Memoirs of a Metro Man (Not E. Sreedharan’s)

 

These are the memoirs of another man, me who qualifies as a common Man in a Metro. Right from its inception in 2017, I have been a great fan of the Hyderabad Metro service. I am proud to say that I frequently use Hyderabad Metro and am fascinated by its convenience, speed, connectivity, and lack of frequent traffic jams that are quite prevalent in the other, modes of public transport.

Metro is convenient for me as we stay close to Miyapur station, one of the terminal points. This ensures that I always get a place to sit when I start my journey. My return journey station, Moosaram Bagh too is very close to the other terminus, LB Nagar and I am ensured comfortable seating on both sides of the journey. My wife jokes “you move from a drawing-room (house) to an Air-conditioned Office (My workplace) courtesy, Hyderabad Metro”.

I call myself an MMTS traveler using a Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS). Metro train, Bus, Auto, Cab, Car, walking are all means of traveling for me. The following are some of my observations about Metro Travelers.

1) “Eating and drinking are banned in Hyderabad Metro”. This might surprise many travelers but it is true. Unlike a regular railway system where eating and drinking non-alcoholic beverages is permitted, eating and drinking are not permitted in Metro trains. Most don’t drink or eat, but in few cases, it has been noticed that people munch on snacks (Kurkure, Chips, Frankie’s, Samosas and drink water (permissible), and in some cases I have seen travelers drinking Coke/Pepsi. But it is undeniable that most people don’t eat or drink as the journeys tend to be short, maximum 10 or 15 minutes.

2)  According to the Hyderabad Metro Website, taking photos is also banned. But this too like eating and drinking this is never enforced. There are no signboards about prohibiting eating, drinking, and taking snaps and selfies. Commuters can’t be blamed for indulging in these activities as most might not even be aware that these activities are banned.

3)  Most commuters don’t believe in queuing up while entering the train or when they are disembarking. It’s a free for all and even at terminal stations there is pell-mell and people simply rush in like stampeded cattle!

4)  No respect for women, people with special needs, or senior citizens. Except for the reserved ladies section where only women sit, all other seating area is occupied by young men and women who give scant notice to others with special needs. Even in places reserved for the senior citizens have to ask for people to vacate the seats. No one voluntarily gets up and offers a seat. The other day, a senior citizen demanded a seat. The man sitting had an interesting reason not to get up. He said, “Ask those youngsters (pointing to some teenagers) to get up. I am older than them”. This defeats the entire purpose of reserving the seats. The seats are meant for senior citizens and people sitting have to vacate without putting any preconditions!

5)  During the four years of my travel in Hyderabad Metro, I have some interesting insights. No one reads printed matter of any sort! Apart from me (I read novels and magazines), Once I saw a young girl reading a novel and on another occasion, I saw a young man reading a newspaper. That is all! 99% of the travelers are joined to their umbilical cord, the omnipresent cellphone. Most people listen to music (loudly), talk incessantly (again loudly), see videos (movies, serials, comedy shows) at high decibel levels. It is a cacophony of sounds. Very few people use headphones or earphones. I am told that in Japan there is pin-drop silence in metros and most if any all travelers use headphones and earphones and text instead of talking to avoid disturbing others.

6)  Commuters' backpacks are a big nuisance. The unwieldy backpacks often swing in all directions and hit other standing travelers or brush the faces of the seated travelers. I often think of the pack backers as being pregnant on the wrong side. Most of the backpacks look like full-term pregnancies. It looks as if the baby inside would pop out at any time. Hyderabad metro should use its train audio system to advise commuters to put their back backs on the floor and not take up additional space and assault the others.

7) Women tend to converge both at the first and the last cars (compartments). The last car had a women-only section which now allows all passengers but women still prefer the first and the last cars.

8) Staircases are not very popular and only around 5% of travelers use the staircases. Most use the escalators and the lifts. Lifts are meant elderly and travelers with special needs but most ignore the instructions posted at the lift entrance.

9)  No respect for personal space. Due to Covid, Hyderabad Metro has made it mandatory that travelers sit only on alternate seats. But this is not enforced and all seats are occupied. The travelers in the allowed seating make seating difficult in the restricted seats by spreading their thighs and making sitting unconvertable. But alas, the hardy Hyderabadi Metro travelers squeeze themselves and slowly but surely make the unwilling next eat person sit properly (with thighs close together).

10)   In spite of repeated requests by the Hyderabad Metro personnel there is too much crowding at the front part of the train. The metro personnel plead and request the commuters to move back but to no avail. There is a tendency to get into the train from the front part and then move back. Common sense says that the last compartment is least preferred. It is less crowded and there are more chances of getting seating space.

Marketing lesson for the day: bumbling Hyderabad Metro

Hyderabad Metro along with other Metros is missing ways and means of garnering eye balls. Unlike other metros, Hyderabad Metro’s concourse is at a different level (level1) and the platform is on a different level (level 2). HMR says 70,000 to 80,000 people are utilizing their service every day.

The retail outlets are not ready, the billboards in the platform are not totally let-out and I have never seen any product promotions take place during my travel. Two days ago, ‘The New Indian Express newspaper’ was being given free. But sadly no one was picking up a copy! The Reason, there was no notice saying ‘pick me up’ and there was no-one from ‘The New Indian Express’ to hand out the free copy.

I did pick up a copy and most other passengers were throwing curious glances at me. Except for air travellers, none of the other passengers were used to picking up a free copy of stacked newspapers. They were under the impressions that the newspaper was not free and that they would be asked to pay. Good experiment but the entire effort was wasted due to wrong execution.

Except for the super travel experience, Hyderabad Metro does not offer any chance or excuse to stay and linger. And marketing is all about stickiness. There is hardly any reason for anyone to stick around. If people stick around, the stations would appear crowded and that would create a buzz, action, popularity and of crowds. Because of unimaginative marketing, the metro stations look deserted and frankly are frighteningly lonely spaces for girls and women. There is hardly any vibrancy.

And to top it all Hyderabad Metro rail has introduced ladies only restricted seating area. It is a very retrograde move. I have travelled in many metros including BART (Bay area Rapid Transport) in California bay area, Bangkok Metro, Delhi Metro, Bangalore Metro and in Chennai Metro. No other metro except Hyderabad has restricted ladies only seating.

The ladies only seating area separators look shabby and tacky. I have observed many times that there is space in the ladies only seating area and many women sit in the unrestricted area while many men including senior citizens are left standing. Somehow it makes for a very depressing sight. So technically even if the reserved seating is free, men can’t enter that space. Definitely, have separate seating area for women but the divider mars the Hyderabad Metro claim of ‘Global form of high speed travel’.

Similar experiment was tried out in Hyderabad city buses where literally a door was installed to divide the women’s seating from the men’s seating area. The idea was an utter flop and it was hastily withdrawn. So like a proverbial fool, Hyderabad Metro is rushing into something when one needs to tread with caution! It is not the case of once bitten twice shy! Keep making one mistake after another and hope that committing many mistakes will finally result in one correct result or an outcome.

And to top it all there is talk to have ‘a women only station’. Excuse me ‘what do you mean women only station?’. And Pray! what should the men who want to get down or get into the metro from that particular station do? Are they supposed to go to the next station? If it was not so silly, it would have been a good joke.

Marketing story of the day: 21 gun salute to the power of marketing - Sind Bakery, Karachi Bakery and Pardise Biryani.

Today on a market visit I saw a board that said “Sind Bakery” shop in Secunderabad. This is in direct competition to “Karachi Bakery” the now famous bakery and biscuit brand from Hyderabad.

This led to an interesting discussion with my PhD student Mr. Madhusudan Kota. Kota was of the opinion that Sind was trying to cash on the name Karachi and trying to piggy ride Karachi’s popularity and try to build as me too brand.

Quite an interesting thought but I beg to disagree. Karachi the bakery and biscuit brand has nothing to do with the name KARACHI the port city of Pakistan. It is a long standing bakery that got first established from Mozzamzahi market.

It became known for its fresh mouth-watering puffs, pastries, cakes and biscuits. The story goes that all items are freshly baked and left over food items are distributed to the poor and the needy at the bakery closing time.

It was clever branding, and even more cleverer franchising and giving wings to the brand Karachi that made it a brand to reckon. Sind Bakery will have to create its own market space and not try to hitch a free ride along with Karachi.

Paradise Biryani has now become synonymous with Hyderabad and Hyderabadi biryani. Readers will be surprised to know that brand Paradise is quite a recent phenomenon.

Paradise was the name of a cinema hall and Paradise cafe was a canteen that served the cinema audience snacks during the movie interval.

Fact of the matter is that till late nineties Paradise was quite low in the pecking order as far popularity of Hyderabad biryani was considered. The top draw was Alfa biryani, followed by Garden restaurant biryani, Madina hotel biryani , Shadab hotel biryani and then it was Paradise Biryani.

Where-as all the others remained wedded to traditions, it was Paradise that embraced modern marketing and propelled itself to becoming almost synonymous with Hyderabadi food and became one of the most sought after city attractions to visit. Not bad for a brand that started out as a cinema hall canteen. 21-gun salute to power of marketing.

Hyderabadi Es-style - English

Hyderabad is a city where predominantly Telugu and Urdu are mostly spoken but strangely there is a fascination for using English. This leads to many funny situations. Some of them are listed. 

An apartment block had a tenth pass watchman. The apartment block was being harassed by unwanted salesmen. The apartment owners asked the English educated watchman to put up a notice. He put up a notice “No Sales, Men allowed”.  He was severely reprimanded and finally he corrected the sign as “Salesmen not allowed”. A disgruntled Salesman rubbed some of the letters off selectively to make the sign read “Salesmen loved”

Most hospitals have many sisters (nurses as they are popularly called in India). They sometimes fill up the preliminary case sheet. One sister made this report “Patient has one small son at home. So she wants to remove her stomach”. On enquiry the real story come out. The patient had a small baby at home. She was pregnant and wanted to abort the baby as she feared that she could not manage two kids. She wanted an abortion. An abortion was reported as removing of stomach aka stomach stapling a completely different procedure for a completely different ailment.

Another sister made out this gem” Patient complaining of pain. Wants an abortion. Mother-in-law can’t see”. The doctor asked the nurse “I can understand the patient’s problem. But why don’t we refer the Mother-in-law to an Ophthalmologist?” The nurse sheepishly answered “Nahi doctor madam, the mother-in-law can’t bear seeing the pain of her daughter-in-law. There is nothing wrong with her eyes”

A small sugar cane juice seller put up a sign. Amitabh – 5 rupees and Jaya Bhaduri – Rs 2.50. What he meant was big glass – 5 rupees and small glass – Rs 2.50. For the uninitiated Amitabh Bachaan the superstar of India is very tall and his wife Jaya Bhaduri also an actor – is small and petite.  

Small time motor cycle mechanics in Hyderabad would be seen shouting “Areh Chotu bring me the 2-3 panna”. Panna? Panna is the Hyderabadi word for Spanner.

As a child I remember going to a stationery shop and asking for a sharpener. The shop keeper was puzzled. Luckily for me I could spot a sharpener and pointed it out to him. He said “Aare babu woh tho Chakmaar hai – (translated it means – that is a Chakmaar)” and gave me a Hyderabadi sharpener (Chakmaar)

My mother’s friend was taking a new type of medication. My mother enquired “is it Homeopathy that you are taking?” Her friend promptly said “No Hemalatha garu not Homeopathy, I am taking Ompathy” (Ompathy – Oh my god! What a name for Homeopathy).

A newly minted doctor asked for a new sign. What the sign maker gave him almost killed him. The sigh said “Dr So and So The Rapist”. The doctor was a Therapist!

Children in Hyderabad play a hide and seek game where the catcher sings out “Iceboy” when he sees a hidden friend. “Iceboy" is the Hyderabadi equivalent for the game "I saw a boy”.

The common way of talking to each other in Hyderabad would be to say “I say you” and “what say you” This is what the Queen ’s English has become in Hyderabad. (I told you and you told me for the grammatically inclined readers).

One of my BIFAAS student from second shift Mr. Bharat came out with an interesting word of his own. He said that the popular word for eraser was lubber (rubber). Very funny.

Also it is quite common to hear customers shouting out “I need a chilling cold drink” in a hotel. What the customer wants is a chilled cold drink. Chilling is a process and chilled is the end result!

Hyderabad is known for its big mandis (huge whole sale markets). Fruit sellers sell fruits in small hundreds and big hundreds. A small hundred (chinna Vanda) is 96 mangoes like in the case of a hundred page note book and big hundred (peddha Vanda) is 192 mangoes like in the case of a 200 page note book.

Similarly a baker’s dozen is not 12 it is 13. In the by gone era when a customer buys a dozen loaves of bread one loaf of bread is given extra as a bonus. Very confusing.

Many of the TV anchors and experts are seen saying “Both of you all danced very well” – Both of you should be used and not both of you all. 

Famous markets in Hyderabad (Jummerat Bazaar, Bangladesh Market, Jagdish Market, Abids Sunday book Market)

1. Dhoolpet is one of the old suburbs in Hyderabad, India. It is part of the old city of Hyderabad. This place is inhabited by people who migrated from Uttar Pradesh during the Nizam rule.

This is popular for its Ganesh idols which are made for the festival Ganesh Chaturthi. People from all over the state come here to buy from this market. People of the suburb are famous and indulge in many other seasonal businesses like idol making even for Durgashtami, kite making for Pongal, rakhis etc.

The historic Jummerat Bazaar i.e. 'Thursday Market' is held every Thursday in Dhoolpet. This market is a kind of flea market where most of the stuff is supposedly stolen stuff. Jummerat Bazaar comes alive every Thursday morning. People begin gathering Wednesday night with their wares. Things are very cheap and for example one can expect to get a full cricket gear for less than 10USD.

2. Bangladesh Market: There is a Bangladesh market in Hyderabad. This is nothing but a shopping area in Bholakpur, Musheerabad. Formed in the late 1960s, this area is famous for low rate Cloth Market every day.

Small and petty vendors on their push cart, daily arrive here and sell their cloth items at throw away prices. Come any festivals, the area will have a festival look with lots of purchasers making a bee line to buy something here apart from cloths. Since the Market place is little interior, one has to alight at Musheerabad Raja Deluxe theatre and then proceed by walk to reach this spot.

3 Jagdish Market: The best place to pick up a mobile phone is Jagdish Market at Chirag Ali Lane, Abids, Hyderabad. The market is crammed with stores selling cell phones and everything related to it.

‘Fixed Rate- one price’- screams out a board from one of the stores in the area. But bargaining hard for a mobile phone of Chinese make or any mobile is very much on and it is part of the shopping experience.  Also known as Abids Shopping Centre, the place is filled with all kinds of mobile phones- branded and fakes.

There is something for every kind of buyers ranging from second-hand cell phones to ‘box pieces’ (new ones) and Chinese phones. One can pick up accessories like scratch proof screens, tags and fancy pouches for nominal prices.

The market also has a few ‘mobile phone servicing centers’ where one can get their phones repaired. There is no fixed rate for servicing mobile phones as it depends on the phone’s model and the type of problem.

One can also sell their old mobile phones here. Most store keepers buy them depending on the phone’s condition. Used phones are checked for glitches and undergo a servicing before being sold again and prices depend on brand and condition of the phone.

4. Abids Sunday book market: the range of the books available is insurmountable. Fiction, nonfiction, classics, best sellers, self help books, text books, and magazines you name the category of books and that category books would be available in Abids. What one needs is a full stomach, strong abs (one needs to crouch down and get up many times), lots of time, a sense of adventure and a knack of bargaining. Should we call it a second hand market? Definitely but along with second hand books one can get pirated books and low-priced original duplicates.  

But of late the air of bustling activity is missing from the bookshops that at one point of time used to define the beginning of vacation for generations of Hyderabadis. Part of the change is the business of books, part of the story is the change in reading habits and part of it is the impact of globalised village. People prefer television, Internet and social networking to the old habit of reading.  People mostly want to read only self-help books. The number of readers has gone down drastically.  

The number of booksellers has also declined as the books have changed from a few fiction novels and history books to non-selling fictions dumped from the US, old magazines, old self-help books and travel guides. The Bata showroom corner and F.D. Khan showroom that used to be the nerve centre of the trade on Sundays are now selling mostly factory-seconds shirts and trousers.

Another factor for the change is the availability of used books 24 x 7 by three or four big businesses have grabbed a lion's share of the books coming into the market and have set up year-round book sale in the city. And Abids is no longer the same on Sunday afternoons.

What's in a name - Origins of Hyderabadi Street names!

 

What in a name one might ask? I would say everything especially if you are from Hyderabad. The Hyderabadi names are exotic, funny, and quixotic. Where else in the world can you find Domalguda, Koranti, Abids etc.

Hyderabad itself has many theories as how it has got its name. One of the theories is that Hyderabad was once called as Bhagnagar which stands for ‘city of gardens’. There were a a number of gardens in and around the city of Hyderabad, such as Bashir Bagh, Amin Bagh, Bir Ban Bagh, Hardikar Bagh, Bagh Lingampally and Jam Bagh etc. Hence it was called as Bhagnagar later to be called Bhagyanagar.

Residents of Domalguda always say that their locality is aptly named. This they do while swatting the mosquitoes. Domal in Telugu means mosquitoes and Domalguda means a place where mosquitoes stay. Way off the mark. The locality gets its name from Do Mahal a mosque. Over the centuries Do Mahal Guda became Domal Guda. One another version talks about the area having two famous wrestlers and the area was initially called Do-mal and because of them the area is called Domalguda.

Koranti is neither telugu or hindi nor urdu. Koranti is actually a hospital the very popular fever hospital.  So how does this locality get its name? It gets its name from Quarantine (a place where patients with contagious diseases are segregated till the disease is treated / cured). Like wise Masab Tank gets its name from Maa Sahaba Tank that today has become the Chacha Nehru Park.

Hyderabad has exotic localities like First Lancer, A C guards gets its name after African Cavalry guards of the Nizam of Hyderabad. They are rememberances of the military past of Hyderabad. Golconda the famous monument is actually Gollakonda; Golla means Yadav and Konda means hillock and it was the ruled by the yadava Kings. Bowenpally the bustling locality in Secunderabad most probably got its name from Boyinas (meaning Palanquin holders) who lived in that locality. 

Abids the popular shopping area has very interesting origin. Abid was the owner of the first shop in this bustling locality. Albert Abid was a Jewish merchant and he opened the first departmental store. The entire locality is called Abids. The place where Abid store stood later became palace cinema which later became big Bazaar.

Near Abids is Gunfoundry or Tope ka sancha which was built by a French General – Monsieur Raymond. It was one of the several cannon and cannonball factories set up in 1786. So the locality is called Gunfoundry. The locality houses headquarters of the famous State Bank of Hyderabad,

Lakidikapul gets its name from Lakidi meaning wood and Pul means a bridge. The name means wooden bridge. What a romantic name! There are places named after communities like Banjara Hills, Baider wadi, Bhaldar wadi, Brahmin wadi, Kumhar wadi, mehtar wadi, Chakna wadi (derived from the intestines of sheep).

Another interesting name is Tarnaka. Tarnaka is derived from ‘Tar’ which means ‘wire’ and ‘Naka’ meaning ‘guard room’. It was thus called because the Nizam barbed the area and put up a guard room to protect his fruit gardens in the area.

Chaderghat, a locality too has a very interesting name. The locality was so called after an anicut across the river which formed a ‘Chaddar’ or a ‘sheet of water’. Chaderghat bridge or Oliphant bridge was built by Col. Oliphant during the reign of Nizam Nasir-ud-Daulah. Another peculiarity of the names of localities in Hyderabad are unlike the names of places in any other city, is the addition of suffixes such as gudas, bads, baghs, kuntas, metlas, nagars and pallys are frequent and common. Long live Hyderabad and all its places, people and cultures.  

Hyderabad Exhibition (Numaish) turns 73!

 Zinda Tilismath Stall at the Exhibition

Young men ogling the pretty girls, hassled home makers haggling away to glory with the ever smiling shopkeepers, Hyderabadis enjoying biryani on the sprawling lawns are blissfully unaware of way they are helping the larger cause that the exhibition or the Numaish espouses.

The Hyderabad Exhibition had begun in 1938, when 100 Osmania University students had opened stalls in Public Gardens (since then the exhibition has been shifted to the large exhibition grounds in Nampally) for the purpose of promoting business and industrial exhibits in Hyderabad city.

In the seventies, eighties and nineties when there were no shopping malls and limited entertainment options, Hyderabad exhibition was the ultimate destination for local populations of Hyderabad and the surrounding districts. The onset of the New Year was welcomed with gusto and the citizens made a beeline to the exhibition grounds.

Since then exhibition has lost its sheen and the ongoing agitation of Telangana had meant that the crowds are thin this year. But to revisit the nostalgia there is no place like the Hyderabad exhibition. We children used to wait with baited breath as my father used to write out our name, parents names and ours addresses on small pieces of paper and place them  in our pockets (those were the days when there were no cell phones). We were severely warned not to stray away from our parents). The mournful wailing of the Hyderabad exhibition radio about lost children used to reinforce the strong tenet not to stray. The exhibition radio had very heavily Urdu accented announcers. The advertisements of Zinda Tilismath still rings in my ears.

We used to wander around wide eyed clutching the precious 10 or 20 rupees my parents had granted us. We used to debate as how to use the money. Should we buy something of permanent use or should the money be splurged it on mouth watering sweets and eats that were so beckoning?

We used to go from stall to stall always very careful not to step on the railway tracks on which the exhibition train ran.  Listen with rapt attention as the stall owners and sales people explained about products unimaginable and out of reach for most middle class Hyderabadis. As a youngster I remember listening very carefully to a sales man from Iran and casually asking the flabbergasted salesman if I could have  home delivery of two Iranian carpets costing a jaw drooping Rs 5,00,000/-. Just to put things in perspective I was earning a royal salary of Rs 1,800/- per month. The year -1988.

The stalls that were most popular were the once that were handing out freebie calendars.  Governmental agencies like Girijan cooperative society, APSRTC and others used the Hyderabad exhibition as the venue for giving publicity to their activities. Exhibition also was the place to get free medical checkup. 

The entertainment area was very popular and featured rides like the giant wheel. The eateries cost a bomb. One can hear the wails of hungry children being dragged away by reluctant parents. Parents who were shocked at the obscene high prices that the eateries were demanding.

All in all a fantastic experience only marred by the autorickshaw drivers extracting their pound of flesh (exorbitant auto fares sometimes four times the normal fare) from the already tired visitors. 

On the other side the Hyderabad exhibition society will spend 70 per cent of the Rs 14 crore it expects to earn from the sale of entry tickets each priced at Rs 10/- and by selling the space to traders through the 45-day event on furthering education and providing scholarships to students, mostly girls. The Hyderabad exhibition society helps 25,000 students this way every year.

The Andhra Pradesh government has extended the lease of the exhibition grounds to the society till 2052.The traders and exhibitors this year have put up more than 2,500 stalls, including those by traders from Pakistan, Iran and Bhutan.

Keeping pace with the changing times, the exhibition society plans to build a huge mall on the exhibition grounds. The society also plans to build three convention centres, two marriage halls to seat 5,000 and underground parking to accommodate 1,000 vehicles.

The Hyderabad Exhibition Society runs 18 colleges, including junior colleges and engineering colleges. 28 lakh students have been benefited by the efforts of the Exhibition Society which has spent about Rs 3,000 crore in its 71 year old history.

I Love You Hyderabad

Hyderabad the capital of Andhra Pradesh is a quaint village that suddenly became a mega city and later a megapolis bigger than the state of Goa. Old timers of Hyderabad still remember with nostalgia the good old days when things used to move at a slow pace (if they moved at all).

Hyderabadis are a class apart. The best of them are the local mechanics. The mechanic summoned frantically to the house would saunter in and nonchalantly examine the defunct electronic appliance and would announce “Mai Kal Avounga….” and go away leaving the customer in a lurch. This means that he might turn up again. . “Parsun” if uttered would mean most probably he would never come and “tarsun” means that he would definitely not come at all.

Ask any one who visit Hyderabad what he likes about the place and the prompt reply is Hyderabadi Biryani. This mughlai dish has won the hearts of food lovers in the world and no decent party is deemed complete unless a sumptuous portion of Hyderabadi Biryani is served and relished with lots of gusto. Hyderabadis are so fond of food that it is rumored that in wealthy Hyderabadi households the Biryani eaters would sit 5 inches away from the table and would only stop eating once the stomach touches the table. What if the foodie pushes his/her chair off by 2 or 3 inches when the stomach reaches the table? The traditional Hyderabadi valima reception costs lakhs of rupees but is hosted and enjoyed with  enjoyment and pride.

Haleem a traditional dish served during the Ramadan time is a hit with all the section of the society. Many non muslims have become die hard fans of Haleem and it tastes so nice only when it is prepared in the Ramadan season. Haleem prepared in off season does not taste the same. Pista House in old city is flooded by customers who don’t mind waiting in long queues as long as they can lay their hand and savor their favorite Haleem.

Irani cafes are very close to hearts of Hyderabadis. No day is deemed complete unless one goes to an irani café and has a extremely sweet irani tea and that too 1/2. The matter of fact waiters would dump the cup and one empty (cup) on the table and promptly disappear. One could argue and while away as much time as possible with out being bothered. As many Samosa or biscuits can be had one wishes. What is not consumed is cheerfully taken back. Beware of the smart waiter who would always jack up the bill by a few rupees. Those extra rupees if paid would be pocketed by the waiter.

One of the lank marks of Hyderabad is “Famous ice-cream” at Nampally where mouth watering seasonal Ice creams like cheeku, mango, sapoto etc are served at jaw dropping low prices. Famous Ice-cream (Now sadly spilt among the brothers as Shah and New Famous) is the only place where you could eat like a king and pay like a pauper.

Ganesh chaturdi the big Indian festival is a sort of carnival at Hyderabad. It is a time for local urchins to collect money (sometimes forcefully) to set up a pandal and then proceeds to enjoy themselves for ten days. Every thing is fair including raunchy remix songs and record dances with ear spiting sound. Thankfully the old funnel speakers have been replaced with box speakers in the recent times.

A Hyderabadi was driving in USA and a car overtook him and passed him very closely. A choice Hyderabadi gali was thrown at the offender who screeched to a halt and forced the Hyderabadi off road. The Hyderabadi was scared. He did not want a panga (a fight) with the foreigner. The FOREINGER excitedly crowds the Hyderabadi and questions “aap Hyderabad sey hai kya?” The gali was the trigger. Any Hyderabadi any where in the world can recognize another Hyderabadi by their peculiar lingo, slang and the galis that Hyderabadis flung at each other with gay abandon.

Second hand/Old book stalls from Abids to Koti on a Sunday are a treat by themselves. They are equal to hundreds of libraries. Strolling the roads of Abids is the best way to work out the slumber out of a heavy Sunday lunch. The book sellers are a cheerful merry lot who don’t mind a nice slinging/bargaining match. What the hell, after all it is a holiday and one can loosen up at least on a Sunday. An ode to Hyderabad. Thus goes the saying “Jo Piya Gandipet ka pani, woh ho gaya Hyderabadi”. You can take Hyderabadi out of Hyderabad but you can’t take Hyderabad out of a Hyderabadi.