Day 4 - Old memories of Hyderabad

We woke up lazily on Wednesday morning, had breakfast and left for Yousufguda by bus from CBS. As we entered Ameerpet, she kept on telling things which had changed. There was no flyover 5 years back, the road she used to do for shopping, etc. On way we saw Sarathi Studios where number of movies were shot. We got down at Yousufguda and first saw her college - Chaitanya PU college. Then we went to few roads down and she showed me her old doctor's clinic and the chemist shop next to it. The chemist shop owner recognized her and he took us to his home opposite his shop. There we had a cup of tea, and they gave us a box of sweets for Diwali.

 

Later, we went to MGM High School, where she did her schooling for 3 years. Opposite her school was her home, where they used to stay. The owner of the home recognized her, called us inside and they started talking about old memories. Here too, we had a cup of tea and then left for her dad's bank.

All along the way, she was recollecting her old memories and showed her friend's houses. The excitement on her face was growing and I was happy about it.

 

On the way to Karnataka Bank, we saw Satya Sai Nigama and Venkateshwara temple, where Telugu film shootings take place.

 

We reached the bank, which was about 1.5 kms from her previous house and Singh uncle welcomed us. There she met many officers whom she knew from long time. Among them was Sundari aunty, who gifted us sweets for Diwali. She also got us introduced to the Bank manager. Her dad had worked with most of them and so recognizing his daughter wasn't a difficult task. We then went to Regional Office which was just above, and met few more.

 

We were about to leave the bank for lunch, when Singh uncle called us for lunch at bank itself, as it was organized by an auditor. Earlier, the manager also had called us for lunch. We declined it earlier, as I wanted to go to some authentic Hyderabadi restaurant, but Singh uncle insisted we have our lunch over there itself. With no option left, we had our lunch at the bank.

 

We thanked everyone and left the bank. We caught an auto to Pullareddy Sweet shop at Panjagutta, which is the most famous sweet shop in Hyderabad. Anyone who goes to Hyderabad wouldn't return with a box of Pullareddy sweets. There was a huge rush, as it was Diwali time, and we managed to get 3.5 kgs of assorted sweets after being in the queue for more than half an hour.

 

We next walked to Ameerpet shopping area and saw Chandana Brothers, Chermas and other shops. We went to Narsingh over there, which is famous for ladies dress materials, and after rounds of selection, chose a dress for her sister. We then went in search of Swagruha condiments, which was famous for its "Gongura", as told my many people in the bank. After a bit of searching thru the narrow roads, we found the place, and ordered 2 kgs of Gongura & mango pickle. Gongura is a famous side dish for food and very much used back home.

 

Carrying all these load, we boarded a bus back to CBS. We were at our hotel by around 6:30 PM, and hurriedly packed our stuffs. We checked out of our hotel at around 7:30 PM, and packed curd rice for dinner. We took a rick to Kacheguda station and we were at the station by 8 for our 8:45 train. The train came on time and we left for Bangalore. The next day morning, we arrived at Yeshwantpur by 10:30 AM and took a rick back home.

 

This trip had been very amazing and a good one. In 2 months, we had covered capitals of 2 states in the south. Still there are lots of places to be covered in our wishlist, and hopefully we would be covering it.. sooner or later...