Hyderabad

I have worked in Hyderabad for two years in my first job. and I find it a far better city to live than Bangalore, primary reason being the area surrounding Husain sagar lake. the whole strecth of about 5kms around the lake is such a beautiful picnic spot and the fact that it is in the centre of such a big city only enhances its importance. However, it's not always possible to stay where u want. Though I don't give too much of a thought to relocate to a different city and one very big reason is such a pleasant weather in Bangalore throughout the year. I hope Bangalore planners learn something from Hyderabad and develop so many dead lakes in bangalore as hang out places.

so now after 4 yrs, I again went to Hyderabad on my wife's insistence. there was a little apprehension seeing the growth of bangalore in recent years that probably, hyderabad also may have changed. it did but at least, I saw only the better part during my stay. there were a few new malls opened, iMax and Hyderabad central etc as expected.

one of the best temples in india to hang around (I hope nobody finds it offensive) is in hyderabd, Birla Temple. Except may be during festival time, it is not so crowded, location is excellent providing a holistic view of Husain sagar lake and large parts of hyderabad and there is lot of space to move around. Though again it was a lil bit hot, and we felt it more because we hav got used to bangalore so didn't move around much.

when I was in Hyderabad, I had visited Salar Jung Museum so many times and again I wanted to show it to my wife. I haven't visited many museums and this one also, I happened to visit only by chance but I guess it must be one of the best museums in the country. Particularly I like European statues made of marble (there are so many), lot of swords ( really, it's nothing what u see in TV serials and films. many swords can create a shiver down ur spine ) and many articles made of ivory (really beautiful, u don't need to be an expert to judge them). They also had Nizam's jewellery exhibition at that time. probably I wouldn't be that interested but it was impossible to miss once my wife saw the banner. though it proved interesting for me also. u can see some of the biggest (and costliest!!) diamonds and jewellery made of those diamonds. even better thing was since it was not for sale, u r safe since ur wife will understand that and not ask u to buy something.:-)

we also went for speed boating in lumbini park near the lake. when I was there four years back, there was only grass between the lake and the road. however, now there was a very beautiful place called, Eat Street, basically a food court but right on the side of lake, it's very good place to hang out or pass time. and if u go there, don't forget to eat jalebis, the best u can get in whole of south india.

also went to see char minar. it's in the middle of a very busy bazaar and it's difficult to even stand somewhere to bask in its beauty. paid one guy 10Rs who promised to shoot some good photos (u hav to actually stand in the middle of the road along with all hawkers etc to have charminar in the background). however, we realized it was complete waste and i probably could do a better job. my wife was more interested because she had heard about the jewellery market near charminar. however, to my pleasant surprise, she was very soon fed up with the crowd and the filth and wanted to escape.:-) I gladly and quickly hired a 3 wheeler to go back to some safer place.:-)

ramoji film city is an added attraction in hyderabad. there r too many good places for taking snaps.

beautifully maintained gardens including a copy of vrindavan gardens also ( i forgot the number of gardens the guide told us). there are buses which take u through entire film city and a guide will tell the names of the films that had been shot at different locales. there is almost everything there, railway station, airport, european colony, punjabi dhaba etc though all fake. and yaa, dont miss the stunt show. there is a small play in which u will witness filmi style fight in front of ur eyes, with all the dhishum dhishum, guns and even bombs.

ok then, back to monotony in bangalore!!!