During my childhood days I have been a witness to quite a yapping on “phoren returned individuals”. Now it is quite a common thing with mango and not so mango people visiting these pastures for just a casual trip, paying a visit to married son or daughter or even a miniature transplant which is possible back home too. However the charms of a tag ‘made outside India’ are lucrative enough.
Foreign to me always was something that is not yours. Then why going abroad is the only way to secure the trophy. Hello everyone…..here, yes, here…..I have dithered out of my secure cozy home town too. Not an achievement for sure, given the kind of loner I am, but evidently a step too far. Hyderabad…..the land of nizams……and the land of beefy, moustached, greater than god heroes. For that matter even the heroines here weigh more than our heroes. :)
Foreign to me always was something that is not yours. Then why going abroad is the only way to secure the trophy. Hello everyone…..here, yes, here…..I have dithered out of my secure cozy home town too. Not an achievement for sure, given the kind of loner I am, but evidently a step too far. Hyderabad…..the land of nizams……and the land of beefy, moustached, greater than god heroes. For that matter even the heroines here weigh more than our heroes. :)
My sojourn in Hyderabad is short but long enough to understand the city and culture around. Please do not mistake me for a discerning Huen Tsang. Culture to me here is limited to good biryanis and eye catching colorful pearls (I have shopped quite a many). There are other things that have kept me bound to this city for almost a month now, the first and foremost being the night life.
Apart from being a hub of discs and pubs night life to me is the life of people who are out while I enjoy my night in my soft 16” mattress. Ssshhh….please do not tell anyone I am afraid of hotel rooms. The sound of cars honking past the hussainsagar lake drive is enough to lull me to sleep. I am grateful that my room overlooks one of the busiest and most picturesque roads of Hyderabad.
When I was leaving for Hyderabad my friends wished me luck for braving the Tollywood starlets. But pals let me assure you some of them are handsome enough to put our Khan brigade to shame. Surprised……..I am sure you would be cause I am awe struck too. This reminds me of an interesting incident when I had gone to see my close friend at her hotel (no, not all my friends are unfortunate to stay in hotels, she is blessed to have a house of her own). Once done with our dinner she beamed out in hushed undertone the name of a south superstar who had been getting his hair styled for the last 5 hours in her salon. I was super impressed. Arrre not for the hero whose name reminisced a ‘babu’ in some secretariat but for the time spent in styling a few whisks of hair. I mean it would have put Poonam Dillon to shame…remember the Bajaj Brahmi Amla kesh tel!!!! But boy oh!…how he managed to charm me with just a casual sideway glance. He played Sushmita to my Shahrukh-ised dream of Mai Hoo na.
One thing that has succeeded in scaring my wits out is the auto drivers here. Man……I wonder if they imitate Rajnikant on roads. The entire clan it seems is competing on who is able to terrorize the passengers more. ‘ Khush to bahut hoge tum’, I am sure god was all chuckled up once I thanked him on getting out alive.
Did anyone of you ever hear that South Indians are conservative!!! Hell, I will give you a burning example. Just the other day I asked one of my colleagues to drop me midway on his route. The three married males in my department literally had a fight. Guys please do not misunderstand. They fought not over the privilege of dropping me but how could they pass the buck to the other guy. Yeah….I choose to call it a burning example because it left me fuming not with anger but with heat of embarrassment and shame. I wondered if I came across as a flirt vamp who would snatch them away from their wives!!! Precisely…….gimme a break…..it was just a lift I had asked for :
Monsoons are yet another thing that have me hooked to the city. Coming from a predominantly dry state the platter of rain drops are melody to ears and beauty to eyes. Sitting in the room, sipping hot chocolate (sadly, I chose a wrong time to denounce coffee) and gazing at those thousands of sail boats populating the river on a cloudy morning….. If there is a heaven on earth- it is here, it is here, it is here.
By and large I have covered all the idiosyncrasies of the city so far experienced. And I am not going to tell you people about my weight that has increased exponentially with the taste of biryanis. All you guys can know is that biryanis here are more popular in youngsters than the Chicken Mc grill or thin crust pizzas. All is not lost in liberalization.
I will have to say good bye here as my stomach is growling for a bite of Bhindi Pulussu and bisibele bath.
P.S. I am yet to learn to savour the taste of these delicacies though I have mastered the transformation of my breakfast menu from delectable poha and cutlets to healthy filling idlis and pancakes.
When I was leaving for Hyderabad my friends wished me luck for braving the Tollywood starlets. But pals let me assure you some of them are handsome enough to put our Khan brigade to shame. Surprised……..I am sure you would be cause I am awe struck too. This reminds me of an interesting incident when I had gone to see my close friend at her hotel (no, not all my friends are unfortunate to stay in hotels, she is blessed to have a house of her own). Once done with our dinner she beamed out in hushed undertone the name of a south superstar who had been getting his hair styled for the last 5 hours in her salon. I was super impressed. Arrre not for the hero whose name reminisced a ‘babu’ in some secretariat but for the time spent in styling a few whisks of hair. I mean it would have put Poonam Dillon to shame…remember the Bajaj Brahmi Amla kesh tel!!!! But boy oh!…how he managed to charm me with just a casual sideway glance. He played Sushmita to my Shahrukh-ised dream of Mai Hoo na.
One thing that has succeeded in scaring my wits out is the auto drivers here. Man……I wonder if they imitate Rajnikant on roads. The entire clan it seems is competing on who is able to terrorize the passengers more. ‘ Khush to bahut hoge tum’, I am sure god was all chuckled up once I thanked him on getting out alive.
Did anyone of you ever hear that South Indians are conservative!!! Hell, I will give you a burning example. Just the other day I asked one of my colleagues to drop me midway on his route. The three married males in my department literally had a fight. Guys please do not misunderstand. They fought not over the privilege of dropping me but how could they pass the buck to the other guy. Yeah….I choose to call it a burning example because it left me fuming not with anger but with heat of embarrassment and shame. I wondered if I came across as a flirt vamp who would snatch them away from their wives!!! Precisely…….gimme a break…..it was just a lift I had asked for :
Monsoons are yet another thing that have me hooked to the city. Coming from a predominantly dry state the platter of rain drops are melody to ears and beauty to eyes. Sitting in the room, sipping hot chocolate (sadly, I chose a wrong time to denounce coffee) and gazing at those thousands of sail boats populating the river on a cloudy morning….. If there is a heaven on earth- it is here, it is here, it is here.
By and large I have covered all the idiosyncrasies of the city so far experienced. And I am not going to tell you people about my weight that has increased exponentially with the taste of biryanis. All you guys can know is that biryanis here are more popular in youngsters than the Chicken Mc grill or thin crust pizzas. All is not lost in liberalization.
I will have to say good bye here as my stomach is growling for a bite of Bhindi Pulussu and bisibele bath.
P.S. I am yet to learn to savour the taste of these delicacies though I have mastered the transformation of my breakfast menu from delectable poha and cutlets to healthy filling idlis and pancakes.
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