Saturday 31 January 2015

A Road Trip with Friends to make Memories ~ Destination Hyderabad!

 Hello People, It gives me an immense pleasure in welcoming you all to my first post of 2015.

A New Year and a new beginning, and I wish all my readers’ very happy and prosperous new years ahead. Maturity is when we understand that a New Year has got nothing to do with the change of fortunes but the attitude with which we approach the newer years and I am not an exception; I fall among the many others who superstitiously believe every New Year shall bring in the much needed change of fortunes way better than the previous years.

I always wanted to visit the city of Hyderabad, not because of its historical importance, not just because my history teacher or the history books had a lot of story to tell about it, not because it is a metropolitan city, not because it is the fourth most populous city in India, not because Hyderabad is the sixth most populous urban agglomeration in India, not because my favorite commentator whom I try to emulate or follow the most Mr. Harsha Bhogle was born there and not because it’s the place that gave us the Cricketing legend Very Very Special (VVS) Laxman. The above reasons and the statistics apart, I wanted to visit to the city only because I have some awesome friends who hail from the “Hyder’s Abode”/Hyderabad.

23rd January, 2015 (Friday):

After a not so great lunch at the destination, I was in a hurry and utmost excitement to leave the office just like how a school going kid would be longing for the last period bell to ring, like how the Indian tail Enders and Shikhar Dhawan will be in a hurry to get back to the pavilion in no time. I was eagerly waiting for the clock to tick 4 so as to move out of office and start to Hyderabad. Thanks to my friend Shubham Bhardwaj who took care of my pending and impending works for the whole weekend. At least I would say I was freaking excited if not for Kavita, Uday, Praneeth or Roshini because it was my first ever trip to Hyderabad.

Uday reached the office bang on time, sharp at 4 to pick us up and was waiting for us at the upper basement with a brand new Maruti Suzuki Wagon-R. It didn’t take much of time for Praneeth and I to reach the basement followed by Roshini from her office nearby and at last Kavita came who was held up for a while.
With the big bazaar signal giving us a green signal and with the seat belts on, the 5 of us (Kavita, Roshini, Praneeth, Uday and I)left the office campus say at 4.45 in the evening. The sound system’s first song was “Chinni Chinni Aasalu” from the blockbuster movie Manam which Roshini felt was the talisman or the lucky charm for any successful long trip. Within some few minutes of the travel we had to cross the Kadugodi ground where in we played some good amount of Cricket together and then the Delhi Mahal which was almost the favorite Friday lunch destination for all the friends of mine (Priya, Sunil, Paul and Vineeth are not to be spared here), it evoked a tinge of nostalgia in me for all the good times we, as a team and friends spent together.

A journey of “n” number of miles begins with the first toll plaza in India, and there came in the first toll plaza of the trip, it was just the beginning for the “n” number of toll gates that had to follow. There was no looking back for the next one hour until we spotted a tender coconut vendor. Probably it was one of the tasteless tender coconut we would have ever imagined to have. We resumed the journey with some Tamil numbers on the sound system this time. After Roshini’s call, there came in the Magic of the Mozart of Madras to sweep us off our feet, “Ennodu Nee Irundhal” from the Shankar’s magnum opus “I”. Trust me when I say this, AR Rahman had Indeed ripped it off from the God’s own IPOD, such a divine and a soul stirring composition. Probably the music system would have lost the count of the number of times “Ennodu Nee Irundhal” was played.



I am eternally grateful to Music, as it has always been there for me whenever I felt low or lonely.

Drenched in some divine music it took a while for us for the next tea and snack break. There was no looking back then, Uday mutated himself into a F1 Racer there was no slow down or deceleration. 120 kmph was the average speed; we were covering a good 80-90 kms an hour easily. The much needed next tea break was at Anantapur. With Hyderabad nearly around 180 kms, we halted for the supper at a Dhaba.

The most beautiful and important things in life are the easiest to obtain: Great friends and Good food. Some great friends were already there along with me, it was time to get some good food and the food over there was indeed sumptuous.

“Music is to the Soul as food is to the body”.

With some heavy dinner and a light heart we started marching towards Hyderabad. Shiva Reddy and Sunil were fervently waiting for us to arrive more than anybody, it was evident from the way they kept calling us every now and then as to ask where we had reached thus far. The girls in the car were fast asleep.

Selfie is the Order of these days
24th January, 2015 (Saturday):

It was around 12 am when we reached Jadcherla, and found that the car ran out of fuel. After having filled the petrol, we reached the outskirts of the Hyderabad in no time. One hour later, Hyderabad it was, the beautiful 11 kms long flyover from the outer ring road was a testament to that lovely metropolitan city. Friends around me started show casing their immense patriotism for their home soil, they were explaining about the buildings and areas from there on. The Fish like construction was indeed eye catchy. 11 kms in fewer than 7 minutes, as we came to the end of the Flyover, the five happy faces inside the car beamed with joy looking at 3 more happy faces that were waiting for us at around 2 am.

“I’ve learned that waiting is the most difficult bit in our lives, but not when you wait for your friends to come”

Sunil, Rohit and Shiva were damn too happy to have been waiting for us; it was evident from their innocent smiles that welcomed us to the city. Thanks to Uday for we all had a comfy drive more than what an Airavat could have given us. We boarded a fancy numbered Innova of Shiva Reddy; Rohit’s place at Miyapur was the first destination. After having dropped Roshini and Kavita at Roshini’s place, Uday and Sunil were back in no time to the bountiful Janapriya Apartments where Rohit stayed all alone. Rohit’s apartment was more like a labyrinth maze. Uday and Sunil had already got lost once.
Sunset from Rohit's Balcony
We reached Rohit’s alluring 2 BHK; it never looked like a bachelor’s stay at all. Rohit had indeed kept the home too clean and beautiful. With some regards having exchanged amidst us all started feeling hungry as it was already 3.30 in the morning. It was time for Shiva Reddy to unleash his culinary skills and he did that to perfection, he made me delicious veg pasta for I was the only vegetarian there and some mouthwatering egg burji for the others. It didn’t satiate our hunger, On Sunil’s call; we were later taken to the famous “Shree Purna Tiffin Centre” at Yousufguda. I was told by Sunil that the drivers of celebrities would flurry in to this particular hotel to get their owners the utterly butterly delicious breakfast from there. It was just 5.45 am in the morning, and there were already people inside an Audi and a BMW that were waiting for the hotel to open. The food indeed swept us off the feat, the Ghee idly with the podi and the chutney was just out of the world, it was heaven early in the morning, thank you Sunil and Shiva for having taken us to such an awesome breakfast, the travel of some 15-20 kms for that Particular food was indeed worth the brag.
Shree Purna Tiffin Centre- Yousufguda
We came back home around 7 am only to find that our body badly needed some rest. The eyes were drooping on its own; it was already 2 pm when Sunil and I woke up to delectable strong tea of Rohit. Sunil and I rode Rohit’s Royal Enfield for “Café Baahar” for getting us some lunch. The short waiting time for the parcels to come took us to the olden days in Capgemini where life was nothing short of bliss with the set of friends we had amidst the politically and partially biased people who were there around us.






“Don’t we get way too much happiness from good food?  I got that for all the two days that I stayed at Hyderabad. SVM sports inn was the next destination. Shiva Reddy took us to the SVM sports inn that was there at the Jubilee hills. We were probably the first set of people to reach there. It all started with some veg starters, non-veg starters and a mock tail and went on and on and on. With some karaoke on the background, Roshini broke everyone’s Ice and indolence by giving her stellar performance by singing “the Cranberries- Zombie” to mere perfection. It was 11 pm when Uday and Kavita tendered the bill for such an awesome party they threw for us. It was a night out from there on, the next halt was Roshini’s call; it was “Creamstones Concepts” at Kukatpally.


 “We can’t buy happiness but then we can buy ice creams and that’s the kind of same thing”

Thanks to Roshini for those palatable Ice Creams that were as big as a full meal for everybody. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Hyderabad and the freaking crazy go carting out there was the next halt. 2.30 am and when the stomach started whining for food, Uday was yet again generous enough to have taken us to the MCDonald’s out there at the Airport. Uday and Kavita were at their unstinting best those two days.


 
That's a 2 am Snack at McDonalds and Uday is Protecting himself from the H1N1 Scare
It would not be fair if I don’t mention about Shiva Reddy here, having sacrificed his complete sleep the previous night, he did that again the very next day for his friends. Sunil, you are indeed gifted to have got such good friends, as Mark Twain quoted “Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” 

We were back home at 3.45 am only to hit the sack as we all were deadly tired like someone who just completed his marathon running and it was indeed a marathon day.

25th January, 2015 (Sunday):

When the clock ticked 5.45am Kavita, Uday and I were all set to visit the Visa granting Balaji as he had already granted them their US Visas hands down, while others were just about to enter the second stage of their subconscious mind we had already left the house.

 "Visa Balaji"'s Residence - Chilkur
A visit to this temple reminded me that USA is still a land of dreams for many of us here in India. Praneeth also accompanied us as he had to get down at the nearest railway station to board his train to Warangal on our way to Visa Balaji’s visit. Kavita and Uday had to complete their remaining 54 Pradakshina’s as they had already completed their first 54 out of the vowed total of 108 pradakshinas. I accompanied them with many others in the crowded but a very small temple, 54 pradakshinas almost took us some 105 minutes. The Priest over there was very jovial and fun loving much to everyone’s excitement; he made the Pradakshinas to look less tiresome with his hilarious but thought provoking words.

An hour later I reached my College Friend’s place at Gachibowli. It was around 12 when my friend Navaneetha Krishnan picked me up from Gachibowli flyover to his place. After a short nap, we both had a sumptuous lunch at the Banana Leaf restaurant that was nearby. It was around 5 pm when I had to board my bus back to home. Navanee accompanied me so as to send me off. There ends my 2 exhilarating days of happiness at Hyderabad.
 Any journey in life is best measured in friends, rather than miles. I had some beautiful friends who made the 2 beautiful days at Hyderabad an eternally indelible and immortal one.

It doesn’t matter where you are going; it’s who you have along with you. Without any second thoughts, Hyderabad was beautiful but it looked even more beautiful probably because of my friends who accompanied me.


And to my friends out there,I always wanted to watch a Tamil movie with you all, in particular a Vijay Movie. I wish we had relished the magic of the five letter spell "Vijay" and his all new Tamil Blockbuster of 2014 “Kaththi” together, but nevertheless there is always a next Vijay Movie . 
Probably the next trip of ours shall be to the Athens of the east (Madurai) may be after Paul and Vineeth gets back to India. I will be more than happy to have you all out there.

 Post Scriptum:

Dear Kavita and Uday,

Thanks a lot for those two beautiful days of awesomeness that I had at Hyderabad; I would have never ever visited Hyderabad had you people not forced me to come.

Thank you Praneeth, Roshini, Sunil, Rohit and Shiva for the beautiful company that you people gave me.

Colleagues as friends in an irksome office form the strongest friendships they may ever know with each other.Thanking you people for enriching my life in ways you people will never know, if at all happiness could be measured it shall be measured with the number of friends like you.True friends are bound to be friends forever immaterial of the distance, language and what so ever it may be.

You guys were indeed so very nice to me and I felt very special after a long time and I believe that I won’t be spared or left behind for any of the future trips that shall be on your cards even after I quit CG.

Trust me Paul, Swati, Vineeth and Priya you all were truly, badly and dearly missed.

7 comments:

  1. No doubt... Reading this post is as much as traveling with you all... beautifully written! Seems you have most wonderful ppl around mukunth :)

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  2. Indeed they are wonderful.. thanks a lot sheela

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  3. Good to know macha.Happy for you! Nice Travelogue.

    As Christoper said "There is only one success, to be able to spend your life in your own way"

    Wish you successful life ahead!

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  4. Quite Good write up Harish and really enjoyed going through the narration. Of course Hyd is a Beautiful City and your point of view made it even more so. I particularly liked your dwellings on cricket, music, food, daily activities smoothly blending with the narration. Quite a good tribute to all your friends and you all should cherish it all through your future. Looks like your NEW YEAR started so BRIGHT and I Wish The Best for all your Dreams to come true!

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    1. Thank you so much periamma :) feels soo good to be reviewed or read by someone who is a professional writer and who has authored a book :) keep inspiring me as always :)

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  5. Yes you must visit once in your life..
    Specially try biryani in restaurants in hyderabad

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