Hyderabad or Cyberabad - First Look

This post is pending for a week already. Now that I am sitting in my train bound to Bangalore  and have a network connectivity, thanks to the latest technology (some people might roll their eyes.. please paa.. I should show some vanity at times la) I thought I will complete this.

I had been in Hyderabad for 2 years from 1999 to 2001. That was the time when this place was booming with all new companies and was a very strong competitor to Bangalore. My company was near Panjagutta junction and later it moved to a new campus in Hitech city which was almost like the 2-year old Sarjapur of Bangalore.Nothing  but rocks and no other building in site, except for upcoming campuses and if by chance you wanna come back, you have to walk for 2 kms to the main road near Cyber towers and take a bus or auto from there. The only saving grace there was the Shilpa ramam (arts and crafts village) just next to the Cyber towers (where I have spend my early earnings to buy all sorts of stone crafts, which I am very fond of.. but I dont have a single one of them with me.. I got it for others as gifts etc...rombha azhinjirukean anga...) So practically Cyber towers (which was the biggest building then) marked the end of the city ;) and I  was residing in Begumpet so it was always to and from the expensive part of the city.

After all these years when I came back, I flew to Hyderabad so I came from the other side of the city.. i.e from the end of the city (just like Devanahalli airport in Bangalore) and the first hit you get of the city is Gachibowli (just a small turn there) and then Booommmm!!!! the Hitech City road.... Man!! I was so astounded, speechless and awed seeing the buildings and the growth of this particular part of the city. I was frantically trying to see the single building which I remembered from then (vera enna.. the Cyber towers dhaan..) But that was not in sight.. But there were so many other buildings much bigger and wider.. The whole stretch of Hitech City road is just software companies....and finally we came to the end where we have to turn to Madhapur and there it was ..The Cyber Towers ...and this was the smallest building in the area.. ennanu solradhu... ennaku pechu mooche varalai... and my guest house was in Madhapur much near to the Cyber Towers. Then only I realized that what was once a dead end was extended to a road till the Outer ring road which goes to the Airport. This Madhapur area which was once so out of place.. is the crux of this Hitech City area. Evlo PG , evlo Guest houses.. you can see both the expensive shops as well as proper residential area. Proper mixture of both. But very congested...You can get anything and everything here. Dont have to go to any other part of the city.

Adhu appadi poachaa.. Next day when I wanted to go to office, I came and stopped an auto. He was asking me about how much I will give. I was wondering why ? meter enge ? Then I was shocked to see that there was no meter... ada paavigala.. meter use panradhu illaiyaa inga.. idhu eppola irundhu ? I distinctly remember that they had meter back then.. and it was around 5 or 6 Rs per Km. I wasnt sure what to say..and I was already mixing up my languages to speak in Hindi and Kannada ( thinking that I will convert that to Telugu somehow) and finally he said 40 Rs.. I remembered that it wasnt that far.. Its hardly 2-3 kms.. Seri poa.. enna panradhu..

Idhu kaalaila nadandha koothu... Now in the evening I was wondering how and when to come back... So I came back earlier (coz I saw a bus stop near the entrance of Hitech City area entrance) and was standing in the bus stand.. But I was surprised with all the people almost standing on the center of the road. I remember that they had the shared auto concept here..But adhuku ippadi yaa vaaa aduchukuvaanga.. aathaadi.. I was stunned to see how many people can make use of that small auto to go to a common place (no difference in gender or status or anything..idhula nalla othumai) with small amount of money (Rs 5 or Rs 10).. My friend has asked me to take a shared auto..indha scenea paathutu I decided that I will either take a bus or a separate auto..Idhellam ennaku othu varaadhu.. getting accustomed to it will need some killer instinct..which I definitely dont have. Seri auto share panraanga paravaa illai.. cars kooda share la oadudhu.. I dont know if that is something that they learn when they stay here or what it is. They seem to know which car to stop and get in. Mostly girls.. They ask if they are going in the way of their destination and if they are then they just get in..And if the driver doesn't accept then they scold him on his face.. ennaku onnume puriyala..and they almost go to the center of the road to stop the cars... apparam bus edhuku ? ennaku sema confusion.. nalla velai.. I asked one bus that came and they said it will go to my place and I hopped in.

Because of the work pressure I couldn't venture out anywhere in the city or even the Shilpa ramam which has been enhanced with a amphitheater and a MacD etc (even though they still have a area for the arts and crafts display...) oru chinna mall madhiri iruku .. I saw it from outside..

PG accommodation, Hostels, Guest houses.. these sell like hot cakes in this area. theruvuku 3 PG / hostels iruku.. they also give you free internet along with the rent.. Rent ranges from 9k to 20k depending on the sharing mode... and you can choose from such a very wide variety. I saw 2/3 hostels which gave a single sharing room for 9 k but it was a store room practically.. naan ulla nozhanjaale edeam adanjurum ..apparam mathadhellam enga ? Now finalized on a guest house sort of place.. with all facilities of a serviced apartment except that it is just one room with a balcony for my usage.

Today to come to Kacheguda station, I had to spend 70 Rs in auto from hitech city to hitech city station (for a 10 min travel) and then from there took the MMTS train which cost me only 4 Rs from Hiech city station to Kacheguda Station (for a 45 min travel)...eppadi... nalla velai..they told me about the MMTS and I ventured to try it today.. illainaa.. pocket gaalidhaan.. and that too for such a distance..

Somehow the city has become too big  (just like the ever expanding Bangalore now.. ) and to get from one end to other, if there is no MMTS it would be very very difficult. Bangalore ku eppo Metro kedaikum....

Hey I almost forgot....they call his area..Cyberabad.. eppadi.. mudiyaladaa saamy..

I am still reeling on the magnanimity of the change of this place... am yet to settle down.. Will update more once I get a hang or feel of this place... 

Book reading marathon

I am not sure why I am doing this, but I have read almost a book a day on my ipad over the past two-three weeks and may be 3 or 4 over the weekends. Combination of mystery and romance (particularly historical romance). With the pressure @ work, I just couldn't sleep without completing a novel in 2 hours. I sort of used it for my stress buster. I have done this earlier too..Whenever my work pressure get the better of me,  I resort to reading book left, right and center. Earlier I found it difficult to find that many books, so I would end up reading a already read book. But with so many books @ my disposal, I am not able to hold myself back....Boy!! I ain't complaining, but that sure doesn't do any good to my eyes ;)

Since they are so light weight and you don't have to put too much thought to it, it makes for a good and breezy reading (and so many happy endings :D...I can never get enough of happy endings...) There were some historical romances which surprised me a lot... I never expected them to be so captive or interesting even..They took me completely by surprise. A few of them are a series and they are set in early 19th century British era.. The words used.. ah!! The variety of the characters and to weave a story between them ... If eyes are the windows to the soul, well, words are the doors to the mind.. aren't they ? Among so many books, there were two quotes which stuck with me. There are a few more...but I will add them once I copy it from them.


You may have heard the word 'marry' as a nautical term. It refers to the sailors' practice of matching two ropes together to give them greater strength as one. - I think this explains the concept of marriage much perfectly than anything else.

Aristotle taught that stars are made of a different matter than the four earthly elements—a quintessence—that also happens to be what the human psyche is made of. Which is why man’s spirit corresponds to the stars. Perhaps that’s not a very scientific view, but I do like the idea that there’s a little starlight in each of us. - This coincides my belief on stars too :)

“I'll make you forget all the things I've done,” Nikolas said. “I swear I'll make you happy…just let me

try. All I want is to love you. You don't even have to love me back.” - One the very beautiful selfless declaration of love. 

I have decided to put an end to this marathon (need to check how much self control I have..) and take a break for a few weeks before resuming my normal reading.

Another start..sort of...

Its been exactly a week since I moved to Hyderabad and as much as I wanted to sit and pen down my thoughts, the work pressure kept me far away from it.

When I decided that I should take a break a from Bangalore and my current way of life, I was asked so many questions as to why I should be changing that is almost stable. And why do I have to decide on a different place just to feel different. I could take a house in a different part of the city and may be in a better apartment and start from there. Was I inconvenient because of my past and was it having an effect on me.... too many questions...

I am one of those people who do not like changes in their lives. I am happy and content with few things and the way those few things give the feeling of stability. I don't take to changes very well, especially changes that happen within a short span of time where I am unable to make my plans for those changes. It topples me very badly and I know a lot of situations where I have been unable to handle them well. I like to plan, execute them according to plan and be at peace when things work out well, according to the plan..and any deviation due to external factors, I used to be very irritated and angry with the source (be it natural causes or some person)... I know it sounds like a normal thing when we put it this way, but you have no idea how that that kind of discipline can make you feel caged at times and how much the plans start to rule your life. Plans became my addiction at one time...

But when my life started taking turns in a very unplanned way, I started to realize that plans are just guidelines to start with and sometimes or most of the times, things do not go the way you want it to and you just have to keep revisiting and readjusting them as and when it comes.. To be very technical, I was following the Waterfall model in my life, and I realized that I should be doing them the Agile way....;) (effect of my recent agile and scrum training... I was sitting in that classroom and was wondering the analogies between the project and the real life with respect to Agile and Scrum ... ) I remember even recently when my dad said I was thinking too fast and too far ahead.. (just because I had a heavy lunch and after the lunch I said that I will be skipping dinner because I already feel full for a day.. He said that dinner was hours away and that I shouldn't think about dinner during lunch....because you never know..if I would feel hungry during dinner time or not.. he was right..)

Now that things in my life were going without any plan, and since I was feeling unexcited with my life, I wanted to try a change.. not too big and not too trivial... Changing to a different apartment in Bangalore to start with would have been trivial for me.. No big change there.. I had done that....I still would have to think about how I would handle my flat etc..and that will be there at the back of my head all the time.. Working from home at this project juncture was not welcome by my managers, because of the importance of the project and the need to put in more hours.. and I know that working from my home town, will be a challenge with the longer power cuts and with two kids at home. I wanted to be away for a while, alone surrounded with new faces, where I can become a nobody. I have been in this place for too long and I have become somebody to all those people... Its good to belong somewhere..but it also important for me, to be a nobody from time to time...just to .. I don't know how to put it.. I want to be anonymous at times.. Even if it is for some time (can be weeks, months or years)... I want that break in between...When I discussed about this with my manager, they gave me two options, Noida and Hyderabad. Noida is too far away from my home town.. even though I want to be anonymous or a nobody I would love to go home to my parents and those kids from time to time.. So I chose Hyderabad.... Not too near and not too far...

The work pressure did not even give me enough room to think or panic about the change.. I got my guest house booked and hadn't even packed till the day of my flight..i.e. last Sunday  I had no time to think if I was doing the right thing or not... I know my friends were apprehensive of this decision and they thought that I was doing this without any reason (they were concerned that I was putting myself under unnecessary pressure about my life at this point of time...and that changing the place isn't going to change anything). And :) they are pretty damn sure that I will come running back to Bangalore at the earliest.

When I left my home with bare minimum necessities that can sustain me for 2 weeks or so, I was blank. I wasn't expecting anything from this new place.. I didn't want to think. I didn't want to feel...For a moment, I thought I would feel something..but there was nothing.. And I had this dramatic scene that got played.. just like in movies.. except that in movies they show this scene in slow motion for better effects...When I was coming to the main road in the cab (on my way to the airport) the person, whom I wanted to say good bye in my life but can never say it..the person who was once a very important part of it and now a unknown, was coming in the direction of the taxi.. And when our paths crossed, I was surprised to feel no emotion what so ever. There used to be a time when I used to feel a small pain in my heart whenever our paths crossed. Irrespective of whatever happened, both of us have our own pains and both of us were responsible for where we are right now. But now, it was as if this was my final good bye to this person..... I know it sounds bit melodramatic..but it did happen..and I felt good about the blankness..

When the flight landed in Hyderabad  it was like going to U.S for the official trip.. Took a cab, gave the address of the guest house and landed in my room. That was when I smiled. Because I wasn't sure of myself I guess..But this city surprised me.. It had grown by leaps and bounds over these years...and there are so many things I wanted to write about my first impressions here.. some other post for that.. this one is already too long.Now that I have almost finalized on a PG accommodation (too costly..but it has its own comfort and nothing is free here)  let us see how things go from here. I have no deadline on this place and I have a home back in Bangalore and in Coimbatore and I can chose to go to any of these two whenever I choose to. There is so much to explore in this new place (even though I had lived here for 2 years way back in 1999, this place has changed upside down)

There is a instinct which tells me that I will find something else here..what is it .. I am not sure.. but that feeling is there in the back of my head and as much as I doubt it I don't want to dwell on it.. So by writing it down I am letting it go and gonna get busy :) I am not ready for any drastic changes for now.. Slow and steady is my mantra... Let us see.. This sure is another leg of my journey (my life).

Hasta pronto...