Hyderabad Diaries – Part 1

“Are, dude..vaaz aylo kaam karun karun…lets take a break. Ek plan karuya…lets visit some place out of Goa.” A visibly flustered Sanit barged into Kiran’s cabin on a busy Weekday in October.
Kiran, who was immersed into the laptop, looked up in astonishment, “Kite zale re tuka? What is the trigger? Everybody wants to visit Goa and here you are looking for places out of Goa. I wonder where to?”
“Khayuy chalta re, just a break ghevunk jay. Jaipur kaso asa?”
“Jaipur re, beautiful place! But, Bhai, it is too far. Journey only by train, means minimum 1 week holiday lagtali.”
“Shya, khub dis jatale. Boss bejar jatalo. Kerala kashe asa tar?” Sanit, trying desperately to find some questions to his own questions.
“Te tu lagin jata tenna vach” replied Kiran with a mischievous grin.
“Sod tar. Lagin jata mhalyar time asa. Anik kite places asa lagi? How about Manali bin. Chad pays tar te?”
“Ek kaam kar, get the Map of India only! Kite re, Manali is right up North. Tuka somewhere in south sodche padtale.”
“Hampi, Badami is done for me. How about Hyderabad? Kite asa thay?”
“Well, per se, Hyderabad vhadle kay na re…Charminar, Golconda Fort ani of course Ramoji Film City – which is the highlight really.”
“Done. That’s it. Hyderabad plan karya tar. Ramoji plan fix karya. Bakiche places will be like a bonus.” Replied a visibly relieved Sanit.
“Ok. Fair enough. Ramoji is the only best thing that happens in the Nizam’s City. Let’s get Mayur’s view as well.” suggested Kiran.
Just then, Mayur enters the cabin, “Kite challa? Samke deep discussion kay kite?”
“Are Mayur, plan is to go for a trip to Hyderabad. Ramoji Film City palovpak meltale plus there is Golconda Fort and magnificent Charminar. You are in mare?” Sanit trying to sell the Hyderabad plan to Mayur.

Mayur took only about 2 seconds, before vehemently affirming this participation. “Ya mare. Mhaka kay problem na. Plan karat tumi. Abhijeet ani Kamlesh asa kay check karat.”
“Kenna ya tar?” Sanit now trying to get the team to fix the travel dates swiftly.
“See, I’m travelling from November right until Mid-Jan. Only after that we can plan.” Said Kiran.
“Kite bhovta re baba tu. Ok. Tashe jalyar, how about republic day holidays. We can plan during those times.” Exclaimed Sanit. Now flustered and excited at the same time.
“Mhaka chalta, kay issue na.” Affirmed Mayur once again, without a moment’s hesitation.
“Done from my side as well” Declared Kiran.
After getting Abhijeet on the plan, the group only had Kamlesh to adhere to the same.
“Are, Kamlesh, Hyderabad vachpacho plan fix jalo from 26th to 29th Jan. Tu amka join jatlo.” Sanit monotonously declared to Kamlesh.
“Hyderabad re? Khay ayle re te? Mhaka yevpak difficult jatle. Ani suti kadchi padtali mare” Perpetrated Kamlesh, with great level of difficulty.
All eyes bore into Kamlesh like a dagger through the heart.
“Tu na jalyar plan na re baba. Tu jay mare amka for the trips.” Stated Mayur.
“F*$@#^, Z*@&#$%. Tuka char dis yevpak kite zata re? Kasle kaam asa tuka? Ek PL mar mare. Kay baro full group plan jallo asa. Tu vat laytalo saglya planachi.” Seethed Sanit on the brink of a meltdown.
“Sada asoch karta ho. Plan cancel master. Yeta mhatlyar devak bin apalya bashen.” Noted Kiran.
“Kite, baro na re tu. Kite problem asa tuka? Sang, ami sagli melon solve karuya.” Avowed Mayur, now ready to solve all the problems of the Universe.
With all eyes on Kamlesh and intently waiting for his reaction with abated breath, Kamlesh finally professed, “Ok. Bare. Gharakaden kite tari story karchi padtali. Wife bejar jatli sarki. Tumi sodit na re baba.”
“Yeh hui na baat. Ab maza ayega. Valor Kamlesh.” Abhijeet replied, patting Kamlesh on his back.
And with this little discussion, the plan was set.
“Tumi booking chalu karat, magir palovya.” Saying Mayur exited the cabin.

And the plan was finalized and tickets booked. The plan was to leave Goa on 26th Jan – travel through the day by train – reach Hyderabad following morning. Roam, explore the city for next 3 days and leave on 29th Jan by train to Goa. Down side, it would mean a horrendous 22-hour journey by train on both routes. Mayur and Abhijeet had long faces, while Kamlesh was worried about what an AC coach feel like, will it be cold, will we be getting blankets and where we will be staying as it would be his first-time travel by train.

The excitement on Sanit’s face was infectious. He could only dream about Hyderabad and nothing else. Time and again over the next quarter months he would remind the group of the impending trip probably dreading any of the members backing out and plan going up in flames.

And Sanit’s worries materialized. The company announced Cricket tournament on 26th Jan. Except Sanit all others wanted to participate. It would mean calling the trip off. The group was practically at a split with travel plans in awry. A goaded Sanit, tried his level best to discourage the group from participating in the tournament reasoning that the same will also come next year and that Company will have many more get togethers in the future. If the trip was cancelled or postponed, it would be devoid of any excitement. The opposing group led by Abhijeet and Kiran stone walled Sanit’s perceptive. They wanted to make their presence felt in the tournament. They had never missed any tournaments before. All the 4 players pretty much formed the backbone of the team. Hyderabad would not disappear anywhere; the trip could always be rescheduled. They had reached an impasse. Would the trip happen or not!

The dilemma ensued until a genius plan was devised that not only would ensure the trip materialized, but also the group participated in the cricket tournament. It was decided that instead of train travel on 26th Jan, the group would fly to Hyderabad on 27th Jan, albeit shelling out bit extra, but they would participate in the much-coveted cricket tournament. A collective sigh of relief escaped. And the Hyderabad saga continued….

With the travel plan settled, the group abruptly shifted focus onto the impending cricket tournament. Our Admin team, by far the weakest team in the organization, quickly swung into action. First step was to form a team. A herculean task given the fact that 90% of the players in the team practice on matchday itself. With great difficulty 11 willing players and 2 reserves volunteered themselves including the 4 of us, who were to travel to Hyderabad the next day. A group meeting was called to discuss on the strategies to be adopted on match day – batting lineup, bowlers, field placements were discussed at length, all serious business. For a moment it could be forgiven that we were at a cricket tournament and not working in office. We even got our own custom-made jerseys with players’ name. A fancy name ‘Chatrapati’ was chosen by the team, all building up to the excitement.

As fate would have had it, ours was the first match in this knockout style tournament. It helped that the Sun was bit lenient as the match commenced with a bit of nippiness in the air. It was against an opponent not very well known. With majority of our players being potbellied, it was safe to say we were the resolute underdogs in this game and by a country mile.

Captain Mayur won the toss and expectedly decided to bat first. Mayur took the strike and Izhar accompanied him as his opening partner. It had been a year since Mayur held a cricket bat in his hand. However, it did not seem like he had ever let it go. The second ball he faced, he hit a sumptuous cover drive to the boundary, to which even the likes of Virat Kohli would have appreciated. The next ball was a short one, which he pulled to the square leg boundary with utter disdain. The fourth ball he faced, was cut fiercely through the point region, which pierced the infield like knife on butter. Mayur looked in scintillating form. Opposition was already dreading the worst. We cheered from the boundary ropes and egged him to hit a few more.

And he duly obliged. In the very next over, he smashed a six over long-on. Mayur’s bat was doing all the talking for him. He followed it up with a crunching six over square leg. And it turned into a hat-trick sixes when he literally bared the leather of the ball and sent it soaring across the long off boundary. He had the presence of mind to not just hit boundaries, but also rotate the strike with due empathy. The crowd were fully entertained for their money’s worth. Opposition was sent into a hiding and treated with humble pie.

And just like that within a few minutes Mayur had notched up his half century in just 15 balls. His Fifty was laced with 5 boundaries and 3 sixes and get this, not a single dot ball. Notably, this was the first ever Fifty that anyone had scored in the history of Schiffer Premier League. Our team’s score was a whopping 58 runs in 4 overs, with our 90% runs scored by the man of the moment. An incredible innings measured by any yard stick.

We cantered to a humungous victory as our opponents were buried under a mountain of runs. Mayur, for all the obvious reasons, was the deserving Man of the Match. He had created history which might never be broken or would take a herculean effort to beat the record.

Unfortunately, we ran out of steam in our next match as the same magic could not be repeated, however, we did lose out to a better opponent who eventually went on to win the tournament.

For all the practical purposes, the tournament would always be remembered as the day when history was created and the spectators were treated to an extravagant display of stroke play. We were blessed to have witnessed history in the making. It certainly made our decision to delay the Hyderabad trip by a day, even more worthwhile.

27th January arrived. The early morning flight from Goa to Hyderabad was scheduled at 7.30 am, touch down by 9:00 am. Hotel was pre-booked. The groupe’ arrived at Goa International airport by 5.30 am. Thrilled and supremely excited, we proceeded to check-in. In a jiffy we were at the security check point. That is when we hit a wall. Owing to all morning flights, there was a serpentine queue of flyers. Gosh, this could take forever.

Flyers are asked to remove their belts, jackets. Keep the phone and wallet in the baskets. No water bottles allowed. All this led to pandemonium. People taking their time to reset themselves, trying to find the trays to place their belongings, while the queue piled up behind them in full gusto.

Amongst our group, Mayur was left chaffed and harrowed by the experience. As there was no check-in luggage, all our items were handled as hand baggage. Mayur’s bag was sidelined, and asked to be rechecked. They had discovered something. Mayur cringed. His duffle bag was rampaged through, item by item drawn out and eventually they found the crux of the matter; a brand new 200ml skin lotion. This was immediately confiscated by the airport security team and thrown into the bin. Mayur gritted, but alas there was no arguing with the security personnel. A dejected Mayur, finally moved on to the check-in gates.

The excitement grew as the take-off time neared. Past the boarding gate, we made it into the Aircraft. Always the first thing we crane our neck to notice is who is greeting us at the flight entrance. As the Airhostess welcomed us “Good Mornin”, “Not Bad. Mereko Chalegi” exclaimed Sanit and Kiran unabashedly.

At 7.35 am, we took off. The take-off part is the most exciting as the full G-force is felt, which pushes you back into the seats. Also a few fleeting seconds of heart stopping moment as the plane tries to gain altitude. An hour-long flight with minimum of fuss, our flight landed by 8.40 am. And we finally set foot in the Nizam city.

No check-in luggage, so we briskly made our way out of the Airport. Plan was to first cover the sights across the city and check-in to the hotel late in the evening.

Our first stop was going to be the well-known monument of Hyderabad – Charminar. We checked the prices on Ola / Uber as well checked the price with the local taxi driver. There did not seem much difference. We took the faster option and requested the taxi driver to drop us at Charminar. This was going to be a long day.

An hour’s drive from Airport, and we reached Charminar. The taxi driver dropped us as close to the monument as allowed. As soon as we alighted from the Taxi, the sight shocked the bullocks off Mayur, Sanit and Kamlesh. Abhijeet and Kiran had already seen it and knew what to expect.

“Charminar khay re?” asked a baffled Sanit
In a cool demeanor, Kiran responded “He palay mare. Right infront of your eyes.”
“What the hell? Goychyan he povpak aylya ami. Amka pishe mahntale sagli jana. We will be a laughing stock once we go back home” blurted a visibly flustered Mayur.
“Kya hua yaar? Hum Charminar ke liye thode hi aaye hai?” Abhijit responded helpingly.
“Kite re he! This looks like Masjid Bunder of Mumbai. This place is extremely filthy. Beggars sleeping everywhere, gutter water running like river, hawkers right next to the monument. Are you certain this is the Charminar?” Mayur’s frustration snowballed by the minute.
“Samke. This is the most well-known place of the city.” Kiran replied wryly.
“But itle ghan kityak re hanga? Small shops close to the minar. It looks as if someone put it here by mistake.” Kamlesh chipped in.
“Guys, this is the old city. I would be surprised if it looked neat and cleaner than this. Chalo, take few pics and selfies and let us get it done over with. We have got a long day ahead.”

We checked around the Minar. It certainly was an imposing structure. But, as the guys sounded it out, the surroundings could not have been worse. Nevertheless, we made our way at the top of the Minar from where you could distinctly see the Old City skyline. Group took few selfies and Charminar was ticked off the list.

Just as we were about to head off in search of restaurant for breakfast, a security officer stationed near Charminar seemingly overheard us talking in Konkani came up to us to converse. He identified himself as Mr. Deshpande from Maharashtra and struck a conversation in Marathi. First with Kamlesh and then with rest of guys. He was even kind enough to offer us a Taxi contact for sightseeing around the city. He also recommended ‘Ravi Dosa’ restaurant for breakfast.

We felt hungry. We asked a few around and unanimously got the verdict that ‘Ravi Dosa’ is quite famous in Charminar. As it was 10:00 am, most of the shops were closed. They would open by 11:00 am only. We asked for directions and set out accordingly. However, after walking with our luggage’s for a good 15 mins there were no signs of Hotel Ravi Dosa. We again asked for directions from a nearby shop, he us asked to walk back in the opposite direction, the same that we just walked through. We simply failed to locate it. As we finally tired out and were about to go into the next available hotel, Kamlesh spotted a road side kiosk with public crowding around it. On closer look, we were shocked to that ‘Hotel Ravi Dosa’ is a basic road side hawker with a food stall on wheels.

If the group had backed out right then, it would have been no surprise. However, the hungry stomachs combined with the eager nostrils led us to the food stall. Cheese dosa was available at a reasonable price. No option, we ordered 5 and we bewitchingly watched the preparations of this famous kiosk.

Mr. Ravi laid out the dosa batter on the hot plate. He poured generous amounts butter and cheese that would be enough for a month. Cut pieces of Onions, Tomatoes and more cheese went over the flat Dosa. This was either going to be very good or very bad. He rolled the dosa and served it to us with Chutney and Sambhar.

The first bite and rivulets of cheese overflowed into the mouth. Even Pizzas would have felt embarrassed with so much cheese. However, with no other option and only just to satisfy the growling stomach, we munched with sodden faces, almost wishing the dosa was not as big as the one being served to us. Finally, we had tasted Ravi Dosa. For torturing purposes, we would surely recommend it to a few of our mates.

Next stop was the Pearl bazaar. The old city is famous for its ‘Pearls’. Behind the Charminar, the oceanic jewelry is available anywhere and everywhere. From the dingiest looking shops to the branded luxurious ones, it is Pearls all the way. It is a bit of lottery as to which shop you want to enter; they all sell Pearls – pretty much similar really. Sanit had heard of a shop’s names from one of his friends and it was decided.

We entered a miniscule shop. The lady was more than happy to receive us. 5 bakras at the start of the day. It must have been a dream come true. She laid out the necklaces, bangles, all kinds of pearl jewelry in different shapes and sizes. Everyone wanted to buy something for their loved ones. Especially the married husbands amongst the group for their beloved wives, who had been generous enough to release their husbands off the hook and let them stroll around for nights out of town. It was time to impress them. The other 2 bachelors in the group picked it for their mothers.

It took a while, an audaciously long while. Even the wives and mothers would have been impressed. The guys who did not like to spend even 2 minutes shopping with their near and dear ones for apparels and groceries, spent well over 2 hours in the puny shop. Kamlesh, turned out to be the sheep in a Lion’s skin. He had the lady display innumerous necklaces, bangles, and pearls, even making the lady as well as Mayur wear the pearl necklaces. Took photographs of every single one of them and relayed it back to his wife. After getting the feedback, he sent out some more photos, even video calls followed. He even visited another shop to inquire and compare the prices. And finally, when nothing soothed his eyes, he simply checked out of the shop, much to the chagrin of all of us. By the time the group left the stores, the lady was smiling on her way to the Bank, having earned her weeks keep in hours’ time.

It was lunch time. The famous Hyderabadi Biryani was calling. The name itself whets our appetite. It was time to taste one.

We inquired with the locals. There were 2 restaurant recommendations. Shadab and Madina. After walking with our luggage’s for what felt like an eternity, we finally reached the designated place. It was probably around 1.5 kms from Charminar center. Shadab was the overwhelming crowd favorite. The place was packed with lunch-goers or biryani lovers, so much so there was hardly any place to butt into the restaurant. Incredibly, the waiting time was 1 hour. At the peak of lunch time with our frazzled minds, neither the stomach nor the minds agree to wait for so long. It was rejected unanimously. We settled to dine at Madina. In a stark contrast, it was relatively quiet.

Without even glancing through the menu, we universally ordered the Chicken biryani. The dish arrived in a jiffy, as if the restaurant made only those. We laid into our plates. Be it cause of the hunger or the taste, the ubiquitous Hyderabad Biryani was one to savor. It looked no different from the ones that are served in Goa, however it for sure tasted exquisite. Most of us finished our plates in record time. The cliché, Hyderabad mein gaye aur Biryani khaye, was well and truly conquered.

We had pre-booked a taxi for sightseeing around the city. Although bit overpriced, it seemed reasonable for 5 of us with place to keep our luggage. We quickly covered a few of the well-known places – Sudha Car Museum; numerous reels were taken by the group at the backdrop of the antique and unique cars on display. Next stop was the historic fortress Golconda fort.

The fort is overwhelming, yet sadly lies in ruins. It takes a momentous effort to reach the topmost portion of the fort, as you need climb over 500 steps. We did manage to surmount that, what with lust of getting few sparkling pics amid the breathtaking view of the city. During the short trek, Mayur and Abhijeet even came up with a song of their own, that frankly, sounded incoherent, but melodious.

In the Taxi, Kamlesh saved Abhijeet’s life, atleast on phone. In the call with his wife, Kamlesh wove a brilliant story of how well he braced the company’s official work in getting the machine optimized in record time. He also threw caution to the wind and declared that he saved Abhijeet’s life, who owing to immense heat and work pressure, almost fainted. Kamlesh came to his rescue, caught hold off Abhijeet as he was about to tumble and sprinkled water on his face. Boy, the guy had unique story telling abilities, even 3-year old’s would be proud. For a miniscule second, even we believed him!!!

Next stop was the awe-inspiring Birla Mandir. The temple is primarily built of marbles, conducive to calm and serene atmosphere. It is situated on high hillock overlooking the Hussainsagar lake.

What we later learnt as a routine, Sanit wanted to use the Sulabh Shouchalay for Bowel movement. Kamlesh and Abhijeet too went to the toilet. While exiting, Abhijeet pointed to Kamlesh, that he will pay. Kamlesh nonchalantly pointed out that there was another friend of theirs was still in the toilet. Ofcourse, Sanit unaware of this, only paid for himself. Imperceptibly, Kamlesh had used Sanit as a bait to go Scot free from the toilet.

As the night gathered momentum, we were dropped near a metro station from where we took the Metro to Madhapur – the IT hub part of the city where we had booked our hotel. After entering the Metro, we realized that to reach Madhapur, we had to change the Metro line. We deboarded to a in between station, climbed down two story’s, circle to the other side of the station, climb back up and take the next metro to reach Madhapur, all this while towing our luggage’s.

After deboarding at Madhapur, we hired an Auto Rickshaw and showed him the hotel address. He quoted a price of Rs. 200, which seemed reasonable considering our baggage. Ostensibly and with supreme confidence, we asked all 5 of us to sit in the incredible tiny Auto. Mayur and Sanit sat in the front, squeezing the driver, while holding onto dear life from falling out, while we 3 sat at the back. In a jiffy the Auto had taken a U-turn and dropped us to our hotel. That seemed like the shortest ride of the day. We later realized that the Auto had barely traversed a very short distance from Metro to Hotel which we covered on foot multiple times during our stay. We were indeed taken for a Jolly ride by the Auto driver.

Abhijeet commented, “Yaar, we traveled in pretty much all the transport systems today. Car/Bike to the Goa airport, Flight in the morning, Taxis around the city, Metro to Madhapur and lastly the Auto. Feels good. Koi cycle de de, toh puri cycle complete ho jayegi.”

We reached hotel by 9:00 pm. As soon as we checked in, Sanit inquired “What about dinner guys?”
Even before he could finish the sentence, abhijeet countered, “Bhai, party sharty karenge. Nahi pina mana hai. We will get some food and drinks and come back to hotel. Room pe khana khayenge. Saath cards bhi khelenge toh maza ayega.” Guys were too tired to go out, so fervently agreed to his suggestion.

Abhijeet, Kiran and Kamlesh went out to get the arrangements done. We quickly got hold of Chicken dishes, some snacks and Kamlesh swiftly searched around for the nearest wine store, stocked up with bottles of the red juice.

Back to the hotel, the party began in earnest. As drinks flowed, laughter and banter spurred the moment. Abhijeet taught a few card games to the group. We took a particular liking to ‘Teen Patti’ – A poker game famously played as a gambling game. Of course, we only verbally and arbitrarily quoted the bets, without actual money being involved. However, when Abhijeet challenged the group to play with real money, we all developed cold feet and backed out of the game. Feeling exhausted, we finally crashed into our beds by 2:00 am.

Ramoji Film City waited the next day. Kiran declared, “Falya sakali, 7.30 am bhayr saruya. It takes 1 and half hour to reach Ramoji. That means we need to be ready by 7 atleast.” A collective groan escaped. No way, blurted a few. This was going to be fun. It was certainly going to be exciting.