And Memories of Andhra Were Made...

It was the 10th day of our tour and a final one. As soon as I had landed in Hyderabad I had spoken to Radha and Chanda my friends from school. I wanted to meet them and we had decided that end of my tour would be good time to meet. So this day we began by co-ordinating where to meet the two Annites and this was after 25 years! Radha had suggested a coffee place but since she had some meeting to attend she invited us to her office at the Hyderabad University Campus.

But that was at 10.30 am. We had lot of time on hand before that so we requested the driver to take us to the lake front, we meant Husain Sagar which we passed by earlier but had not seen it. Instead he took us to Osman sagar which was quite close to Taramati Baradari where we were staying. This is a lesser known lake but quite an expanse. We enjoyed the waterfront for half hour and then were chased off by cops, as parking was not allowed there. It was very quite but the Hyderabad sun was already glowing hot in the early morning. At evening time it would be more pleasant am sure.

Then we met Chanda and together we went to Radha's office at Gachibowli. Radha Rangarajan, is a Stanford graduate and a Ph.D. in Neurobiology and Genetics from the prestigious Rockefeller University. She worked with Dr. Reddy's laboratory before she ventured out into drug discovery on her own. We were always proud of her and she continues her scholastic pursuits for it runs in her family, She is the daughter of Dr. C. Rangarajan after all! I found out she had 2 daughters and was married to Santanu Paul. I had read the story of her wedding here. I told her about it and she eagerly shared more about her family and old times.

Chanda Mukhi had worked with Citibank for 14 years and now is a homemaker. She has a daughter too. It was interesting how both Chanda and Radha's daughters went to the same school, they had bumped into each other a couple of times but only on this day they spent almost 1.5hrs going down memory lane. About all the mischief we did in school, the tug of wars at lunch time, Vidhya Jayaraman's jokes, our trip to Bordi and more. The three of us were very happy indeed and we planned to have a reunion in school soon.

After this we that is Dad and me drove back into the city and decided to lunch at Kamat when we spotted it while driving by. This was the last day in Andhra so one more time my order was MLA Pesarattu, it was a happy me at the end of the meal.

Finally after lunch we decided to spend time till 5pm at the Salar Jung Museum. The Salarjung Museum is the third largest museum in India housing the biggest one-man collections of antiques in the world. It is a very well looked after museum and even after spending 2hrs we did not manage to see the complete collection. There is a room for every theme.

We then decided to go to Kachiguda railway station early and await the train. Any station in India looks less crowded when you are are Mumbaikar. I spent some time reading a book on the platform as I waited. We had a first class booking and as we boarded the train we were in for a surprise, We were given the only Coupe' in the compartment as out of the 10 first class passengers we were the only family! So our trip truly ended on a high note as we settlled in for the night on the train.

The Dream Maker's Workshop: 20th March 2011

At 9.00 am we were waiting for the driver to take us to Ramoji Film city, definitely the dream makers workshop. It is spread over 2000 acres and boasts of being the largest integrated services studio. We were staying at Taramati Baradari as we wanted to move around Hyderabad but one can choose to stay in Ramoji city itself if its just a weekend break at the film city. They have the hotel Tara and Sitara on the campus.

I was quite impressed with Ramoji right from the entrance. You walk into ticket counters buy the tickets, then walk into the waiting lounge to catch the shuttle that takes you to the studios. At the entrance you can choose to have some snacks and tea and go for a pee ;).

The entrance of the film studios is a fountain with tile mosaic work and it is called Movie Magic. From here you have to walk around to various venues and shows. The paintings on the entrance prepare you for all the fun in film making. Everything looks glitzy and clean. Yes rarely in India you will find such clean places of entertainment. Along with your ticket is a layout of the film city so take a look at it carefully and check the timing of each show.  Accordingly plan what you want to see and move quickly to these venues. This is India and there are ques everywhere for the shows. 

We first saw the movie magic show, here you move from auditorium to auditorium experiencing how movies are filmed, dubbed, mixed and released. This show is interactive, they pick up 2 people from the audience and dress up a girl as Basanti tangewali from Sholay and the boy helps with creating the various motions of film making. The commentary by the host is very engaging though scripted he manages to keep you excited at the same time involved with the whole process. At the end when the clipping of the chase scene of Basanti by the Dacoits that was part of Sholay is played with the new heroine picked from the audience you clap loudly and cheer!

We jumped on to trail cars to see the Filmy Duniya which is a tour of the seven wonders of the world, Hollywood, Bollywood, The Far East and even parts of Europe in just 20 mins. It is garish and loud and could be avoided if you are short of time.

Few meters from here in the location of the Wild Wild West show. We loved this one as it is full of energy of guns and roses straight from Hollywood movies all with sound effect and filmy fireworks. Thoroughly entertaining as you see a scene from the Wild West enacted in front of you, a bar in a deserted village, looting of the bank and wooing the girl. You must try to get a seat in the front row for this one as we did.

We saw something called the Ramoji Tower and were told you could get a birds eye view of the Ramoji city from there. I gave it a skeptical look, finding no terrace from where you could do that. We anyways went in, sat in the large lift that gives you the feeling of going up the tower and a film started playing in front of us and we were moving at high speed from ground upwards in the Ramoji city. You then realize this is a 4-D experience. The film on the screen takes you over entire Ramoji city the various gardens, fountains, sets and studios etc. Suddenly you are shaken by an earthquake and the film city comes crumbling down in front of your eyes. There is concrete flying in all directions, water pipes are broken, some of it showers on you making you wet, you touch your skin and smile. Just when you do that the mice run under your feet and tickle you and you let out a scary yelp! There is a huge thud and your lift lands on safe ground and you realize you freaked out in this show. As you step out you walk thru the ruins of Ramoji city. I loved this part of keeping the continuity of the experience before you step out into the sunny afternoon of Hyderabad.

 

We decided to take a lunch break at this point and go over to the food court. There is a lot of choice of hotels too. We had the Chinese platter of rice and noodles combo with vegetable manchurian followed by an ice-cream sundae.

Now refueled and ready for more fun. There was a man walking on slits attracting children. You saw people posing with the various statues of charachters from movies and some movie stars. Nearby was a gas station straight out of Hollywood and a closer look made you smile, it was actually a loo.

Post lunch we attended the Spirit of Ramoji, a music and dance show, it was about unity and diversity in the country and how films bind us through a single passion, besides cricket ofcourse!

We then went to a children's play area called Fundustan, with its colorful large sized imagery and even though we are adults we felt so excited. It is such a sunny place and you see all the children gleaming here as they walk in and out of the mouth of a benign monster, climbing up ice cream cones and yellow corn.

The most thrilling was the Borasura, its a haunted house that makes you clench hands with unknown people next to you and get out of the place safe and yet you don't want to miss the thrill, finally sliding out of the place a breathing a sigh of relief!

We ended the day by hopping on to the vintage red bus and taking a tour around the permanent sets which are scattered across the 2000 acres and is impossible to walk thru them in a single day. There is so much to see the garden where flowers are planted to match the color of the saree of a buxom heroine doing a jig. The train station and a train on rubber tyres!, the village homes and market places. The two dimensional set that looks like an airport from one side and a landmark from the other. The Mughal garden from outside and the inside looks like Vrindavan garden. We passed by a leg garden which was interspersed by sculptures of just legs in a landscaped area. The industrial structure and the disaster sets. Everything was so thrilling. We had spent almost 8 hrs at Ramoji and we had so much still to see.

Here enjoy the virtual tour from your comfortable chair and am sure you will want to visit soon.

The Caravan Station: 20th March 2011

We drove from Vizag to Hyderabad stopping only for lunch in Rajahmundry. Upto Rajahmundry It was a smooth National highway but later the state highway was in a bad shape and it took us a good 14hrs to reach Hyderabad and our hotel Taramati Baradari. We had passed by Ibrahim Bagh when we visited Golconda fort in the beginning of the tour. It is in the Defense neighborhood and has a strange charm even from the outside. 

I was very excited to explore this APTDC hotel as it is a heritage site. Since we reached there at 1 am, we went straight to bed and woke up around 7 am. It was already quite bright outside. Our suite reflected the Nawabi theme with the semi-transparent curtain separating the bedroom from the sitting area. Old style furniture and Nawabi diwans decorated the two rooms.The curtains were glittering silk.The fabric for the diwan was the famous Pochampalli in bright yellow. I was not able to visit Pochampalli in this visit but will do it next time.

Since we had bath and were ready to go out for the day we decided that we would have breakfast at the restaurant and it would be a nice walk around the Taramati Baradari. We realized that it was the day of Rang Panchami. A huge group of people had occupied the restaurant so we were asked to wait and they promised better service. We chose to walk around. I had read that this was a Caravan station with 12 doorways and APTDC attracts tourists to stay here with the stories of Taramati the courtesan whose lilting melodious voice had captivated the Abdullah Qutb Shah, at Golconda fort which is 2kms away from here. The hotel has a nice landscaped garden and some lovely quite and green nooks.We enjoyed our 2 days here thoroughly.

This Caravan station or sarai was completed in 1880. That makes it about 131+ years old. It is really an experience to be able to stay in such places. We climbed up the hill to be able to look down upon the Hyderabad town. On the hill top is a resting shelter with simple design of arches and little coves for the travelers to keep their possessions.

 

APTDC has renovated the place and in keeping with the theme has added some mosaic work that you can see along the walls framed by the arches.

More of Taramati Baradari here...

The Bastions of the Nizamshahi: 13th March 2011

The next morning we had plans to visit Golconda fort. Sunil made tea for everyone in the morning and followed by breakfast of upma. At 10.30 am we left for the Fort. The fort is near the Defense area. We parked the car and bought the tickets and started exploring the vast bastion of the Nizam. It is said once upon a time there was a moat surrounding it. The entrance pavilion has been built to acoustic perfection. In the days of the Nizam a message would be relayed by clapping hands in the pavilion and it would be heard at the top of the fort.

We saw the ladies palace, the jail where Bhadrachalam Ramdas was detained, the masjid etc. Here we met Cdr. Finally we climbed to the top and from the terrace took in the views of the city nestled in the foothills.

Then Cdr. took us for lunch to Boulder Hill Golf Course. After a sumptuous lunch we relaxed on the sofas, on the pavilions that overlooked the 12 hole golf course (I hope I got that right!). At 4 pm it was time for us to move from there as Sunil needed to drop off Gurunath Uncle at the bus stand as he was returning to Blr that night.

Cdr. then took us to Indian School of Business just across Boulder hill golf course. ISB has an aura of a university and the architecture is so unique. My guess is it is the work of Charles Correa, Can some one validate? While at the coffee shop called up Shalaka to tell her, I was "walking the corridors that she once walked". She squealed and requested me to post pictures.

Later we returned to Sunil's for a quite evening. This day was amazing meeting the Cdr. and spending an entire day together.

Darshan of Bhatji Bapu's Samadhi: 12th March 2011

Sunil had informed us that we should ask for KPHB colony  which is 1 km ahead and he would come to pick us up from there. As promised there he was with his Ford Fiesta at our disposal armed with cool bottles of mineral water a welcome for us after the all night journey.

Hyderabad, our first impression is dusty busy city and there was traffic even at 6.30 am. We drove to Sunil's home through quaint little defense colony of Jalavayu Vihar. His home is a little inside and cut off from the hustle bustle. We reached his home got fresh and meanwhile he made tea and had arranged for a breakfast of fresh idli with 2 types of chutneys, green tomato chutney and the regular peanut chutney.

After breakfast we had bath and relaxed after the night's journey. Sunil had to go to office so saw him off. Dad and Gurunath uncle sat on the sofa singing bhajans and discussing their spiritual experiences. I was feeling left out.

While I waited for Sunil to return from work so that we could lunch together I was just reading and chilling out. Gurunath Uncle was hungry so gave him a fruit sandwich and a pickle sandwich. I got the fruit salad ready and made masur dal and rice. Sunil came home with chapatis and curries bought from the hotel. He insisted on making sevayi kheer. It was an enjoyable lunch. The AP style bhindi was crisp and crunchy, a bit chewy but enjoyable as it was different. The sevayi was laced with nutmeg and I loved it as Sunil made it with so much love for Dad.

We took a longish nap in the afternoon as the sun rose to its peak and shone in all its glory. The plan was to go to Upuguda to visit Bhatji bapu's temple and Samadhi in the eve. We drove past Charminar to go there. I was quite surprised at the Maharashtrian population surrounding the temple. There are more than 2000 families and unlike in Karnataka here they speak pure Marathi with not a trace of Telugu. Got to know that they have couple of Marathi medium schools here and the school gets enough students to run successfully. The temple complex is large clean and peaceful. The Pujari spent some time inquiring about us, he was very non commercial is what struck me most. It is a legend that Bhatji Bapu was a great proponent of Annadan. Shree K.V. Belsare has mentiond about Bhatji Bapu several times in his discourses.

We returned home and Sunil refused to let me cook. He made broken wheat khichdi and phodnicha bhat from the leftover rice from afternoon. It was still a lot of food for the 4 of us. I was given a separate bedroom and I had all the privacy I needed. Sunil is an excellent host!