Hyderabad Chronicle - 1

The weekend was rather eventful. The Doc and I were at Hyderabad. Just entering Hyderabad and driving into the city brought back a rush of memories for both of us. The drive through the city streets and lanes made the longing to return to it even stronger. This is where we met and this was the city where our future together got cast in stone. A whole slew of things came back to our minds:

• The Hang Out(pic featuring only the partial crowd)–the place (our dear old apartment) where a bunch of us lived, hung out with friends, got drunk silly, spent endless nights chatting over unending cups of chai**(then discussed who would make the tea next), swooned over books for our exams, held innumerable discussions on just about anything(even the poor fly's perch on a wall was scrutinized), danced on crazy music, celebrated birthdays by splattering cake all over ourselves and the floor(and spent the next day cleaning it!), cooked enormous amounts of food to feed 6 to 8 hungry souls with garangtuan appetites, there were of course the several fights and broken hearts... the list is endless.

• The Escapes – The Doc and I have always been heavily into this, till date. As soon as we met our only escape were the long drives down Jubilee Hills, Hitech city, Durgam Cheruvu** etc. This seemed the only 1 or 2 hours when we could simply enjoy the fresh air and each others company with nothing more than the wind whistling in our ears, the steady roar of the engine and the comfortable silence.

• Nothings Over Coffee – Our much treasured moments were spent at a special place on road no. 36 Jubilee Hills, it lay perched on a little mound and was called Qahwa. The most amazing coffee was served here. You could say that our futures were sealed here over cups and cups of steaming fantastic coffee. Its not around any more. It went when we left the place, sort of quaintly coincidental. We were indeed deeply struck by the loss and keep our fingers crossed for its resurrection. Also, around the corner from the same place was our favorite chaat stall. We used to be special guests deserving of his best services and huge discounts because we brought him tons of business thanks to the Institute

• The Institute – heres where we came to build our futures. We did do so successfully but not without causing a lot of pain to our faculty and especially our dean. But, we made it and we're doing pretty okay. Though I wish that we could be more in control of the Bohemian in us.
  

• The Rest – then of course there were the special dinners and dates and nice restaurants, great shopping, plenty of walks around the old city and Charminar(very quaint) to buy little bric-a-bracs and satiate my feminine side. More friends, more parties, short trips to vague & adventurous destinations, late nights...
  

We will return to Hyderabad some day. In the meanwhile, I guess its more Hyderabad rushes in many more short trips to relive a few instances and take away some more indelible memories.

**Chai - our tea was made with loads of finely grated ginger brewed with milk, water and sugar.
**Durgam Cheruvu - Secret Lake as it is also popularly called - is no more a secret though. This idyllic lake is in Hyderabad near Hitech City. The lake spreads over an area of 63 acres and is encompassed with rocks and hills. It used to be a wonderful retreat for silence, seclusion and serious conversation. We now here this is spoilt because of too much public nuisance and encroachment. It saddens us to think of it so.