Day 1 - Madurai

In our wish list of the places to be seen, Madurai-Rameshwaram-Kanyakumari also had its reservations. This was finally realized when we booked our 3 day package tour to MRK thru STC Tourism starting 13th Feb. The package costed Rs. 2,500 per head and only myself and Soumya went for it. The travel guy had told that all hotel reservations had been done and we would be put in Ramakrishna Towers in Madurai. On arrival at Madurai, a person by name Syeed will contact me and give the tour details for 3 days. On the night of 12th, we boarded a SRS semi-sleeper bus to Madurai at 9:30 PM and reached the temple city at around 6:15 AM.

We took a rick to hotel Sri Ramakrishna Towers, which was hardly a km from the bus stand, and the rick charged Rs. 30 for it. We woke up the hotel manager and showed him the receipt given at Bangalore. After sometime, he handed over the keys of room and said that Syeed will contact us by 9. We took some rest and freshened ourselves by 9 and then Syeed came and gave us the tour itinerary. Syeed had his travel agency - Bengal Travels and STC was its partner. He told we had time till 2 PM to relax, and then the Madurai sightseeing bus would come by 2:30 PM, and take us around Madurai and drop us near Meenakshi temple at around 6:30 PM. The next day, we had to be ready by 7:30 AM to go for Rameshwaram, and night halt would be at Kanyakumari. The day after, we needed to leave hotel at 6 AM for sunrise and then Kanyakumari sightseeing and later back to Madurai and Bangalore. 

As we had lots of time in the morning, we thought of finishing Meenakshi temple as it was close by and in the evening, photos won’t come good. We left the hotel, had breakfast at the nearby Murugan Idly hotel and went to the temple. It was just a 10 min walk from our hotel and the outer compound wall was lengthy. The road leading to the temple was hopeless with lots of potholes and dust. As we came close to the South Tower, we were fascinated by its structure. The South tower was very colorful, rises to over 170 ft (52 m) high with 1511 statues and is the tallest among the 12 towers!

As we entered the temple, there were 2 queues - one free darshan and another special darshan for Rs. 15. We could take snaps of the temple by paying Rs. 50 for camera. As we entered, a marble replica of the temple was kept near the general queue. The ceilings were painted with different themes - the 8 forms of Goddess Sakthi, all God forms, wedding of Meenakshi Amman, etc.

The corridor of the main temple was amazing.

To the right was the Golden Lotus pond which was dried up. Its believed that it was in this pond that the Golden Lotus for Indra to perform His pooja bloomed. This pond is also known as Adhi Theertham, Sivaganga and Uthama Theertham.

At the far end, enclosing the Sundareshwar temple wall, there was an idol of Lord Ganesha.

We first went to Sundareshwar temple as it had less queue. 2 bronze statues guarded the entrance. The presiding deity there was Lord Shiva in the form of Sundareshwara. The Sundareshwara temple also had a big Prakara, and we took a round around it. There were deities of Kalabhairava and other deities within its corridor.

There was a big bronze Nandi in front of the temple, and numerous carved pillars all around.

Next we went to the main Meenakshi Amman temple and there was already a long queue for special darshan also, as it was Neyvedyam time. We stood in the long corridor between Meenakshi and Sundareshwar shrines.

We stood in the queue for more than 30 mins and finally we had the darshan of Meenakshi Amman. The idol stood far covered in natural lights only. After darshan, we came out of the sanctum and went towards the eastern entrance along the pond. At all places, the corridor ceilings were painted with some or other stuffs and it looked beautiful.

On the way, we found temple art museum and 1000 pillar mandapam, but we thought of visiting it later. The eastern side had two entrances and its tower was relatively small compared to the south one.

There was also a marriage hall besides it.

It was already 12:30 PM by then and we decided to go back to the hotel. On the way, we had lunch at Modern restaurant near South tower. The name was 'Modern', but they served traditional lunch on plantain leaves. As we were tired for hours of walking, we had proper lunch and came back to the hotel at around 1:45 PM. From our hotel rooftop, all the towers of Meenakshi temple was visible at a distance and it was a pleasant sight.

We slept for about half an hour when the ring from the reception woke us up. He told that the sightseeing bus had come and was waiting for us. We quickly got readied and left the hotel at 2:30 PM. The traveler bus was a mini tempo and we were the first ones to board it. we were wondering if we were the only people for sightseeing, but then the driver took us to some place and made us wait for 1 hour in the sun for other fellow tourists. We finally started our sightseeing trip at 3:30 PM.

First we went to Thirumalai Nayak Palace. This is the palace of 17th century Pandya ruler Thirumalai Nayak who contributed extensively to the Meenakshi Temple. The area is huge with colorful dooms. There is also a museum, which houses not only the original portraits of Thirumalai naicker, but also unearthed stone carvings of the 7th century, along with many sculptures of Hindu Gods like Brahma, Nataraja, Saraswati of the period. There is also a sound and light show conducted in the evening.

Next, we went to the Mariyamma Tank which is a huge tank with a temple in its centre.

Next, he took us to Gandhi Museum where Indian Independence struggle has been depicted in pictures from the time British came to India. There are some artifacts related to Gandhi also, and among them is the Gandhi's bloodstained dhoti which he wore on his last day when he was shot. This museum is good for those interested in India's freedom struggle.

Further continuing, he took us to Alagar Temple which is 20 kms away from Madurai located in the nearby hills (Alagarkoil). This is Vishnu Temple dedicated to Sundaraja Perumal (or) Alagar (beautiful). The Lord is considered the brother of Meenakshi (Lordes Paravathi) given in wedding with Sundareshwar (Lord Shiva). The temple is situated amidst a very picturesque surroundings.

Next on the way back to Madurai, we stopped at the SuryaNarayana temple which is a relatively new one. Inside the temple were huge idols of Lord Shiva, Karthikeya, Hanuman among other deities. Photography wasn't allowed inside it.

We came back to Madurai at around 7:30 PM and he dropped us near Meenakshi temple West tower. Regarding other places mentioned in the travel guide, like Madana Gopala temple, he told that it was nearby and could be visited after Meenakshi temple. 

We came back to Meenakshi temple and entered it again via South tower to go to the 1000 pillar mandapam. There was a procession of the Lords going on it that area. As we entered, the replica of the temple was now lit and we could now understand the architecture of the temple and the corridors.

We went to the 1000 pillar mandapam and it was beautiful with each pillar having a source of light above it. At the far end was an idol of Lord Nataraja.

Here is a section of the 1000 pillar mandapam.

The temple art museum was within it and it had collections of ancient bronze idols of various dieties.

After seeing all these, we took Prasadam and left the temple premises. We had no patience to go to Madana Gopala temple as we were totally exhausted. We had food at the same Modern restaurant. In TamilNadu, where all places we have visited, dinner is not served at night at hotels. So, we had to have heavy snacks - parotha, roti and milk. We came back to the hotel, tired. After calling up our homes, we crashed on bed as next day we had to be ready by 7:30 AM.

For more information click on: Madurai, Meenakshi Amman temple.

For the temple art and architecture, click here.

Funny language

Recently I took part in a Scrabble tournament conducted in Infy, with basic English vocab and most importantly just for fun. Usually when played at home, we take our own sweet time to come up with the word which fetches the maximum points. But here, a time limit was kept such that each player gets only 15 mins and for every minute post the time limit, 10 points were deducted. And, there were only 2 players per game. A word could be challenged by the opponent, if he found it incorrect. And for every challenge, if the word turns to be in the 'Scrabble dictionary', the challenger would lose 5 points, and if not present, would gain 5 points. Now the funny part.. what is a 'Scrabble dictionary'?

All along till now, I had thought the standard English dictionary (generally of Oxford/Collins) would be the base for the words made. But I was surprised to know that the 'Scrabble dictionary' contains words other than the Oxford dictionary.

The Scrabble dictionary is made up of words contained in the Official Tournament and Club Word List or Tournament Word List, referred to as OTaCWL, OWL, or TWL based on the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (OSPD) and the SOWPODS word list. It has some crazy 2 letter words like - AA, AB, AD, AG, AI, DI, EH, FY, JA, JO KY, QI, ZA, ZO, and many more...

Among the 3 letter words, AAH, ADZ, AIA, AKA, AMA, BEZ, CUZ, QAT, QIS, RHY, SEZ, ZAS, ZAX, ZUZ, ZZZ, etc are absolutely valid words in Scrabble.

For 4 letter words, AITU, AJEE, AZYM, GEEZ, JEEZ, JYNX, JIZZ, QATS, QUAI, RAZZ, SJOE, YUNX, ZIZZ, ZZZS, etc etc.. too are valid words..!

I didn't know these words ever existed on earth. And worse, I wonder if they have any meaning!

Below is the wordlist provided by the Scrabble Association of India (also called the 'cheat sheet'). It would be good to have this as a reference the next time you play Scrabble!

You can also check the Scrabble word finder here.

A downloadable version can be found at zyzzyva.

To join the Indian Scrabble Association, visit indianscrabble.

Undoubtedly, English is a Funny Language...!

The decade that was..

the first DECADE of the 21st century is going to end in a few hours from now, and as i drive back to the memory lanes, i see a lot of wonderful things that happened in and around ME..

FRIENDS from my college whom I cherish having.. my first CRUSH in college.. the SONG i sang on college day.. the NIGHT-OUTS during exam times.. the hostel MESS.. the PROXIES i put for my friends.. subjects like M2, SAS, DSP, MP etc which gave jitters.. the BYHEARTING of PROGRAMS in C and MP.. my first MOBILE with BSNL connection.. the TRIPS we had in the name of EDUCATIONAL TOURS to MANGALORE and KERALA.. going to MYSORE during semester holidays.. my first NOVEL.. visiting HORANADU, SRINGERI, HIMAVAD-GOPALASWAMY HILLS, BANDIPUR, KARWAR, GOKARNA, MURUDESHWAR, and other places with family.. the ASSIGNMENTS which prof gave.. my hard earned B.E degree..

my first RESUME.. job search in NEWSPAPERS and on INTERNET.. trip to Mt. ABU, DWARKA, PORBANDAR, AHMEDABAD and 2 JYOTIRLINGAS at NAGESHWAR and SOMANATH with grandparents.. developing interest in TOURISM and PHOTOGRAPHY.. giving INTERVIEWS at various companies.. my first JOB at INFOSYS..

FRIENDS again from my training batch.. my first SALARY.. the EXAMS during training.. the MANGALORE trip for a reunion.. the MYSORE trip where i broke my back.. my first PROJECT for a bank.. the start of SLOGGING.. my first ONSITE trip within a year of joining..

my first FLIGHT.. a new COUNTRY.. meeting many new FACES.. working along with THEM.. learnt COOKING.. travelling around LONDON, SCOTLAND and WALES.. the x-MAS vacations and later shopping on BOXING DAY.. my first high-end EARNED mobile which is still with me.. seeing SNOWFALL for the first time and WALKING on snow..

staying in PUNE for 10 months.. attending CAT coaching at IMS.. staying in a PG.. visited MUMBAI, AJANTA-ELLORA, AURANGABAD, SHIRDI, SHANI-SHINGAPUR, and 3 JYOTIRLINGAS at TRIAMBAKESHWAR, GRISHNESHWAR and BHIMASHANKAR.. the trek to HARISHCHANDRA GADH.. my first SIZZLER.. my FIGHT for getting released from project.. giving all MBA exams.. clearing NONE.. enjoying the project PARTIES..

back in BANGALORE.. put into a DEVELOPMENT project.. winning my first POWER PROGRAMMER award.. amazing TEAM.. my SECOND onsite trip to UK.. more FRIENDS who were like FAMILY.. visited uncovered places in first trip - CAMBRIDGE, BLACKPOOL, SNOWDANIA, BATH, STONEHENGE, BRISTOL and also LUCERNE, INTERLAKEN, JUNGFRAU, BERN in SWITZERLAND.. getting into BLOGGING.. winning the most SPIRITED team award.. my first PROMOTION.. getting hit by RECESSION..

travelling 3 HOURS by BUS to office back in bangalore.. my first BIKE.. trip to UDUPI.. the trek to KODACHADRI.. para-sailing in GOA.. staying in a RENTED house.. construction of our NEW HOME.. my brother going for his first ONSITE.. another ONSITE for me but this time in INDIA.. transfer to GURGAON.. cool WORK and CHICS.. covered entire DELHI.. visited MATHURA, AGRA, VARANASI, JAIPUR, AJMER, PUSHKAR, DEHRADUN, HARIDWAR, RISHIKESH, MANALI and VAISHNO DEVI.. the FUN i had in travelling.. my first RIVER RAFTING.. the start of GIRL HUNT for marriage..

got BOWLED in the first BALL.. my ENGAGEMENT and subsequent rise in my mobile BILL.. the SLEEPLESS nights.. my marriage with SOUMYA.. our trips to DARJEELING, SIKKIM, SUBRAHMANYA-DHARMASTHALA, TIRUPATI, CHENNAI, HYDERABAD.. her tender CARE.. my first LAPTOP.. finally getting RELEASED from the project after 3.5 years..

i might have MISSED out many other things though.. there also were some SAD moments, but i wish not to jot it down..

thanks to ALMIGHTY for all the things happening.. it's been a FANTASTIC decade.. hoping the same EXCITEMENT continues to the next decade..

ending the decade by WISHING ALL A HAPPY and PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2011 and a JOYOUS NEW DECADE!

~! 7 !~

Completed 7 years in Infosys

Super

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...

Day 3 - Hyderabad local sightseeing

Tuesday morning, again we woke up early and left the hotel by 7:30 AM to APTDC office on Tank Bund road by a rick. We reached the office by 7:45 and surprised to see not many people waiting. We had breakfast at the same Haritha restaurant adjacent to it and again waited for more than half an hour. The bus finally arrived and we sat, and still waited for half an hour before finally leaving at around 9.

The guide mentioned about the day's tourist places to be covered. First was the Birla Mandir, then Charminar, Salarjung Museum, Nizam Jubilee Pavilion, Chowmahalla Palace, Zoo, then break for lunch and continue to Golconda Fort, Qutub Shahi tombs, shopping for pearls and then finally drop at Lumbini Park. The trip looked quite exciting.

The first spot we covered was Birla Mandir. On the way, we saw the Secretariat and head quarters of Andhra Bank. He stopped us at some main road and asked us to go thru a narrow lane upwards for Birla Mandir, giving us 45 mins time. Cameras were not allowed inside the temple. Birla temple was fully built of marble and is situated at some height. The presiding diety over there was Balaji, which was considerably tall. There were few small temples of Ganesh & Hanuman around. From the top, we could see the Hussain Sagar lake, but it was dull due to weather.

The bus arrived at 10 and next we proceeded towards Charminar. It’s a very famous landmark of Hyderabad situated at the heart of old city. The guide told that there wouldn't be a halt over Charminar, and the bus would just circle it due to the heavy rush there. As we entered the old city, heaps of garbage greeted us. It was an ugly sight to look at, wonder how people stay there!

Charminar was built by Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the ruler of Qutub Shahi dynasty after he had shifted his capital from Golkonda to Hyderabad. He built this famous structure to commemorate the elimination of a plague epidemic from this city. He is said to have prayed for the end of a plague that was ravaging his city and vowed to build a mosque at the very place where he was praying.

After encircling Charminar, we next proceeded towards Salarjung museum. Near the museum, the guide made us wait for 15 minutes when he came back with the tickets. He already mentioned that he would take us only around the important 3 galleries and later one could come at his own time to have a full look of it.

The Salarjung Museum is the third largest museum in India housing the biggest one-man collections of antiques in the world. Nawab Mir Yousuf Ali Khan Salar Jung, former Prime Minister of the Nizam of Hyderabad, spent a substantial amount of his income over thirty five years to make this priceless collection, his life's passion. The collections include Indian Art, Middle Eastern Art, Far Eastern Art, European Art, Children Art along with a Founders gallery and a rare manuscript section. The museum building in a semicircular shape with 38 galleries, spread on two floors, displays only a part of the original collections.

Near the entrance, in an open hall, one of the museum's important exhibit - a musical clock, was kept. The time was close to 11 and people had sat to see the timekeeper emerging from the upper deck of the clock to strike a gong as many times as it is the hour of the day. A goldsmith beat his sticks, which indicated the seconds. This musical clock was bought by Salar Jung from Cook and Kelvy of England and it had more than 50,000 parts. It was a visual treat at 11. But I thought, the musical clock at Jaganmohan Palace, Mysore, was far better than this in comparison.

Behind the clock, there was a gallery of sculptures, and the famous among them was that of Vieled Rebecca by G.B. Benzoni, an Italian sculptor. Her beautiful face hazily is visible through a marble but gossamer veil.

Next, the guide took us to art gallery which had paintings. In between paintings, was a captivating double-figure wood sculpture. It stands before a mirror and shows the facade of a nonchalant Mephistopheles and the image of a demure Margaretta in the mirror. A warrior on the front & a woman at the back. It was marvelous.

Next we went around galleries which had collections of antique clocks, crockery items and porcelain works. I later went to the museum shop and enquired about price of miniature double-figure model, and he told it costs Rs. 400. We finally exited the museum at around 11:45.

Next we came to Nizam's Jubilee Pavilion museum, which is about 1 km from Salarjung Museum. It is situated near Purani Haveli, a place acquired by Nizam II around 1750. The museum has a vast collection of objects including gifts and mementos presented to the last Nizam on the occasion of the silver jubilee celebrations in 1936. There are also models made in silver of all the prominent buildings of the city and citations in Urdu about H.E.H. Mir Osman Ali Khan, gold burnished wooden throne used for the silver jubilee celebrations, gold tiffin box inlaid with diamonds, gold model of Jubilee Pavilion, silver coffee cups studded with diamonds. Sadly, photography was prohibited inside.

From there, we came to Chowmahalla palace. It had a big gateway as entrance. Chow means four, and Mahal means Palace. Chow-Mahalla therefore means four palaces. It had a beautiful garden and on either sides of it were the Northern and Southern courtyards. At the far end was the Durbar hall and next to it was a Clock tower.

The oldest part of the complex currently under restoration (in Southern courtyard), comprises of the four palaces Afzal Mahal, Mahtab Mahal, Tahniyat Mahal and Aftab Mahal.

The northern courtyard has a long corridor of rooms.

The clock tower houses what is affectionately called the Khilwat Clock which has been ticking away ever since the palace was built.

The grand pillared Durbar Hall has a pure marble platform on which the Takht-e-Nishan or the royal seat was laid. There were spectacular chandeliers hung in this regal hall.

On the first floor, there were various porcelain crockery items used by the then Nizams.

There was a room exclusively for weapons used by them.

Also there were fire resistant almairahs brought from England.

Having seen all these, we were a bit tired. We next went to the zoo and the guide made us take a quick round around the zoo in a zoo cart. There was nothing special in the zoo - the usual tigers, lions, elephants, bear, peacock, some birds, etc. One animal which was rare was the Bengal tiger, or white tiger. It would have been better if zoo had been skipped.

We were too tired by this time and finally the guide took us to a Haritha restaurant after some 20 minute drive. This restaurant was located at Taramati Baradari which was once a caravan station for traders and travelers. A buffet was arranged and was quite sumptuous. We finally finished lunch by around 3 PM.

Post lunch, we visited the Golconda Fort. Ibrahim Qutub Shah built this fort way back in 1512 and designed a perfect acoustical system by which a hand clap sounded at the fort's main gates, the grand portico or "Fateh Darwaza”, was heard at the top of the citadel, situated on a 300-foot (91 m)-high granite hill. The acoustics were due to the diamond shaped cuttings on the top of the wall. This is one of the fascinating features of the fort.

The grand fortress is protected by three formidable lines of defense. The first, an outer fortification made up of granite blocks. The middle wall surrounds the base of the hill and the innermost one follows the contours of the highest ridge.

The Golconda Fort was famous for diamonds in its heyday, and it is said that world famous Kohinoor diamond was from this fort. There was an area called Nagina Bagh, where once merchants came from various parts and sold their diamonds.

There were army barracks and inside was a small stone of great weight, about 200 kgs. It was said that whoever wanted to join the army, in those days, had to lift this to find their capacity!

The guide gave us half an hour time to go to the highest point of the fort which was around a kilo meter - "Baradari". The steps were big enough and we halted after every few steps. Baradari is the main entrance to the fort located on the eastern side. On the way, we saw Ramdas jail and also Ibrahim mosque.

We finally reached the topmost point which had a very vast area. The winds were cool and a bird's view of Hyderabad could be seen. The Minarets of Charminar was vaguely visible. At a distance, we could also see the famous Qutub Shahi tombs. They were total 7 in all.

The magnificent fort could be seen entirely.

We descended the steps, took some rest at the basement and went to the bus. After some time, we went near the Qutub Shahi tombs. Nobody was interested in getting down and to see them, so we just proceeded back to Hyderabad.

It had begun to get dark by the time we entered Hyderabad. As this city was famous for its pearls, the guide took us to a famous pearl shop - "Bhagyalakshmi Pearls" claiming that they were the oldest family in this business. We had a look at the Hyderabadi pearls and it was good. The rate was also good ;) , so didn't purchase anything.

We finally got dropped at Lumbini park at around 7:30 PM. We purchased tickets for laser show which was about to start in few minutes at the park. For the show, we had to deposit our bags at the counter & could take only camera & mobiles. The show started at 8 PM it was very good lasting for half an hour. History of Hyderabad was shown along with other items, not to forget the telugu film industry. Music was loud and the fountains danced to it synchronously.

After the show, we came to the other side of park and boarded the last boat to the Buddha statue at Hussain Sagar lake. The statue stood tall, at one side of the lake and it shined in the lights. This statue is the prime attraction to anyone who visits Hyderabad. From the small island where this was placed, we could see the Necklace road twinkling.

After the boat ride, we came back, crossed the road and took a bus to CBS. We reached our hotel at around 9:30 PM, had authentic Hyderabadi Biryani for dinner and went off to bed.

It had been a great day, and lots of places covered. Only one day remained for us, and that was the day to recollect her good old days, her house, school, college, etc. We were beginning to think that the trip was getting over soon..