Hyderabad:
Andhra Pradesh was always one large Telugu-speaking family, with marriages taking place between boys and girls of the three regions. But now the regional polarization has created divides within families as well.
An NDTV correspondent spent time with a young couple, the husband from Telangana and the wife from Rayalaseema, to get a sense of their fears.
Ravinder Reddy, a Hardware engineer says, "In the US, my first identity was that of an Indian and then if someone asks, where in India, I say from Andhra Pradesh. I stop there. But now because of all this, I have to go one more level and say I am from Telangana. My only worry is going forward, it may not end there. I might have to say I am from north Telangana or south Telangana.''
Ravinder Reddy's wife Madhulika is however on the other side of the regional divide. She hails from Kadappa in Rayalaseema region and married into a Warangal family five years back. Ravi and Madhulika say the political crisis has polarized even close-knit families along regional lines.
"We wanted to have my son's birthday party in Warangal and invite my folks from Rayalaseema. But now we have scaled it down because we do not want emotions running high in a party," says Madhulika Reddy.
In fact, Ravinder made the trip to Hyderabad to recce for a possible shift back home after living ten years in the US. "But now with the uncertainty prevailing in Hyderabad, we are actively debating if we need to reconsider that decision.", Ravinder told NDTV.