“Ameerpet is like an IIT for students coming from poor or socially and economically backward families. For various reasons, they may have not become software engineers but 60 per cent of these students aspire to go to the US. How far they are successful and how they manage it, no one knows,” says an instructor with Mind On Demand Solutions.

In fact, the legend of Ameerpet travelled through Andhra Pradesh with numerous stories of poor farmers selling family jewellery for a son to do a course here and then migrate to the US. While some reputed institutes are located in Maitrivanam, the high-rise building of the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority, others are in the adjacent Nilgiri, Annapurna and Aditya Enclave. The rest are all squeezed in residential apartments, congested shopping complexes and bungalows that have been rented out by owners.

Every inch of space on the main street is taken over by garish hoardings, banners and signboards advertising Java, Oracle, SAP and other courses. The streets are littered with pamphlets of institutes promising the best training and instant placements. “Though the fee depends on the type and duration, it is anywhere between Rs 6,500 and Rs 15,000. SAP module courses cost more. A few institutes provide training facilities including proper class rooms or halls with LCD screens. Students come from all parts of Andhra and 90 per cent live in shared accommodation in and around Ameerpet,” says Hari Krishna.

Little wonder then that in Ameerpet you get all varieties of Andhra food, except perhaps Hyderabadi. “Don’t you hear coastal Andhra Telugu, Telangana dialects and west Andhra’s Telugu-Hindi mix here in this group?” says Shiva Raju, a Java student from Chittor. Shiva shares a 3-bedroom flat with nine other students. When newcomers come, the number swells to 12 and sometimes 15.

... contd.