HYDERABAD- HOME AWAY FROM HOME

Hello friends, I returned to Bangalore only a couple of days back. I had an amazing time when I was at Hyderabad. It was almost a decade since I had visited this wonderful place. I felt it was worth waiting for such a long time. I enjoyed every minute I spent in THE CITY OF PEARLS!!!

It all happened sometime in my 4th semester. It was normal tea-time talk at home. I asked my father if we could give a visit to Hyderabad the forthcoming holidays and he agreed to it. The tickets were booked to Hyderabad. From this moment I was totally excited about this trip.
My 4th semester came to an end. I got very little time for myself after exams to get out of the exam mood.(This semester was very hectic!)
The day to board the train finally came. It was after almost 2 years since I had boarded a train.(Frankly don't know why I hadn't been in train for such a long time!! ) The next day we were in the Hi-tech city Hyderabad.
We got down at the Kacheguda railway station and caught a rickshaw. The city had changed far and wide.
There were fly-overs almost everywhere and even metro work. I could hardly recognize this very city I had seen a few years back. It had changed a lot!!!

City of Hyderabad

On the first day we had planned to meet my father's colleague ( a close friend). After around 45 minutes from the guest house we reached their place. My father and his friend went on and on with their talks. My mother had her share of talks with aunty. I started a conversation with uncle's son. After a while we played few matches of badminton (played after a long time). Then a game of chess. Then came the sumptuous Hyderabadi lunch!!! We almost got set to leave. It started drizzling. The rain only got heavier with time. There were no signs of it stopping. Amidst the rain, we decided to visit the locality in which we stayed during the time we stayed in Hyderabad. I was happy to recognize few places near my old home. I just got a glimpse of our home from outside. We couldn't go inside as it was raining and quite late. It however made me nostalgic. We visited a couple of my father's colleagues' homes in the neighborhood. My friend recognized me. We had a long chat. I wanted to meet other friends but it was almost 10 p.m. We had to leave. It was still raining. I was totally exhausted by the time I got back to the room. It left me with many more happy memories.

RAMOJI FILM CITY

It was still drizzling in the morning. We had planned to visit Ramoji Film City. On the way to Ramoji, we visited a couple of temples- Ashtalaxmi temple and Sanghi temple.
After we entered the film city, we went to the stunt show.

STUNT SHOW AT RAMOJI

Then "The Spirit of Ramoji" show which was quite excellent. The 3D ride was just awesome. It cannot be explained. It can only be felt. After lunch we went to movie making show. I learnt quite a lot in this. Then the train ride. After this a few fun games. The main part was still left. The ride in the special ramoji bus.
I got a seat for myself right in the front. We saw the brindavan gardens, japanese gardens, london street, Raj darbar and what not. We visited so many places in just few minutes. The guide explained how these places are put to best use in the movies. Soon after we got down from the bus it started drizzling. Some places couldn't be visited. I managed to get few snaps in the rain before leaving the place.

FILM CITY AFTER RAIN

FILM CITY

The third day had many things in store for me. The plan was to visit a temple and a mythological museum.
It started of as per the plan. After a 2 hour drive, we visited the Yadagirigutta temple. We got the darshan of Lord LaxmiNarasimha Swamy. Then visited other temples in the vicinity.
After lunch we went to Surendrapuri. The mythological museum here is just superb. No words can describe it. Ramayana, Mahabharata and many other mythological stories were depicted in the form of statues.( Hats off to the great work) The museum had more than around 370 scenes. I feel everyone should visit this awesome place atleast once.

MYTHOLOGICAL MUSEUM AT SURENDRAPURI

Then we drove back to the city. I wanted to visit the Lumbini Park which a famous tourist spot. As time permitted, we could give a visit. Then the boat ride to the center of Hussain Sagar which has a Buddha statue. It reminded me of the times I came to this park so often during my childhood.

CENTER OF HUSSAIN SAGAR, BUDDHA STATUE

I had asked my school friend Sudhanshu for a meetup. I had waited for this for a long time. I recognized him with his 2wheeler. After an eye contact, he recognized me. The long wait ended with a hug. We decided to have dinner together with few of my other old school friends. He did all the planning of calling the friends and arranging everything. I met my other friends. Everyone had changed so much. We had changed from little kids to mature teenagers. We spoke a lot. We had so many things to share with each other. The supper was just perfect.(Hyderabadi) The food was very tasty. It still makes my mouth watery. These people stay at different parts of the city. I would like to thank you guys for having made time to meet me- Sudhanshu, Anith, Jainesh. You guys have left such sweet memories in my life which will be cherished for time immemorial.

WITH MY HYDERABAD SCHOOL FRIENDS

 The 4th day started quietly. I was still thinking about the awesome time I had the previous day.
We had made plans of visiting the old city of Hyderabad and the most important Charminar. After a half hour ride we visited the old city. The roads here are quite small. Its a perfect place for shopping.(for the ladies)
My mother shopped a little before we finally reached Charminar. The public could go to the 1st floor which was closed during the time I stayed there. So it was wonderful experience. The view from this monument is too good. Then we went to Mecca Masjid and soon after left the old city.

VIEW OF THE CITY FROM CHARMINAR

VIEW OF CHARMINAR FROM MECCA MASJID

The time to leave the city was fast approaching. The packing was done. We reached the railway station in next few minutes. I got the news the results were out. I had done much better than i expected.

It was only a few minutes before the train left. I felt my dream of visiting Hyderabad was finally fulfilled. This trip was just perfect. I couldn't have asked for anything more. It left a whole lot of happy memories in my life. Hyderabad for me is HOME AWAY FROM HOME