Ok, let me continue the Hyderabad trip memories from the last post. First things, first. This post is dedicated to all my dear classmates and teachers and Head Mistress, who made this trip a WOW Factor. Here, in this post, before the places and details, lemme give an account of those great memories that come with that trip.
CHENNAI TO HYDERABAD TRAIN
Studying in a school in Chennai, reaching Hyderabad was an overnight train journey. We stayed there for a night, and our teachers effectively came up with a perfect list of the top 10 places to see in Hyderabad in 2 days, our perfect 2 days itinerary in Hyderabad.
Train travels in India are quite an experience by itself. Well, for the travel, apart from those other eatables, we bought Gobi Manchurian. At night after dinner we started out chit chat, music, dance and drama and almost freaked out our dear teachers, who were in a loss trying to control us. We would never heed to them. Then finally after several requests from them, we went off to sleep at, I think 11, I guess (It was school days, and 11 pm was really something, during school days…). But, as the clock struck 12, we got up again. The non-stop chit chat, music and dance had taken the toll and at 12 we felt hungry. Now, where is that Gobi Manchurian? It is still afresh in my memory. By this time, almost everyone was up after the 1 hr rest. This was the best Gobi Manchurian I’ve ever had. At 12, several tens of hands into one casserole of Gobi Manchurian, that’s it. It was over. Again we tried to dig out the chocolates from our bags and continued with our chit chats till I guess 3 am and then went to sleep.
THINGS TO DO IN CHARMINAR
Day 1 began with the symbol of Hyderabad - Charminar. Charminar is the most famous monument and the most important tourist attraction in Hyderabad. Any sightseeing in Hyderabad would begin with Charminar. The permission is granted to go in at a mere cost of Rs 5/-. It has a spiral staircase which leads to the top of the monument. It was dark in there, but the streets looked great from the top. I almost refused to climb down, when my friends pulled me down for shopping. If you are on a shopping spree, Charminar is the spot. It suits every ones budget. You get 2 sets of stitched salwar kameez at Rs.100/- Also you get a single lac bangle with glass work which soar up to even Rs.2000/-. The choice is yours. Interior decoration? Perfumes? Handbags? Dresses? Drop at Chaminar. Hyderabadi pearls are the most important. With my self-imposed ban over pearls, I bypassed all those shops. Few of my friends did try to buy. But with the face that spurts out that we were tourists and with the school uniform, the prices were quoted n times higher. Even otherwise, to shop at the shops beside Charminar needs severe, very severe skill on bargaining. All I bought there was a Kumkum box with a typical Hyderabadi specialty lac work (tiny mirrors fixed on lac coated on various products). This lac work is available in a variety of products including kumkum box, bangles, pens, keychains, mirrors, etc. Pearls & the lac work products are the most important souvenirs to buy in Hyderabad.
MECCA MASJID
A few steps from Charminar lead to Mecca Masjid. Mecca Masjid for sure gave me the feel of Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai. Hundred of pigeons here, add serenity to the place and I stepped into timelessness.
Pic Courtesy: Gunjan Pandey via Wikimedia Commons and Nagasreenivasarao Puppala via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0
Then we proceeded to Salarjung Museum, one of the main attractions in Hyderabad. Since it was a group tour, I had a quick look of the place, but if it was my individual tour, I would definitely need a whole day to spend at Salarjung museum. The veiled Rebecca statue sculpted by Benzoni is my favourite. Years have passes, still I remember every bit of that statue. I almost stood there in that room for around 15 mins. The beauty of the woman behind the veil was great, beyond the description in words. Her toe nails, her veins, the border of the purdah, every minute details ought to be noted. The Double sculpture of Mephistopheles & Margaretta is another master piece, but unfortunately I missed it. This is a wooden sculpture in which a man & woman are sculpted on either sides. Viewing the masterpiece from one side, doesn't at all, giveaway the presence of another, very different sculpture at its back. (Update: This sculpture was used as a symbolism in the movie Viswaroopam 2 to depict the dual nature of the protagonist played by Kamal Hassan). The central musical clock, which is a mechanical clock, is another must see. Sharp at 12’o clock, we gathered near the central clock, to see the clock which is working for centuries. A miniature man comes out when the clock strikes 12 and bangs the bell with his hammer 12 times!
VINTAGE CARS AT SUDHA CARS COLLECTION
Our next stop was Sudha Cars Collection. It’s a private museum. Essentially the private collection of a person, Mr. Sudhakar. He had a huge variety of vehicles, right from vintage cars (even 2 Rolce Royce), ancient jeeps, 3/4 wheeled cycles, Harley Davidson’s. Not just that, he also manages to assemble new funny, freaky cars vehicles too. He had a cricket ball car, football car, a shoe car, a burger car, cup car, the list goes on and on and on. We were school kids at that time, remember? So, we were obviously taken to the PLANETARIUM.BIRLA MANDIR
It was almost 6 pm by then and we went to the Birla Mandis. The best part here – Well, the shopping place. The highlight – Keychains. I got a pretty few. That was the first ever time I saw, the glorified beaded key chains, in which the shopkeeper, combines the beads of the letters to form the name we want. I got a dice keychain and a burning cigarette keychain (with the then budget, and size of pocket money, that was all I could afford, inspite of my craziness for keychains).
HUSSAIN SAGAR LAKE - TWIN CITIES OF HYDERABAD & SECUNDERABAD
It was 7 pm by then. We returned in our bus. And saw the Hussain Sagar lake through the window. The twin cities Hyderabad & Secunderabad are separated by the Hussein Sagar Lake. It has a large standing Buddha statue at its centre. Near it, is the NTR garden. We just peeked in for a crisp, short peek-a-boo and came back to the dorm. Our Hyderabad city tour places were the top tourist places of Hyderabad and it was hectic.
Pic Courtesy: Prawigya via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0
DORM ACCOMMODATION IN HYDERABAD
The night at the dorm was a bit too funny. With around 300 girls in a big hall controlled by just 6 or 7 teachers, I could imagine their plight. We would never sleep or let them sleep. Even after putting off the lights, suddenly someone would burst into laughter from some corner of the room and everyone would start laughing and activities begin again, until the teachers shout again and try to bring the situation under control. The murmurs would die and again in the next 10 mins, the same would happen.Our gang of 6 slept in two rows with heads together, to facilitate the nonchalant chats. Our alarm was at 4:30 to prevent the bathroom rush. Then somehow, we slept. Next morning out alarm went off and our neighbors too got up with us. We assured then it was 4:30 and we would wake them at 5:30. But somewhere something had gone wrong, and it was already 5:30 and we got cursed by them. But as soon as we got up, we realized one of our friends was missing. On trying to find her, we looked around and found her asleep a bit further away. Her neighbor had rolled herself, along with my friend and both of them had rolled over pushing away atleast 10 people! We bathed inspite of the pouring rain and came out shivering.
And it was time for our trip to GOLCONDA FORT & MOHAMMAD QULI TOMB, our plan for Day 2.
PLACES TO SEE IN HYDERABAD IN 2 DAYS:
- Day 1 - Charminar, Mecca Masjid, Salarjung Museum, Sudha Cars Museum, Planetarium, Birla Mandir, Hussein Sagar Lake, NTR Gardens
- Day 2 - Golconda Fort, Tomb of Mohammad Quli Qutub Shahi
WEEKEND DESTINATIONS FROM HYDERABAD:
All these destinations are about 400km from Hyderabad and ideally are overnight journeys - Horsley Hills, Araku Valley, Hampi, Gandikota, Nagalapuram Hills, Lepakshi, Bijapur
On Google Maps: Charminar, Mecca Masjid, Salarjung Museum, Sudha Cars Collection, Planetarium, Birla Mandir, Hussain Sagar Lake, NTR Gardens
CHARMINAR TICKETS
Charminar Entry Tickets for Indians & SAARC Nationals: Rs.20/-
Charminar Entry Tickets for Foreigners: Rs.250/-
Charminar tickets can be bought online on ASI's official website via ASI - PayUMoney app.
Choose Hyderabad and choose Charminar. Choose the date and proceed to give your ID details and pay.
Tickets can also be bought at the gate.
Dedicated to my dearest, nearest, sweetest School pals and teachers...
good narration. good that u remeber those golden days
ReplyDelete@ Thala,
ReplyDeleteLong time, No C... Enga aalaye kaanom... Thanks for dropping in a comment. And do peep in often...
I regret for not being the part of those golden days..
ReplyDeleteAs usual ur narration style - AWESOME & Simple.
So nice to get in touch with the olden days...oops..i said "olden"? nay...."GOLDEN" days....
ReplyDeleteAWESOME JOB!!
Great memories of school days well written and in such vivid detail ! I identify with all the places/monuments mentioned in your blog. Used to live in Hyderabad about 27 years ago not far from the Husain Sagar lake. The twin cities of Hyderabad/Secunderabad has undergone a tremendous change over the past decade or so and become much more modern.
ReplyDelete@Sowmi, Thanks da...
ReplyDelete@Shyda, Thanks dear... And do keep dropping in once in a while...
@Ramakrishnan Sir, Wow... U seem to have traveled all over India
Nice snaps. I had been to this place on official visit. I would love to go here for sight seeing.
ReplyDelete@Rajesh, Thanks dear... :)
ReplyDeleteExcellent naration de!!!!!!!! I could feel all those moments in front of my eyes. I still remember Rinny miss yelling scene that night. Keep up the good work!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete@ It just goes on,
ReplyDeleteThank you. But again, who is this...??? Yarumaa nee.???
u sounded like a real shopkeeper in the 'shopping spree' section...
ReplyDeleteagain ... nice blog
@ Krish, Thanks dear... :)
ReplyDeletebhush.......... i m surprised tat u ve still got every detail so perfect. awesome brain dear!!!!!
ReplyDeleteafter seeing this i remember everything..... gosh....... wanna go to school as a kid again.....
Hey Gina,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to my blog. Me too missing school days da... :(