December in Hyderabad


At the onset, let me state upfront - I like Hyderabad - its tourist spots, its restaurants [Chutneys, Yatri Nivas, Hyderabad House…yummy!], its focus on infrastructure, the grand plans for the city. Even the climate in winter. I loved driving around Hussein Sagar lake with its all imposing Buddha statue in the centre of the lake, pelting a few snow balls in Snow World, posing with Batman in Ramoji Film City, soaking in the arty culture at Shiplaramam, and letting loose the shopoholic in me [thanks to the extremely reasonable prices that the city offers]

It was great to hear strains of Telugu in Hyd - the local language in the state – I think on a sublimal level, it invoked memories of a childhood spent in Vizag [a port city in the same state for the unaware lot]. Hyderabad now is home to one of my closest friends, way back from school and a journey there was destined to be basked in the warmth that friendship usually carries and an abundance of reminiscences and good times.

I booked myself on the overnight train to Hyderabad. I’d been wanting to travel by train for some time now [the long hiatus being a consequence of my erstwhile corporate life and the resultant scarcity of time] and the effort to reach a boarding station on the suburbs of Bangalore paled in comparison to the excitement. I made it to the station of Yeshwantpur in record time. It was past 9 pm and traffic had visibly reduced. I was scared stiff, travelling alone at night in a city cab and my hand was constantly near the redial button that was hooked to reach home. Bangalore is relatively safer than most cities in India but hey, one can never be too careful. Luckily my cabbie got me to the station, safe and secure and in a ironic turn-around to a scary situation, asked me to call home and inform my folks so that they wouldn’t be worried.

The train journey was best forgotten. My 2nd AC berth was an upper one with two AC ducts, one near my feet and the other near my head. Either ways, the cold air was going to pump onto my face. All around me were elderly people, who seemed happy with their lower and middle berth allocation. I couldn’t ask them to switch berths! Somehow, I struggled till the morning, the blankets provided by the Railways being grossly inadequate. When the train chugged into Hyderabad, I greeted my friend with the worst nose block and cold that I had had in years. Add to that, the temperature changes I experienced in the last 4 days…humid Bombay to cold Bangalore to brrrrr colder AC train to definitely warmer Hyderabad ….one can understand how my immune system just gave up. Just a welcome start to the city of Hyderabad, I suppose.

The 5 days I spent there were delightful. Everyday, in between my doses of Cetirizine and Crocin and maniacal steam inhalation of Vicks, we would set out on the road, armed with our cameras and mineral water, ready to do all the things that tourists to the city typically do. In between all the fun and Hyderabadi biryani, I noticed certain peculiarities of the city.

The first, without doubt, is its traffic. The city has mounted an elaborate exercise to build flyovers and widen its roads to keep pace with the huge growth that the city is experiencing. It takes a minimum of 45 minutes to reach any destination and the maximum is anyone’s guess. Sure, it could happen in any city but what is different here is people’s attitude on the road. Blatant disregard for signals, moving on the side of the road reserved for oncoming traffic, everyone cutting everyone, lanes …what lanes? Well, it’s a such crazy movement of people and vehicles that makes one wonder what the traffic circles are all about. I landed in Hyd’bad on a Sunday and presumed it had something to do with the holiday slack. Never mind my theory, I saw this everyday. One morning, I saw groups of people zooming triples on bikes, almost like a motorcade and cops not even batting their eyelids at this scene. This, in its entirety, is unique.

The second is the loos and their state. I went to one of the best malls [Central] and needed to use the restroom. The high footfalls in the restroom meant we had to wait a some time for our turn. Inside there wasn’t any toilet paper and alarmingly, was about 3 inches of water on the floor of each of the cubicles. As my friend and I rolled up our jeans in a flood like situation and waited for the cleaning lady to do her job, I learn from the lamenting cleaning lady, this wasn’t a one-off incident. It invariably happened all the time and wasn’t the result of bad plumbing. It had to do with women who used the loos and their irritable habit of flooding the loo floor. Yes, I know…eeeeks! But undoubtedly unique.

The third is undisputedly its people. It was during my visit to Ramoji Film City that this incident occurred. It was nearing closing hours, sometime before the studio’s elaborate daily closing ceremony. There were dances being performed in various parts of the studio. We were in the games area when I came across a young Naga lad, wearing his traditional garb around this waist. His chest was bare, except for a belt tied diagonally across his chest and his outfit extended till his knees. His look was complete with his head band, which was adorned by some feathers.

As he came towards me, I asked him where his dance was being performed. He politely replied and moved away from me. An elderly man behind me stopped him, putting his hand on the lad’s bare chest and asked him in Hindi, ‘haii, tumhe kidhar dekhathe’ [crude Hindi that literally translates into hey, where are they showing you?]. Needless to say, the Naga lad was scandalized, shrugged the gentleman’s hand off and rushed away, without even responding. The look of shock on his face of being in a sense propositioned was a sight to see. The entire sequence was hilarious to say the least and we, the three of us, were left laughing a long time. The elderly man, in all probability, just wanted to ask where the Naga dance was being performed. It was the same question that I too had asked, but his Hyderbadi accent and more importantly, his manner of saying it had truly turned the situation into an immensely humourous one, atleast for us.

While most of us are familiar with the Hyderabadi accent of speaking Hindi, the use of Hindi in that crude way was something unique. After I narrated the above incident to a Hyderbadi friend of mine, he laughed heartily and assured me that the comment was quintessentially Hyderabadi. I rest my case.

The last incident is my view of the historic Char Minar. We struggled to find parking to see it at leisure. We finally conceded to driving around it twice or thrice. Beautifully lit, it jostles for space amidst a crowded bazaar like atmosphere. Never mind the parking, that we managed to circle it relatively peacefully, dodging the hawkers, merchants selling their wares and people out on their daily shopping expeditions, is no small feat. It indeed is sad that something of so rich a history is languishing in the back of a market. I didn’t see any of the usual attempts to create secluded space for viewing that is now common with such monuments or any restoration activities. This too seemed unique.

The laurels are now distributed, I’ve shared my key experiences. That they don’t throw a favourable light on the city is incidental. Hyderabad is a great city, one with a rich history. And one with a bright future. I look forward to my next trip there with maybe ;) more laughs.