It happened last year when I was on leave. My daughter’s school was closed for about 12 days and wifey badly wanted a break from the usual. All in all it was the perfect time for a getaway from the madness.
But where?, when?, how? …… and the other questions that usually pop up when you are planning a trip for fun kept popping out of every door in the house. We had decided to go, so go on now.
Where? – was the first question.
September is not a very touristy time and we didn’t have a clue which place would be best suited for that time of the year. We had so far seen zilch within the country – not to mention the countless number of trips we made to Mysore, Bangalore, Pondicherry and other interior parts of Tamilnadu. We wanted to do north this time – anything above Chennai is north for us! We had heard that during Ramzan, Hyderabad has a lot to offer – so Hyderabad it finally was. Though we had considered other options such as Rajasthan, North-east and Kerala, we finally decided on the Nizam’s city.
Next question – How?
By car was fine because that’s how we always did it. But this time the wife and daughter didn’t want to go driving 750 kms up and 750 kms down, so it had to be by train. But before that we thought it wise to find a place to stay in Hyderabad first. So we booked ourselves a hotel via the net. Got a good deal for a week’s stay. Then booked us all on train journeys both ways – again via the net.
AND ALL THIS JUST A DAY BEFORE!!!!
And if anyone now tells me that India is not up there with the others in the net-age I can tell them about it. We were surprised that one could literally take off in the middle of the night without any preparations and plan a holiday into the middle of nowhere just within the blink of an eye.
Welcome to the new India!
The services of all the providers were very good – another surprise. The things one can do with the mobile phone and SMS is amazing. All the providers gave us constant updates of our trip and throughout the trip via SMS.
And then in Hyderabad, we booked ourselves a cab with the mobile phone. Again we found the SMS being put to good use.
We stayed in Hyderabad for a week and thoroughly enjoyed our stay.
Most of the time we just relaxed. We had cable TV, we had room service. And we didn’t have a care in the world.
And then we went places…………..
The Ramoji Film City is an absolute must-see! One whole day can be spent there. The various sets that are erected are too good to be fake.
(this is yours truly in his vintage car at Ramoji Film City)
(Madmoiselle Malaika bungee jumping)
The Nehru zoo is equally good. For the first time in my life I saw wolves, rhinoceros, white tigers and hippos from close quarters.
(most definitely not me, maybe someone I know)
(wolves belonging to Phantom – the ghost who walks)
(the guide said this is a cheetah, could have been a leopard or a jaguar, not that I knew the difference anyway)
(white tigers – they don’t look so dangerous, but believe me they stink and roar as loud as the normal yellow tigers)
The Salar Jung Museum is fantastic. The stuff that is on display is amazing. It requires a lot of patience and interest to see everything on display.
The Nizam’s museum was so-so. But his wardrobe and silverworks that are on display are definitely worth a dekko. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to photographs inside the museum.
(view of the Nizam’s museum from outside)
(this is where his famous wardrobe is kept)
However all the above are far more interesting to kids and it was worth the while for my daughter.
The Birla temple is similar to all such temples in India except that this one is on a hillock and the view of the city from the top is splendid. Again no snaps were allowed.
The Hussainsagar lake is a nice place to walk around in the evenings including the parks – Lumbini park, NTR park, Sanjeeviah park that surround the lake.
The other main attraction for people like us from the heart of the tropics is the SNOW WORLD! It is a huge building that has artificial snow inside everywhere. They also have snow sledges and ski slopes and snow falls. One entire wall is for mountain climbing having footholes and handholes. One hour spent there is total fun.
(Snow world takes you a world away)
The very next day of our trip was Ganesh Visarjan.
Every shop, every mall, every theatre and just about every public place was shut!!
We ended up seeing the Ganesh idols being taken everywhere in trucks, tempos and all other sorts of vehicles. The public was thoroughly immersed in celebrations. Men, women and children with orange coloured bandanas were packed in all manner of transports. The eventual destination was the lake. Here the administration had arranged for immersion of the idols at various spots with the help of huge cranes. There must have been at least a dozen such cranes.
What caught our eye was the level of security that was deployed. Police and other law enforcing agencies were out in full. Many roads were blocked. All public places had metal detectors – the door-like ones which one has to pass through. Also we could not carry cameras and mobile phones at many places. We had to deposit them at counters and later collect them. All bags were checked – some places they did not let ladies carry their handbags too. Yup, it was done in full swing – just a grim reminder of the aftermath of the bombing that took place some time ago in this beautiful city.
And lastly the Charminar.
The Charminar is best seen in postcards!
(no photographs taken deliberately)
Firstly, it is difficult to go near it by foot. The whole place is teeming with people and stalls and shops.
Secondly, the surroundings are worse than filthy.
And to top it, it rained the day we went to see it. And the whole place became a big mucky, gooey nightmare.
Finally, one cannot appreciate the beauty of the monument when the surroundings distract you so much.
And then there are the sounds and smells which are so typically hyderabadi! “kya hona bhai?”, “Sadiyaan dekhon baen” “ape pehenke to dekho, ekdum heroch lagenga, allah kasam”.
Then through the din and the stench, the waft of freshly fried “mirchhi ka bhajiyas” tickle your nostrils and taste buds.
It was Ramzan time. And at every corner one could see big stalls selling “Haleem”. They had erected big pots which were surrounded by brickwork all around in a 3 m by 3 m enclosure. Inside the pot was a mixture of wheat and meat. And all the while it was cooking, one man would be constantly pounding the mixture inside the pot with a huge, long mallet. The end result – a sticky, syrupy, dough-like stuff which would be served on a platter with ghee and crisp fried onions. The taste – mmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!
We tried all the different versions, the mutton haleem, the chicken haleem and even the veg haleem!
To tell you the truth, this trip to Hyderabad was planned more for its gastronomical delights than for its historic legacy. We simply had to try out all it offered for our taste buds – the faloodas, the biryanis, the haleems, the bhajias, not to forget the paayaas, the nallis, etc.
We left the city thoroughly satisfied. Someday, we told ourselves, we would be back to get more soul food.
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