Harley Bikes,Speed Boating and Hyderabad House

It was a cloudy day and my weekend working (office) was cancelled. As Aditya (cybage frnd) was free we decided to explore the city. I was not much enthusiastic as cloudy weather won’t give me good pics. However we planned to visit Banjara Hill and Lumbini Park as we have been hearing a lot about it.
We boarded in 222 Secunderabad bus, without having any idea whether it goes to Banjara Hills. As Banjara Hills is near to Jubilee Hills, bus conductor recommended us to get down at Jubilee Hills. Bus crowd was poorly managed. In public buses rear seats are for gents, front for ladies and one can get in or get down from any door which was creating a chaos. Being puneites as our bus stop was approaching we stared moving towards front door. But it was jam packed by ladies and was flooding with more at every stop as people were getting in from front door, we faced a difficult time getting off the bus.
From Jubilee Hills we hired a share rickshaw in which we were 7 passengers and a driver. Now this rickshaw was made to carry only 3 passengers, so imagine where were we sitting, any guesses…yes of course next to driver almost handing like monkeys on both sides of rickshaw holding rickshaws skeleton. As our rickshaw was playing on Banjara Hills road I saw an old BMW bike made for adventure touring or dual sport. Its sight and sound gave me a big smile, it made my day. In few seconds I saw a Harley Davidson showroom, the iconic heavyweight motorcycle maker. I was smiling like a kid on the outside and dancing inside. I would never miss a chance of visiting that showroom. So as soon as we got down we rushed to showroom. It was raining Harley Davidson’s. When I looked at those bikes in flesh, my jaw dropped! They were huge!!! Much much bigger than how they look in a pics. All sparkling and in black leather. There were also a lot of gear and accessories to choose from. I almost felt I was visiting a HD showroom in a developed country. Showroom staff was kind enough for letting us click pics of bikes. This is Harley’s second most showrooms in India. But that feeling of elation quickly disappeared once I stepped out of the showroom into reality.
Then we visited Lumbini Park near Hussain Sagar. I have heard a lot about it from collogues and friends, so I painted its pretty picture in my mind. However park was not as pretty as I imagined and also climate
was pleasant. Lumbini park is a small place at Hussain Sagar (lake) shore. They also sport water rides and some lil fun fairs for kids. We didn’t enjoy it at all so we decided to take speed boat ride (200rs 4 ppl). Ride was fun; on offering 10 rupees extra you can get a long ride than usual. Boat ride will take you around Buddha statue which is located in center of Hussain Sagar.
Sky was so dark and cloudy, that it gave us a feeling as if they might start pouring anytime. So we returned to Banjara Hill for lunch. This time I wanted to try out another famous food joint known as ‘Hyberabad House’. Its first floor was closed, so customers were made to sit at ground floor (was like basement). I guess it was their take way department. The place was a bit crowded may be because there were few tables to sit. Ambience was dull, lights were poor and wall paint was peeling off. I can forget all that if I get good and spicy non-veg food. Waiter arranged plates on paper which told brief history about that place, I found this idea interesting. It keeps customer busy and time flies by. We started with Mutton Curry and Rumali Roties. Curry looked vibrant and alive but was spicy and salty, my companion echoed my sentiment: ‘It’s salty, but good salty,’ he said. It was also less in quantity but roties were soft and tender. Then we got our Chicken Biryani. Well I just loved the chicken it was soft juicy and tender. The fiber part which is disliked by some was so soft that I never felt I was having it. Aditya enjoyed the food, he complemented both the dishes. Food items were fairly priced.
In all, I had a wonderful day clicking bike pics, speed boat ride and that perfectly ended with Chicken Biryani.

HITEC City

This is my first time to be away from home for a long time. Many of my age guys have been away form home and have experienced the independent life. Pune is my home I almost know every corner of it, but Hyderabad is some thing new to be explored. Till date my knowledge about Hyderabad was limited. I knew only 3 things about Hyderabad 1st Hyderabadi Biryani 2nd It’s also called Cyberabad 3rd Nagesh Kukunoor one of my favorite director hails from Hyderabad.
I am supposed to work in a company which is located in Hitec city. I use to think the word ‘HITEC’ is just to give it techie name. But when I investigated a lil more I found that its full form is Hyderabad Information Technology Engineering Consultancy, a major technology township which is at the center of the information technology industry in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. It’s surrounded by suburbs like Madhapur, Kondapur, Gachibowli, Nanakramguda, Manikonda, Thellapur etc. It’s still developing so infrastructure is fairly maintained. It seems companies and government bodies are trying their level best to achieve international standards. One of the websites proclaims Hitec city as one of the seven wonders of Hyderabad. When I reached in Hitec city I use to pick any random big company name and try to locate it in Hitec city and to my surprise they all are here even Google and Facebook.
As I was alone in my guesthouse so one of the Sunday afternoon I decided to go window shopping in InOrbit mall. It’s about 5km from my guesthouse. I planned to go walking. I was shocked to see empty roads of Hitec city…not a single soul!!!. I could see shadow of only 2 vehicles at a far distance and few drowsy security guards at company gates. Damn even hawkers take weekend off. May be this is because its not a residential area. But with every step I was exploring Hitec city more n more. I was reading all the big name of big branded companies and capturing their beautiful architecture in my digi cam. Some company compound walls are beautifully painted, displaying progress in Andhra Pradesh.
No sooner I reached Inorbit mall, it’s a three storey building nested on corner of a hill and a lake called ‘Durgam Cheruvu’. On the other side of lake is Andra Pradesh Tourism cottages and they also sport boating. As Diwali festival is knocking on the door, mall is set in festive mood. But this festive mood has a Chinese grin. It’s a delight to see entire mall lighted and colored but with Chinese lanterns. All shops look like mind-boggling array of spectacular colors. As I was alone and had plenty time to spend, I scanned the mall completely. But then I went to left side of mall from there I could get glimpse of lake. My interest to see the lake from that mall started to rise. So I climb down to get a better view. It was like I was solving a puzzle making my way among the mall shops in quest to get a better view of lake. And in no time I was standing next to CCD and Chilies restaurants from where one can see the lake. That view is a photographer’s delight and offers such an amazing sight. There is a small garden on terrace which is well maintained and the view from there is spectacle you cherish while sipping hot cup of coffee with your beloved ones.