Hyderabaad....

Today is a rare day! I am sitting in my office, no that's not the rare part, the rare part is that the net has been down for more than 2 minutes at a stretch and is showing no signs of coming back to life. Now for an internet technologies company, that's RARE! and it actually gives me some time to do something that has become even rarer for me, writing.

Ah! so now that I have these few precious moments, I mustn't take too long choosing a subject, so here goes what's the most recent in my life....

I went to Hyderabad , last weekend, with a few friends to meet more friends. It was my first such trip with friends and the first travel by air. Now I know the whole world knows what's it like to travel by air, but it was my first experience, and needless to say, exhilarating :) Right from the check-in at the domestic airport of Delhi, to the landing at NT Rama-Rao airport in Hyderabad everything was a wonder to me.

But the fun began after we collected out baggage, and went to the ladies room to freshen up, before . We were greeted by very courteous, very helpful female staff members , which was, having seen the indifferent Delhi staff, came as quite a surprise to me. And, on our way out, just I was beginning to credit their courteousness to the high values imbibed in the culture, I was brought back to reality by their hollering demands of 'chai-paani' ....Welcome to Hyderabad!

OVer the next 2 days, we travelled across the twins cities of hyderabad & secundarabad, escorted by our friend who turned out to be a perfectly delighful hostess , meeting with even the most ridiculous demands we could make in two days, from wanting to see everything that was something to be seen to the crazy shopping. Not-to-mention, ofcourse, the fanatic photography I am so addicted to!

After landing in hyderabad, our first stop was Indian School of Business, where a friend studies. Located in GachhiBowli, the campus is next to the campuses of Infosys & Microsoft and is huge by all proportions. All the buildings including the main college, the student villages, & the recreation center are circumscribed with lush greenery. The hyderabad dry heat made it impossible for us to walk around for long , but we did have lunch in the ISB mess and later coffee in the canteen. Some quick snaps, congratulations on the graduation of our friend, and we were off to our next destination, Salarjung museum.

We reached there in about 30 odd minutes, in an auto, only to find a closed-on-fridays board hanging at the front gate.

Oh well! we did not have time to waste moping , so we took the same auto and rushed off to chaar-minaar. The oldest, most famous landmark of Hyderabad. Standing in the heart of the busiest market of hyderabad, the building has clocks on all of its sides, which actually tell correct time! :) At Rs5/- per head, we took tickets to climb up this ancient monument. A steep narrow spiral staircase one in each of the minaars, is what leads people upstairs, and currently, thanks to sheer governmental neglect & the lack of respect by the civilians, tourists & locals alike, lies in a dilapidated, heart rending state with spit marks across the walls, & broken , dysfunctional bulbs. Finally on the top, we took a walk along the square periphery of the monument, taking in the view at each side. Not that it was very different, with busy markets and unbelievably heavy traffic everywhere :P

Walking along the interior periphery one can look down and across the monument. There are narrow domes along this path, perhaps intended for placing candles for illuminating the path. The monument is not too large in terms of area, but standing there, looking across to the other end and looking down, left me speechless for a few moments, as space n time collapsed and mental images of the sultans seemed to float into reality....

After the climb down, which was scarier the climb up, owing majorly to the steep, curved stairs, we took one last look at the minaar and proceeded to the famous chudi-bazaar, the bangle market, on one side of the minaar. A hustling busy street, laden with beautiful stone-work, and displays of excellent craftsmanship. Some tough bargaining, and quick pruchasing, where all of us ended up spending much more than we had anticipated, we took another auto to our next destination, The Golkonda Fort.

We reached there in about an hour, owing to the rush hour traffic and reached just in time for the famous Light-n-Sound show. Rs.50/- per head, if I remember correctly, and we practically ran all the way to the area where the show was actually being held. And though the run must've been atleast 1 Km, the path was well-lit & and well paved. The show lasts for about 45min-1 hr with the voices of the likes of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan & Mr. Sayed Jaffrey as the orators. The show talks of the history & the architecture of the Golkonda Fort, and is orated mainly in English, with urdu & telugu songs thrown in to add to the effects of the lights and the realistic sounds of the show. An amazing experience, and a must watch in hyderabad. The show being over, we clicked some quick snaps and regretted at not having enough time to come back the next day and take the trek across the fort.

On our way back, I started chatting casually with the auto-walah, who spoke in characteristic hyderabadi hindi, different form the telugu, urdu, and broken accented hindi and english I had heard in Hyderabad till then. Auto-rickshaws are the second most common mode of conveyance, the list topped by buses, in this city of a hilly uneven terrain and very heavy, atrocious traffic.
Many-a-times, one can see auto-rickshaws passing within centimeters of each other, especially at Panjaagutta. Panjaagutta is the central, busiest traffic junction of the city, which connects to all parts of the city and gets its name from being the meeting point of roads coming from 5-different directions. During our trip in Hyderabad, we passed this junction atleast twice everyday.

Back home, we had the famous hyderabaadi biryaani :) , both veg and chicken flavors from a place called Hyderaabaadi Biryaani House in Madhavpur. Needless to say, I am now a fan of the culinary skills of the place.

Next day was booked for a trip to Ramoji Film City. Located way off the main city, we took a package tour to Ramoji and reached in about 2 hours. Tickets, Rs. 250/- per head, at the main entrance, and we were taken inside by our tour bus, which then left us at the actual entrance of the film city with instructions to be back by 5:30 PM.

Claimed to be the biggest film city in the world, it is spread over 2000 acres of land, with 1300 acres already adorned with beautiful sets, gardens and pathways. Whether it is Delhi's Jaama Masjid, or Mughal Gardens, and right from Mysore's Vrindavan Gardens to streets of Zurich, not-to-mention broken down buildings for fight scenes and 36 different gardens, every possible set seen in any movie serial or TV show can be seen there. Built with Plaster of Paris and/or wood, the sets are re-usable and fully customisable.

We took our lunch at Chanakya restaurent, which offered amazing buffet at Rs. 99/- per head (plus a complimentary ice cream ;P ), with the dim lights & a soothing ambience providing a much needed relief from the scorching heat outside. We just relaxed for a while after lunch, and got up for the fear off actually dozing off :P

To add to the tourist attraction, there are also amusement shows, like wild-wild west, and aalampanah, the talent show, a mini-amusement park and a meena bazaar where pearls, local handicrafts and gift items can be bought at fixed prices.

The day was spent walking, snacking and trying to see everything the place has to offer! In the end we did have to miss the joy rides, owing to the non-stop snacking we had indulged in, but the farewell Bihu dance made us forget about our disappointments soon 

A quick shopping spree at the pearls market, which left all of us nearly bankrupt, ;) we ended the day with a relaxed dinner at the Eat street located at the Hussain Sagar Lake-side. Soothing weather, cool breeze, awesome view of the lake, and the necklace road, and a plethora of food options, from subway to biryaani, the street has it all.

Our last morning in Hyderabad, a quick breakfast at the open-air Barista and we were off. As the plane took off and I took one last look at the char-minaar fading away below, I knew that despite its traffic, I still enjoyed being here, and would want to come back for more….
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