Nightingale’s letters forgotten again?

HYDERABAD: The priceless literary trove that Hyderabad stumbled upon, bang in the middle of Monda market more than two months ago, seems to have ventured into forgotten territory yet again. The recovered documents which include correspondences between Sarojini Naidu, Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s wife Rattanbai Jinnah, old photos and a private album of Sarojini Naidu among other things still lie in 10-15 rusted, dilapidated almirahs.

Sources claim that works on the archive, which were initially supposed to begin in July itself, were delayed because of the extension of the tenure of State Archives and Research Institute (SARI) director Zareena Parveen. Parveen, who was set to retire in 2015, has had her tenure extended since then.

The other reason, sources say, is the ongoing bifurcation process of the archives, which also has been on the ropes from the time the State came into being. As of now, SARI has completed the segregation of documents and the documents that belong to AP would be handed over once the bifurcation formally takes place.

Speaking to Express, Zareena Parveen said, “We have sent a proposal of `3-4 lakh to the Chairman of the Sarojini Naidu Memorial Trust (SNMT), following the acceptance of which the works would start.” The SNMT, which is the original custodian of the documents, comes under the Endowments Department.

Parveen said that they need an open space for conducting the archiving process, and that they have made a mention of it in the proposal. SARI would also need a data operator for its digitisation, she said.The cataloging and segregation would take at least three-four months, and Parveen claims that it is a tough job. “Very few people like to dabble in dust,” she said.Sources say that after the completion of the process it would be housed in Golden Threshold.