreneurship, most expensive real estate, and growth opportunities,” explains Vanaja Banagiri, editor of Made in Hyderabad: Amazing Stories of 25 Startup Entrepreneurs.

Hyderabad is a 434 year-old city, and capital of India’s youngest state of Telangana. “The official language Telugu is 4,500 years old. Hyderabad is the 14th fastest growing city in the world, which places Brand Hyderabad in a unique position,” she adds

“Hyderabad has a unique geographical advantage and its entrepreneurs are edgy and risk-taking. T-Hub has been incubating some of the best projects,” she observes.

Dinesh Sharma, author of Beyond Biryani: The Making of a Globalised Hyderabad, identifies three key success factors for Hyderabad to maintain its brand positioning. 

“All the conventional factors that go into the making of a technology hub apply to Hyderabad – a strong base of manufacturing and public sector, the availability of a pool of technical manpower, steady flow of young graduates from higher technical education institutions, robust social infrastructure, and supportive public policies,” he describes. 

In addition, the brand Hyderabad has benefited from continuity in political support to the technology sector, in particular, and policies of economic liberalisation, in general. “This is despite having three parties rule the state in the past four decades: Telugu Desam, Congress and BRS,” Dinesh says. The bifurcation of United AP in 2014 has also helped. 

“The second key factor is the assimilative, tolerant, multi-lingual and multi-religious culture of Hyderabad. The third one is the favourable geographical location of the city – to use the cliché, it is the North of South India and the South of North India,” Dinesh says.

The life of books

The authors at HBLF also share insights on how their books are being received by audiences, and ways in which digital media is amplifying their voice. 

“My book has been well received. I think people were able to relate to the stories in the book. People liked that fact that it was easy to read and even the nuanced ideas were explained simply,” explains Bhagwan Chowdhry, co-author of Fintech for Billions: Simple, Human, Ubiquitous. 

One critic wrote that he would have liked to see more calculations and numbers behind the stories, Bhagwan adds.

“My book has been received very well in the sense that people have seen the resonance of what I say with their own experiences. It has put a conceptual evidence-based frame around the anecdotal,” explains Rama Bijapurkar, author of a series of bestsellers including Lilliput Land. How Small is Driving India's Mega Consumption Story. 

She finds it even more heartening that the book has helped frame a more nuanced debate on India’s consumption story. “These include a variety of constituencies like business, economists, sociologists, and others, and that’s always encouraging,” she adds. 

“My book on Hyderabad has been received very well, perhaps beyond my expectations. City biographies are typically focused on political, social, business, and cultural aspects. The books written on Hyderabad so far were no exception, and there have been only a handful of them,” Dinesh Sharma observes. He decided to look at Hyderabad’s journey through the prism of science and technology. “I felt that this is what defines the city’s identity in the 21st century. This story is intertwined with politics, policies, people and culture – and this is the aspect that has been appreciated,” he explains.

People have appreciated several micro-histories which have been told for the first time. “From the point of view of my journey as an author, it is an extension of my work on the history of the IT industry, though the Hyderabad story is not just about IT,” Dinesh says. 

“Digital media has certainly helped the book reach a wider audience, but trying to transform the stories into digital formats has not happened,” he adds. 

He has sold the options of his IT book, The Outsourcer: The Story of India’s IT Revolution (MIT Press) for adaptation into a web series. “It is in a preliminary stage, though. Hopefully, some producers will pick up the Hyderabad book too,” Dinesh says. 

“My latest book has been received very well across India. I have had book launches in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and now in Hyderabad. The book review has appeared in all the leading newspapers and magazines, and leading opinion leaders like Harish Bhat and Shiv Shivakumar have endorsed the book wholeheartedly,” says Ambi Parameshwaran, author of Marketing Mixology: Four Essential Ingredients for Marketing Success. 

One feedback he received is that he could have included a few more topics like Pricing, Go To Market, and Digital Marketing. “Unfortunately, the book’s scope meant that it had to be of a particular size and shape. The book is meant for newcomers to marketing but what has been surprising is that many marketing veterans have found the book a breezy useful read,” he explains.

The book is aimed at young entrepreneurs, students and executives who are interested in learning about marketing. “They can do that by investing less than two hours. I do hope the book will make the field of marketing attractive for todays’ young Indians who are all chasing the IT dream,” Ambi signs off.