In a city bitterly divided over the move to carve out a new state of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh and make it the joint capital, the tension is spilling over from political speeches and street protests to simpler things in life such as menu cards and restaurant names. Traditionally, the ‘meals ready’ sign outside restaurants in and around Hyderabad meant mouth-watering, spicy ‘Andhra’ food cooked in the coastal Andhra style. Not anymore.‘Andhra’ is now a sensitive word and people in Hyderabad are treading gingerly on the emotive issue. As the state teeters on the brink of being split, the famous ‘Andhra meal’ is running into competition from the ‘Telangana thali’, introduced in deference to pro-Telangana sentiments. What used to be ...

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