Madhulika Choudhary, also referred to as the ‘Lady of Lakes’, joins us for our weekly feature on Hyderabad. She moved to the “City of Nizams” from Singapore and shares her affinity and love for the city.
Shraddha Neware
A bond fostered through extreme environmental concern and dedication, bloomed between Madhulika Choudhary and the heritage-rich city of Hyderabad. The formidable woman dedicated her life to preserving lakes in and around Hyderabad, earning her the title of ‘Lady of Lakes’!
Never having imagined living in Hyderabad, circumstances brought her to the cosmopolitan city. “I shifted to Hyderabad from Singapore, as my husband was working in Singapore back then. Hyderabad city seemed the closest to me. I had no friends or anyone back then in 2014, but now the whole Hyderabad is mine.”
She basically landed in Hyderabad on February 25, 2014. Well, that’s the exact day and she’s going to remember it forever. Going down her memory lane, she recalls her early years of teaching at The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India University, Dehradun (ICFAI). During this tenure, she recalls, “I was working as a Computer Engineering Professor in ICFAI, and I was quite impressed by the students from Hyderabad at the time, but had no plans to shift to Hyderabad at that point.”
Also the founder of Dhruvansh NGO, she works towards combating environmental concerns focused on lake pollution. “I started the Dhruvansh organisation with zero funding and zero identity. The name Dhruvansh means ‘to show you direction in extreme darkness’, but initially I was not clear on what exactly I had to do! However, people from Hyderabad including officers, politicians, and NGOs, directed me well. Now I have national level identify, and the credit goes to none other than Hyderabad.”
Born in Rajasthan and brought up in Jaipur, she’s an old soul who loves architecture, forts, and palaces. The Jaipur native shares, “Hyderabad and Jaipur have many similarities in terms of historical forts and palaces. I am a person who is fascinated by ruins, architecture, and things that cannot be explained by science. I have also taken my kids in extreme places of Golconda. Hyderabad is such a mysterious place to me, and I am always ready to explore more and more of the city. That is one of the reasons working on lakes, rocks, and step wells excite me. My hunger for exploration takes me to extreme areas and places. I am more of a Hyderabadi now, compared to those who were born here.”
Struggling with living alone, with her children, in unfamiliar surroundings, she created a home in this bustling city, earning a name and fame for herself because Hyderabad gave her a secure place.
She adds, “I keep on telling my kids how I used to give back to the boys who behaved unseemly towards me, while in Jaipur or Noida. But until now, I never had to face something like that in Hyderabad. And I was actually wowed by the bus conductors being women!”
Talking about having apprehensions for the city, she expressed that people may struggle with language and food depending on an individual, but she did not face much resistance In these regards. The differences between her hometown and this city are quite huge, but she also enlightens. “They are entirely different! From food, culture, language, size, and festivals, almost everything is different. I experienced the ‘Ganesh Nimajjanam’ for the first time in Hyderabad.”
She has many fond memories in HITEC City, and sharing one of them with us, she says, “My fondest memories of this place have to be relishing Hyderabadi tea at 4 in the morning, rescuing my first puppy, translocation of 80 trees by our organisation, and much more!”
Living without her family around, she has given her entire life to science. However, she shares, “My career took shape in Hyderabad. I broke many taboos in my life, including career taboos, and Hyderabad helped me break those trends. My lake understanding and sustainable restoration thought inputs, came from this city. Through officers’ guidance and support, I was able to create restoration in more attractive and reliable way.”
She enjoys her time working for the environment and has achieved many accolades in her field. But when she’s not on-field, she spends time with her family. For example, she shares, “My family is settled in Canada, but they often visit Hyderabad. I have taken them to every place of meaning here. Starting from Golconda fort, the Zoo, Birla Mandir, Snow World, Ramoji film city, Warangal fort, Neknampur lake, all the museums, everything.”
She has redefined what environment means to people of Hyderabad and faces these challenges head-on with a smile on her face. As she goes on to create history with her restorative efforts, she concludes, “Hyderabad is my ‘Karma bhoomi’. It’s a place that gave me identity and taught real life lessons. One thing which I do miss the most is Missi Roti. But, this city has made me who I am today, and I will proudly give my life to Hyderabad!”
