Innovative graphic novel chronicles Golconda fort's past glory

Highlighting the past glory of the historic Golconda fort and the people who ruled the region from this majestic place, a former IT company employee has come out with a new graphic non-fiction on this 16 century monument that lies on the western outskirts of the city.
Nikhil Gulati, who did his MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad and quit his job to pursue his passion of writing, has authored 'Shepherd's Hill--the rise and fall of Golconda' that promises to take the readers back in time.
In the book, the narrator explains about the history of the monument by taking a stroll along the colossal stonewalls of the fort bringing back visions of an era bygone.

"I have been in short fiction stories. This (graphic novel on Golconda) is my first attempt at historical non-fiction," says Nikhil.
The novel uses literature, tour guides as well as old paintings for historical and visual accuracy.
The 32-year-old, who has always been interested in history, said, "We have thousands of years of history of monuments being built. Unfortunately, when we go to these monuments, a lot of times they look pretty, but we don't know what happened here, why it was built, why it is important and why should we be proud of this heritage that we have."

It was in 2013, while in IIM Ahmedabad, the idea of writing graphic novels appealed to Nikhil, he said.

"Drawing had been a childhood interest and I took it up and started practising. Last year, I quit my job here and now I am devoting my whole time to this (graphic novel). I thought, since history is my interest and passion, why not write about something that's very close to my workplace and Golconda (fort) was there. Golconda is one of the impressive forts in India.
"So, I decided to write this graphic novel and the way I have written it is as if a narrator or a guide is taking the reader around the fort. But the power of comics/graphic novel medium is that I can show visually what somebody wants to explain. A guide can explain you something but I can actually show it," he said.

There are scenes in the book which show how Golconda looks today and on next page how the fort might have been earlier. This helps one visualise how life was in the past.
The novel talks about the siege by Aurangzeb and Gulati has used old paintings to depict the attire of the people in those days, what actually happened and there are accompanying texts.
"Then I show when the fort started under the Kakatiyas. I explain what the Kakatiyas did...How this region became so rich because this was a barren area 1,000 years ago," he said.