Hyderabad Trip: Pearl that Glitters with Majestic Elegance

I never knew that my first trip to land of Nizams, Pearl City, Hyderabad, would turn out to be such wonderful experience. Hyderabad was completely lit up and decorated (for my arrival?!), since there was ceremony to mark formation of India’s 29th state Telangana. Although, beating the heat was a nightmare, I made most of my time here at Hyderabad, thanks to my host Akash and his friends, who made me feel home!

Waterfront View

For the first time I had boarded Rajdhani Express to Secunderabad from namma Bengaluru. 9 year old birthday girl, Ayra and 4 year old Ayaan, with their grandmom were my cabin mates. It was lovely spending playing time with them and they made me enjoy train journey like never before! Quality food of the train also deserves credit!

Saturday morning when I reached Hyderabad, I partially buried my dream of exploring the city due to excessive heat. Sorry, it was not excessive heat, it was CRAZY! 40c feels like 60c! And I was coming from city that constantly enjoys 25c-30c! Will it stop me from exploring, NO!

#Birla Mandir, Necklace Road and Hussain Sagar lake- Having lost on the way and midst of confusion regarding picking up a friend and “etc”, I with 4 friends managed to arrive at Birla Mandir which had replica of Tirupathi Lord at 8pm. It was freakily overcrowded- some stories, good winds, nice backdrop of necklace road and sight of calm Buddha in the Hussain Sagar lake pacified me, helped me attain peace of mind!

One of Qutub Shahi Tombs

#Waterfront Restaurant, lakeside restaurant in necklace road is where you have to be next time you go Hyderabad. Amazing ambience with lovely food. I couldn’t resist penning down when I sat there-

When you sit on a lakeside with live music...
You can’t afford to relax…
Those lamps that shined were in a pattern…
Provoking me to explore…
I quietly sat and spent time in picking…
Those bits and pieces…
That I always thought I missed...
That I always thought I had...
Of those friendships that
Got newly made…
Of those friendships that
Got newly made again…
Friendship is never a relation…
It is the relaxation... It is the revelation…

#Qutub Shahi Tombs is set of 7 tombs where Nizams were laid to rest. Beautifully picture perfect with shades of big banyan trees. Unfinished tomb is the showstopper. Serene!

Chaarminar

#Charminar and Golconda Fort, didn’t catch much of my fascination but was kind of dream come true to stand next to it.

#Chowmahallah Palace is the best place I visited in this trip. Tells the story of Hyderabad and its shaping up since 1500s. Royally used armory, grocery items, accessories, photographs, clothing and cars- are the highlights here. Rolls Royce and Ford in vintage cars shed will put anyone in awe!

#Cream Stone serves deserts till midnight and I got my hands on Fruit Exotica & Willy Wonka with extra nuts. Awesome is the word! We had come here after our dinner at -The Pasta Bar Veneto, where IPL final was getting screened and ambience resonated- Abki Baar KKR! I also got a chance to visit -"The Chocolate Room" and "Karachi Bakery"!

Me as a Presenter!

#Friends, Thanks to Akash Budhia for hosting me. Thanks Umang Gupta for awesome selection of places and car rides, indebted! Thanks to Team CronJ, Monu, Aashish, Vijay, Aditi, Avneesh and Vineela for being around. Cheers to our new friendships!

My travelogue would be incomplete if I don’t mention Gopichand Academy which produces best of players. I also got a chance to play badminton and indoor games here at Hyderabad. Bdw, I forgot to mention the reason behind my trip, I came here to present my research work at an ACM conference held at spacious Hyderabad International Conference Center. This trip was indeed superfun and turned to be a great teacher!

Bengaluru Diaries: a Hill and a Tree and a Dam in Half a Day...

After residing in Bengaluru (or Bangalore) for 2 years, I had tried exploring it as much I can. Since it is blessed to be in midst of hills on all 4 directions, it enjoys probably “the best” metro climate. And ofcourse, gives away lot of hills and rivers and viewpoints to explore. I have finally

Omkar Hills

decided to put down- “Places to visit in Bengaluru” and will start with the most recent visited ones from Bangalore Southà

#1. Omkar hills

This place is said to be the highest point in Bangalore. It is in RajaRajeshwari Nagar. When driving on Mysore Road from Bangalore, take the left at Uttarahalli Main Road, drive past the BGS Apollo hospital and then take the right next to JSS College. This road goes to the top of Omkar Hills. Omkar Hills has a dwadasha jyothirlinga (caution: elders are bound to get more & more devotional/emotional/sentimental!) temple and Ashram which was founded by Shri Shivapuri Mahaswamiji.

You’ll enjoy the strong breeze here and the panoramically view of the city is super awesome. Just behind the temple is world's second largest clock, said to be bigger than the Big Ben, the clock

Dodda Alada Mara

tower in London, and its making took two years.

Upon climbing a few steps you can see an old banyan tree surrounded by statues (Ramanujacharya, Shankaracharya, Madhwacharya, Jesus, Koran, Buddha, Mahaveera and the Guru Granth Sahib) representing various faiths/religions and singing aloud strong message of unity in equally strong blowing wind.

#2. Dodda Alada Mara or Big Banyan Tree

This tree is a giant 400 year old located in the village of Kettohalli. Before you google this village, it is really easy to access the place if you can identify a small road next to Rajarajeshwari Dental college (near Kumbalagod junction)! This single plant covers 3 acres.  In the 2000s, the main root

Manchinbele Dam

of the tree succumbed to natural disease, and thus the tree now looks like many different trees with over thousand aerial roots.

The tree has fenced boundaries, and benches for people to sit. There is a small shrine, many monkeys, some lays and soothing shades- good picnic place indeed!

#3. Manchinbele Dam

This beautiful dam is constructed by Sir M  Visvesvaraya which is around 9 km s further ahead from Big Banyan tree (don't miss the left at Chandrappa Circle). River Arkavathi forms the back waters of the Manchinbele Dam. You’ll find a couple or two government appointed watchman’s eating your head and money! This place suffers from govt.’s poor tourism showcasing- not much publicity, no maintenance, lack of connectivity, lack of proper security and lifeguards. Apart from that, really wonderful place to be!

On Top of Dam

#4. Ruppi’s Hotel & Resort

This is a place run and owned by Kannada film industries famous Real Star, Upendra. I visited this place for a short snack after visiting Dodda Alada Mara and Manchinbele Dam. This is just a km away from Dodda Alada Mara. Onion pakoda and onion rings that we ordered along with the chai were just delicious. Interiors, cottages, playgrounds and restaurants- all have looked good to me in my first impression. I have promised myself to visit this place again to explore!

Ruppi's Hotel & Resort

I recommend you to cover all 4 places mentioned above in the order- 2,3,4,1! Will take less than half a day and to be at Omkar hills at around 7.30pm will be the best thing to do! It’ll energize you for the rest of the coming week, guaranteed!

No greens,
Cloudy & Chirpy,
I set out to search,
White flowers... 

Bangalore had Blossomed,
Red flowers...
Green flowers...
Blue flowers...

[Photo Credit: Sharath P R, Thanks to Chikkappa [Ramesh], Chikkamma[Ratna], Doddappa[Karunakar] and Munna[Sharath] for being the part of this trip!]