Hyderabad- After 6 months

I was returning to Hyderabad after 6 months of moving out of the city. It was for a short trip of 4 days with my family. I was staying at my home there and it was a very different experience this time. Previously, I went into a nicely set home where we had everything one needed to lead a comfortable life. However, since we moved out now, the home there was almost barren. There was no furniture except for a cot that we deliberately left behind, no utensils, no TV, no wi-fi internet, no refrigerator, no gas connection, no air-conditioning etc. Here is an account of the highlights of the trip.

Day 1: We arrived in Hyderabad during the early morning hours in Kacheguda. It was cooler than we anticipated. I love the sight of the beautiful white Kacheguda station- it seems like one made for the royal family.
 Once home, we got it cleaned. The next thing we wanted to do was have a shower. However, the water would not pass through the geyser, so we booked a OYO room in a nearby hotel....until we discovered an electric kettle that we left behind in a wall cabinet. It really came to our rescue. We thought of several uses of it- the most important one being able to heat the water for a bath. We heated the water using the kettle for our bath and since it was all working fine, cancelled our hotel room. We went out for a brunch and then a bit of shopping to Sultan Bazaar. If you remember my previous blog post (click here if you do not), I really like shopping in Sultan Bazaar. We wanted to keep our luggage light so did not really buy much. However, we did go to Rajshree Dry Fruits and got some simple snacks to munch on and also a pack of instant misal and pav. Day 1 though hot, was quite bearable with a fan to keep us cool. I slept on the floor with just a sheet and an air-pillow (the one which is inflated by blowing air into it) and this continued throughout the trip.

The Life-changing Kettle definitely deserved some credit in this blog

Day 2: We had Misal-Pav for breakfast. We reconstituted the misal with the boiling hot water from the kettle. We purchased a small glass bowl so that we can use it for the basic cooking with the water from the kettle, if needed. After finishing a bit of business in the city, we had a lunch in a restaurant.  We also purchased a couple of packs of instant noodles and used the boiling water from the kettle to cook it. I had this for dinner, along with a banana. One could really feel the sweltering hot Hyderabad summer and the urge to drink lots of water.

Day 3: This was a movie day. After lunch we went to watch a movie, which was just an excuse to enjoy the air-conditioning of the theatre. On our way back, we had a nice snack and also parcelled a bit of food for dinner. However, the snack was quite filling and we skipped the dinner. Now, the challenge was to store the parcelled food without the refrigerator. My MIL came up with an amazing solution. We filled up the glass bowl we bought on day 2 with water and placed a plastic container with the food in it, in the glass bowl. The food was intact on the following day. The temperature touched 40C this day and it was pretty hot.

Day 4: This day for me was a reunion with my friends. I met a few of them in a mall and a few of them in my former office. It was time well spent and was great catching-up. I felt like I never left. All our friendships were still as warm as they were 6 months ago. I really had a good time. I hope they liked the home-made chocolates (made by someone else, not me) I got for them. It was a hot day again with temperature touching 40C yet again.

What Changed in Hyderabad in 6 months:

• The metro service in the city has started and the construction in other parts of the city seemed to be in full-swing with greater energy than 6 months back.
• I absolutely loved the replacement of conventional bulbs illuminating the streets, with LED lights. The streets now not only seem brighter than before but also cooler owing to the white light compared to the fire-like lights from bulbs.
• In the Hi-Tec City part of Hyderabad, there has been massive development of buildings, in just 6 months. The areas that seemed pretty barren were now lodged with a lot of new completed/under-construction buildings. My only fear after viewing the rapid urbanisation is a fate similar to Bangalore. I hope the Telangana government would learn from Bengaluru's woes and take necessary measures.
• Durgam Cheruvu was neglected for quite some time. I think they have started some sort of a beautification process there which seems interesting. The place has had on and off attention and it is good to see some change being brought about there.
•  Hyderabad for once seemed quite expensive. At least I did not feel any difference in the price of commodities compared to Bangalore, which seemed pretty obvious when I moved there 5.5 years ago. In fact, some things seemed more expensive in Hyderabad. The rents might be still cheaper compared most of the other southern capital cities, but it is climbing up is what I have heard.
• The traffic seems to have gone up considerably as well but still not in a terrible situation.

The one thing I hoped would change but did not was Autorickshaws. They have a meter but it is just because the vehicle came with it. There is absolutely no intention to use it and one is at the mercy of the price quoted by the drivers. Though some of them budge from the quoted price, most do not.

This trip gave me an opportunity to disconnect for longer periods during the day, from the world of webs. I really felt nostalgic about the time I moved to Hyderabad as a bride, the time I bade farewell to my best friend from there and her visit in one occasion after she left Hyderabad, the joys and troubled times that we sailed through together as a family. I also made a lot of progress with my reading- review would be posted once I am done reading. I wish I could go to Himalaya Book World, Deccan Pen Stores in Abids and a whole bunch of other places in the city and meet more of my friends- maybe next time!