Tried poetry with the city my lips hasten to spell as naturally as one does breathing, the city on whose name my heart races at lightning speed — Hyderabad.

Golconda was impregnated with blokes
Of Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Christians,
Of Sikhs, Jews, Jains, Buddhists
Days, weeks, months, years,
Morning and evening
Golconda was brimming with hordes;
She reached a crescendo, for confinement,
Bhagnagar born from the womb of Golconda
Like a butterfly from a caterpillar.

The neonate was feted with fanfare
Bhagnagar is gleaming in her gay prime
Flushed she was with florets of
Lilies, Roses, Lotuses
Daisies, Freesias, Gardenias
Cyclamens, Jasmines, Daffodils
The sight was sound to eyes
And music to ears; she was a sinuous beauty
Her smile unbeknownst to earth
Her coruscating eyes dashing in all directions
Her soul redolent of Islamic Heaven.

The clepe Bhagnagar forded through
The walls of Golconda dinned with her name
A hush deep as sky fell in the fort;
Discordance took its shape and danced
Like tempest on a silent Ocean
Lashed by tides obstreperously,
Between Quli and his sire on a Hindu name
Like a river to ocean Quli acceded
Scratching his pate scrambled for words
That tongue doth not betray the glossary of Islam
Performed the ritual of transliteration
And rechristened the city to Hyderabad.