Destination Features

The status of Hyderabad in India’s regionalist wars is always undefined. While the north Indians would believe that the city is their gateway to the South, the southerners are equally insistent that Hyderabad is really north India. The logic: they speak Hindi in the city. Hyderabad will continue to surprise you. While it has now gained the reputation of the country’s Cyber City, many parts of it would remind of you of a charming middle-India town. Here, the Nawabi andaaz mixes with Telegu reticence and the charmingly old rubs shoulders with the dazzling new.

The city landscape is dominated by the Hussain Sagar lake or ‘Tank Bund’ as the locals call it. A huge water body in the middle of a sprawling urban center, it is unmistakable and unignorable. You invariably find yourself driving along its shores while making your way through the city and the broad roads and green boulevards along the lakeside make it a delight. However, if you are stuck in one of the city’s notorious traffic jams, you might not enjoy it so much. At night it teems with bright and twinkling city lights and you realize how aptly the avenue is titled Necklace Road.

Although famous as the Twin Cities (Hyderabad and Secunderbad), the city proper is an amalgamation of four neighbourhoods – the Old City, Secunderabad, Hyderabad and Hi-Tech City. The city’s emblem, the Charminar, is located in the Old City. It is a rabbit warren of traffic, small unruly lanes, people, street hawkers, shopping avenues, grand old Nizam-era architecture and kebab and incense shops. You will be perpetually confused as to where Secunderbad ends and Hyderabad begins. The Secunderabad Market is one of the city’s main shopping districts and is the home of Paradise – the best place to sample the famous Hyderabadi Biryani. Out of the four, it is Hi-tech City which has the most distinct skyline, one dominated by huge red rock boulders and hulking skyscrapers. Any guesses as to why its nicknamed Cyberabad?

The first brush with Hyderabadi Hindi can leave the visitor a bit dazed. Think Mahmood and the checked lungi from the movie Gumnaam (1965). From little children on the street to old grandmothers, everyone speaks in this lilting and nonchalant manner. A tip for first time visitors – autos run by meter. Don’t let the auto-wallahs convince you otherwise. Once in Hyderabad make it a point to sample kebabs and biryani from bundis (as dhabas are locally called) dotting the city. Visitors during Ramazan will be greeted with Haleem – a dish made with ghee, flour, ground meat and assorted spices which used to break the roza fast in the evening. Telegu cuisine is notorious for its chillies and peppers, so be prepared to sweat your way through a meal. (The fact that Andhra grows a variety of chilly called Gunpowder should give you a clue.) Settled high up in the middle of the Deccan plateau, Hyderabad weather is usually co-operative but April and May give you a taste of real tropical heat.