Hyding nook n corners

Yes.. My second post on Hyderabad.. Well, it was 2 years, and its not easy to pack all that into just a 200 word post..( more like 2000)! I just realized that I had actually wanted to write about living in Hyderabad...Little things I had discovered... But my previous post turned out to be more of relieving my emotions and feelings.... So here goes another one...

I have never ever surfed for details on a city like I did for Hyderabad... One extremely useful and most likely the first site which google lists : fullHYD.com... An excellent site for most information - it even lists special nights in various pubs and exhibitions... Talking about websites,a word of caution - one shouldn't get carried away by websites, especially of any place in Andhra as they tend to glorified about a 100 times.. The other most useful information service is 'Just-Dial' So just dial 4444-4444 and get phone numbers and addresses of just about any place in Hyderabad.

The first thing I dug around the place was for a library - and to my shock there aren't any..... Specifically not the small ones which issue a small white membership card, charge around 200 for membership and have tons of fiction..... ofcourse, the most common suggestion used to be British council... Which really doesn't have any books that make sense( in my opinion)... More googling landed me on knowledge-port.com... this site no longer is working, but knowledgeport is a library which delivers books home ...You pay 1 grand flat for a year and unlimited number of books delivered to your door step...And for those who want to have the feel of picking up a book, please feel free to go over to Greenlands - Begumpet intersection and you'll find KP bang opposite to lifestyle... Then, there's this guy who makes tons of money in the name of a book exhibition in Panjagutta...Its actually a second hand book shop - for the first book you pay the amount he quotes... Once u are done , you can exchange the book for a similar one for a nominal fee of about 10 or 15 bucks....And ofcourse, there's always crossword in Shopper's stop.

The other thing I dug around was for any signs of drama or theatre work ... Hyd has a very happening Teluge theatre... But English theatre is non existent... There exists a dramatic circle of Hyderabad, but i have never seen them putting up a performance in Hyderabad. The other group here is Expressions and British council organises workshops and some play readings once in a while.

While banglore is named the "garden city", you'll find innumerable of parks and gardens in Hyderabad too... If I am not way off, I think it was Naidu who took a lot of effort to decorate every one of them with fountains, lights and in some cases music.... The lawns along the necklace road also came up during his tenure... Latest to this collection is a 'Rock Garden' that was being developed along the lake... Free yoga classes happen in some of these parks ( in Masab tank, Indra gandhi park )... If you want to a Sunday evening break and also get mehndi done, u should hit vengalrao park... The women are damn fast and do a very pretty job!

There are lots of resorts like Alankritha , pragathi resorts for a weekend break , but I would personally prefer going to Icrisat - this is a UN funded campus for agricultural research - lovely rooms, vast expanse of lands you can cycle about, a simply beautiful large pool, and a sumptuous continental breakfast... And ofcourse their cakes!!!!

If you are a nature lover, and don't have like minded company, try these : There is Bird watchers society of AndhraPradesh (BSAP). They meet once a month to go birdwatching and go for a long trip once a year.They also work on some wilderness preservation projects.One thing is that, in my limited experience of birdwatching (once actually), i found the group a tad old. Then there is the Save the Rock society - which works towards preserving the natural deccan plateau now being destroyed by steel and cement. They also go on 'Rock walks' once in a month. The organized an Indian Ocean concert once in the Secret Lake, one of the best concerts ive been too.. Wild wood adventures is run by 2 brothers who organize day treks for individuals and corporates...quite ok except that places around hyd aren't exactly trekker's paradise...

ok.. I'll stop here now... I want to give a conclusion , but cant think of anything.. So period.

PS: Some links on HYD

Funny Hyderabad

Discovering Hyderabad

PS 2: Looks like I forgot to mention the sailing club...wonder where they sail ? - on the Hussaion Sagar ofcourse! On weekends, the colorful blue sails dot the lake and is a pretty sight! And there is a horse riding club ( located in masab tank).. They have a damn good deal for people interested in learning the sport.... And if you look closely into the 'events' section in the papers, you'll find horse races which happen quite often...