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With a population of about 5.2 million (1991 Census:
4,280,261), and with Chandrababu Naidu at
the helm of state governance, the city buzzes
with activity.
Linguistically, Andhra Pradesh is a Telugu
State, and Telugu, spoken by the majority,
is the state's official language. As it happens
with all other languages, Telugu acquires different
intonations in different regions. Thus, besides
the pure Telugu spoken in places like Vijayawada
and Guntur, there is the coastal Telugu
of the coastal region, the 'border' Telugu like
that in Nellore which is significantly influenced
by the neighbouring state's language, and the
Telangana Telugu spoken in Hyderabad and surrounding
Telangana region.
In Hyderabad, Urdu enjoys a special
prominence. During the Nizam's rule, Urdu was
the language of the administration, the judiciary
and educational establishment. As such, many from
the earlier generation are well versed in it.
However, more than Urdu, it is the Deccani language
that is the people's language. It is a practical
blend of Hindi, Urdu and other local languages
including Marathi and Kannada, and has a typical
Hyderabadi flavour. Just a sentence or two of
Deccani and you know that the person using it
is a Hyderabadi.
As the erstwhile State of Hyderabad also had
large areas where people spoke Kannada and Marathi,
these two languages are spoken by considerable
sections of Hyderabad's population. The other
languages widely spoken here are English, Hindi,
Tamil, Malayalam, etc. The beauty of the city
lies in its unique Deccani zaban, Telugu hospitality
and historic edifices, that represent the elegance
of Hyderabad. It is also reflected in the typical
Hyderabadi tehzeeb (behaviour) and universal camaraderie.
An additional feature of today's Hyderabad is
the fast paced, IT-savvy life style of the modern
generation.
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4:50:58 PM 
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