The Haj House resembles a mini aerodrome with all the functions of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport being carried out here.Haj House,Nampally.(Photo| EPS)

Want to get a glimpse of the airport in the heart of the city? Just drop in at the Haj House, Nampally. You will find some wheeling baggage trolleys, a few getting their luggage scanned and strapped and some clutching their passports and boarding passes. As one proceeds further into the main building, one can find Customs, Immigration and Foreign Exchange counters.

There is a beehive of activity out here. The Haj House resembles a mini aerodrome with all the functions of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport being carried out here. Pilgrims embarking on Haj pilgrimage never had it so easy. The Telangana State Haj Committee (TSHC) is taking care of every travel need of pilgrims flying out from the Hyderabad embarkation point.

Once pilgrims arrive at the Haj House they are as good as in the airport. They just have to pick up their passports and boarding passes and zoom away after reaching the airport. The entire 11-storeyed edifice is security-sanitised with police and surveillance cameras.

A total of 7,273 pilgrims, including 4,390 from Telangana, 1,726 from AP and the rest from Karnataka are proceeding to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia through 25 chartered flights till August 15. With two to three flights scheduled every day, the Haj House is literally bursting at the seams with nearly 1,000 persons, including pilgrims, volunteers and officers of various departments present at any given time.


“With the cooperation of all departments, we are able to manage. Telangana has the credit of being the number one state in handling the affairs in a smooth way”, says Prof SA Shukoor, Special Officer, TSHC.

J.S.Ifthekhar,

Hyderabad based journalist.

Article published in The New Indian Express

Dated August 4,2018

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Time was when palming off a khota sikka (disfigured coin) at the local provisional store was considered a big fraud. Not many dared to indulge in such tricks and the few who succeeded in befooling the kirana store guy bragged about their feat as though they had pulled off the great gold heist .Those were the days when a teacher reprimanded a student, the latter wouldn’t tell it to his father lest he gets an earful at home too. When a quarrel breaks out nobody would badmouth each other—forget taking out weapons. “I will complain to your father ...” was enough to make the warring guy come to his senses.

No, I am not referring to tales from a moral book. Such things really happened and people in their 60s will vouchsafe for it. Of course these things sound unbelievable today. Reason: We have moved far away from the good old days.Not that everyone was a saint in the days bygone. There were black sheep too as is the case in every age. But even they were shareef badmash, to use the euphemism, and would go this far and no further. None dared cross the Lakshman Rekha.

Today the moral degradation has crept through the communities. No one is safe, only the degree of erosion differs. The other day when I was bemoaning the state of affairs, my friend remarked, “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” His words kept rankling in my mind. Have we really spoiled the children blinded by their love? Not chiding them when they erred, looking the other way when they disrespected values and customs. Questioning traditions is not moral degradation, some argue. Perhaps it is the young people’s way of judging what is acceptable to them. But can anyone deny what a stitch in time can do.

Where have things gone wrong? We have a rich ethos and tradition, such wonderful religious teachings. Yet there is moral degradation. People cheat each other with impunity. In the mad rush to get rich quick, religion and ethics are given a short shrift. Is the present education system with its stress on garnering material benefits to blame? Have the parents failed in bringing up children the right way? Or is the entertainment industry responsible for the moral decadence?

Such is the public apathy that recently when three bike-borne friends met with an accident in Rajasthan, onlookers were seen clicking selfies and making videos but none came forward to help the injured. That’s the painful reality. The ethical glue that holds the society is coming unstuck.

J.S.Ifthekhar,

Hyderabad based journalist.

Article published in The New Indian Express

Dated August 4,2018

Read More