When I raved about Hyderabad!

The sight of the calm Buddha amidst the Hussain Sagar lake , the taste of the Biryani, the Tollywood movies, the summer flares, the occasional thunder-storms, the agitations, the Charminar, the local dialect  - Welcome to the city of pearls, where history meets high-technology!

The affair with this beautiful city kicked off some two years ago, and it has been great going since then. I never quite believed in 'Love at first sight', be it with people or places, and it took me around a year to profess my love towards this historic city.

It was after watching the movie Ala Modalaindi, arguably the best entertainer of 2011, followed by the bike ride late in the night, that particular moment, I felt that longing towards this city, the Pyara Shahr!

This post is a long pending one, and I thought it has to come over at least now as the city is getting decked up for the Bio-Diversity meet.

Here are some of the To-Do's, when you visit here-

# A lunch at Paradise, featuring Biryani, followed by a falooda.

# Watch a Telugu flick of a popular star in one of the local theatres, preferably at the theatres around the RTC cross roads. The packed theatre, the frenzy of the fans, the whistles would certainly account for a movie watching experience that's beyond the obvious. People from Chennai or other places of Tamilnadu can give this a miss.

# An evening ride on the Necklace road, and a stop at the Lumbini gardens to catch the LASER show, would certainly leave an indelible mark about this beautiful city. And I tell you, it is not Just-Another-Show, so don't miss it.

# Want to taste the spice of Rayalaseema? Then you must have the jonna roti with the Gutti vankaya kura (Eggplant/Brinjal curry), served with ghee at Rayalaseema Ruchulu . You would need to stop by Creamstone to neutralise the spice.

# Get close to the heritage, history and the Hyderabadi dialect by visiting Charminar and Golconda. Once you are done taking the pictures, go do some shopping. Men - If you fall short of some gifting ideas to surprise the women in your life, there you are, buy some pearl jewellery from the shops lined across the streets of Charminar. You will definitely find the jewellery adorable and wallet-friendly! Visit Mangatrai if you need some branded stuff of the same.

# Also, sip on the Irani chai with some Osmania biscuits. I will buy you a lunch at Chutneys if you manage to eat five of the Osmania biscuits!

# RFC. Though it's a long time being here in Hyderabad, I couldn't visit the film city yet. But those of my friends who visited say that it is worth a visit. Of course, being the world's largest film studio, it shouldn't disappoint anyone. And yeah, some of my friends were lucky to catch Vidya Balan shooting for the oo la la number.

# One final stop - Don't miss the Borugulu masala (puffed rice), at the road-side eatery near the Malaysian Township circle. Give me a ring if you aren't able to locate it!  I bet, you will feel like visiting it a second time.

I will come back and update more on this space, as and when I explore something new and interesting about this city.

PS: I have seen many people writing 'Hitech City' for HITEC city. Check here for more.
Image Courtesy: Google Images

...And they lived happily ever after - Part 1

I suck at writing fiction. A first of its kind on my blog. Bear with me! Bouquets on the blog, brickbats on the mail please ;)

Time : 7 PM something
Day : Just another day

He checked his watch, and thought that he should be leaving office in a while, and opens the mail inbox if there were any mails that needed his responses before he leaves the office for the day. There comes a call, and the name "Niki" flashes on his mobile, his eyes lit up in surprise.

He picks up the call with alacrity and she says "Hey, shall we meet up for dinner?" even before he says yes, she says "OK. 8PM, the Rajasthani hotel, next to our office. Come soon, I would be there at the hotel."

"OK, I will start in a while" he replies.

He still couldn't believe that it was she who had called him up and asked to meet her for the dinner, as it was the other way around for the last one year, as he was the one who used to call her up every damn evening and ask her if she could meet him for the dinner, even though he knew that the answer would never be pleasing for him to hear.

He thought his perseverance has paid off that day and he was off to the hotel in a jiffy.

They both meet and as they settle down at an empty table, she pulls out a chocolate from her bag and gives him. Another surprise!

And she says, "Every time you used to get one for me, and today I felt like getting one for you!" He was again put in a state of disbelief.

He was totally elated. He asks, "What has happened to you? You are giving me a surprise after surprise. What's the matter?" .

"Let us order the dinner first, I will tell you! And yeah, it's my treat today!" She replied. He nodded in accordance, though quite unconvincingly.

Soon the dinner arrived. Some hundred thoughts were running in his head. She was busy finishing the paratha, he was busy biting his nails.

"You didn't tell me yet", he asked again, in a tone that was a little demanding now.

"I have got my transfer to Bangalore. I will be leaving in two weeks time."  She said bluntly.

He was shocked, not with the news of her transfer, but for the fact that he has only two weeks time to patch up a broken relationship.

(Yes, they were in a relationship some two years ago. Some situations/misunderstandings/circumstances made them quit. In fact, he never wanted to let go, but she desperately wanted to get out of it.)

She looked at him and started laughing, and said, "Well, that was a joke. How did you think a transfer request gets processed that easily and quickly! And anyways, why do you need to put such a sad face even if I leave this city. Some or the other day, I would be going to Bangalore. I would like to stay near to my home-town".

To be continued...

Image Courtesy : Google Images