Hyderabad - I

I have to agree, little trip changes your perspective for a little while, and when you get back, you view things differently. Noticed a lot of things this time, without intending to.

Firstly, the city has a feel of ostentatiousness about it. I don't know if the people there're so used to being showy that they don't notice that the trees planted all along the length of the road don't quite appreciate being strapped up with lights that grow pretty hot when they're left on all night. Someone places a burning light on your wrist, the cells below the light are bound to lose their functionality at higher temperatures. And at night, when all the rejuvenation happens in the cells, it has been ordained that such things happen at certain temperatures , which in turn affect the pH levels in the cells. It's disgusting that a coupla broad highways don't even have streetlights on, the only light was that of the glaring headlights of each vehicle and the poor fledgeling trees ( yes, the tree-planting has been a recent venture, so we're not talking of broad, 60 year old tree trunks here). Most of the jewellery in the city is gaudy, not to mention the salwar-kameez cloth... garish, loud, gaudy.. that's also what I can say about city's major landmarks. Except the historic ones. Having been raised in a family that believes simplicity is the highest truth, I wondered what kind of a superficial person I'd have grown up to be, if I attached so much importance to fast cars, and spangling jewellery. I'm really not against extreme wealth, I've seen extremely wealthy people take a pillow and sleep off on the floor during summer afternoons. That's having wealth, and not living for it. Showing it off for egoistic purposes seems to be an important element in Hyd. Wealth seems to be the driving force in that city. That's a sad thing, IMHO.

Secondly, Ramoji film city has only one pure veg restaurant, and after 5 hours in the hot sun, none of us felt like ordering the 15-course veg- meal for 85 rupees. No sharing. That's what a board there said. And between 11:am to 4 pm, only meals is available. Not even a glass of buttermilk that we'd had there just 3 hours back. The meal was an unlimited thing, but god, at 2 in the afternoon, all we wanted was some curd rice, and there's no hotel within 4 kilometers that offers it. My dad had a stomach upset the day before, and despite being a diabetic, had lived on buttermilk the entire day. His sugar levels would drop if he didnt' have any solid food soon, and there's NO PLACE that offers him curdrice. We finally had food at a place that makes both veg and non-veg, the only thing we could have being this spicy, oily north Indian dish ( that grease kept coming up our throats thru evening...yuck!!) with some Roti. Dad stuck to buttermilk again, and actually had a chocolate to keep the sugar levels from dipping (Ramoji "personnel" check your bags at the entrance to prevent you from carrying food inside. Not even a packet of biscuits for diabetics. Wretched, I'd say). We decided enough is enough, we were all terribly angry at how they make use of people's desperation to eat at a pure veg restaurant. I understand beer is cheaper than water in France and Germany, and that in Brazil, even the popcorn is laced with pork.. but to deny vegetarians in a country like India, where vegetarianism is so deeply revered by the vegetarians here............. you gotta be really measly and money-minded. For god's sake, Veggies here are not "into" vegetarianism for some fad or fancy that's caught the market, but because it's their way of life, and because its benefits are best realized, than spoken of. It's their faith, it's a symbol of their beliefs. For an entry fees of 200 rupees per person, you'd expect some basic ethics. How much money do they need to make? What about old people who're on diet restrictions, and are dogmatically against having food that's made along with non-veg ? Really the pits. If I ever meet that Ramoji, I'd slap him, seriously. Dad was so tired, we called it a day and went home. There wasnt even a bus shelter outside the place, we stood in the sun for half an hour, before a bus came. Dad wasn't willing to take an auto because 3 of us in the family have weak back muscles and the last thing we needed was to have our bones rattled for 2 hours in an auto rickshaw. This place is really far off from the city.

Truly materialistic, that city. On the nicer side, the city's traffic management authorities have taken their job seriously, the roads are well planned, the auto guys are UNBELIEVABLY honest. I was amazed and touched, at the amazing concurrence with which every auto guy asks for exactly 5 Rs. over the meter cost, for 4 people. Bangalore auto guys would have a field day.. we'd have spent hundreds more for the same amount of travel.

I also noticed that my parents have shown some excellent, prudent decision making, without spoiling any fun. Their priorities are in perfect order. We all needed 4 days total getaway to shake off work. Now when we all get back, the pile of work seems small, easy to finish :D
I'd been concentrating too much on not letting it pile, than on doing what's in front of me. The quality suffered a bit because of that. It's important to shake off the water like cute doggies do, to feel light and alert again :D