It started with a bang! Time was Eight-40 and train was "scheduled" to depart in next 10 mins. Sid and Lalith were still on their way to station. From IISC to Y'pur Platform-4 during buzy hours of the day in 10 minutes in auto - they were bound to miss the train.
Eight-50. Train started warming up for its long journey. It started crawling out from the station. Sid & Lalith not in sight yet! Anoop's cell rang ----
"Which platform?"
"4 - Kahan ho?"
"Green colour train kya?"
"Yes - Par tum log kaha ho?"
Call disconnected. Train took its pace n it was off the station in a flash.
A minute later - two smiling faces entered our compartment. Yes. They had made it. In typical filmy DDLJ/JabWeMet style.
-------------------
Next two hours was fun. Train journey was always exciting. And what more you need when you are accompanied with eleven of your best buddies. Laugh riot was on - didnt even bother to see if rest of the sleeping people in our compartment were getting distrubed. Amidst all these - sid didnt miss a single opportunity to poke at girl on the side lines of the compartment. She was good. And for people working at L&T - she was definately an Oasis !!
8 Guys - 3 Aunties and a "kutty" kid. This was our total tour strength. All from the same project, working under the same roof. This made our discussions even more exciting. We talked about everyone. Spared none. From managers to maaali's. From technology to movies. Everything.
---------------------
Tum se log kahenge -- Na kar pyaar mujhe,
Main to lakh bura hu, Neend chura loo, Hosh uda loo,
Main to baat ko lekar, raah bula du, baat bana loo,
Chahe Jahaan - Dilko Chupa --
Baato hi baaton main, do mulakato main, Leloooo
Bachna Ae Haseeno -- Lo main Agaya...
Areee Bachnaa Ae haseeno -- Lo main Agaya..
Husn ka aashiq, husn ka dushman;
Apni ada hai yaaron se judaa, Aye ho!
Our tour anthem! & Didn't we remind ourself to sing it atleast once in an Hr? Ofcourse. Didn't matter where we were - who were around, we gave respect to our anthem. In Chorus!
------------------------------
0600 Hrs. Rain God had already made pretty good preparation for our welcome. It was flooding water all around. Where ever you see - it was just water. N it was still pouring down. Not a good start. And In typical h'badi style - we reachd our apartments from station. 2 Auto's. 10 People. Carrying equally heavy bags. The count 10 was excluding the driver, and including aunties ! :-)
---------------------------
Apartment - small cozy one. Considering the short notice that we gave regarding numbers and arrival time - I should say they had managed a decent one. Took some time to freshen up and then started photo session which was not supposed to end for next 2 days. Model Manjot & Photographer Ekka !
After a bit of wait - our journey to roam around h'bad got a start. What's the first thing that come's to one's mind when we hear the name 'hyderabad'?. Yes. Its Hyderabadi Biryani. First things first. And this is what we headed towards - Hotel Paradise. And the hype didnt flatter. The biryani was the second best I ever had in my life (First best is ofcourse what I prepare at home! ). Great meal indeed. Perfectly cooked with perfect mix of spices. Marinated pieces of lamb melting in your mouth. And that aroma --- Ooooooo. Mouth watering.
Now started the big dilemma! What next?? After few suggestions and quarrels, whether to go to Golkonda/Charminar/etc - we headed to do some shopping! Yes shopping! No Golkonda - No Charminar - But to a shopping mall. This is what will happen if you are accompanied by girls! Sid, being partially local to h'bad had different plans in his mind. One of the best pubs in H'bad was attatched to this mall & we gave it a shot. Made good use of Happy Hours! Wooow - This was the best possible Win-Win situation. Girls did their business and we did our's !! :-)
--------------------------------
Next pit stop: Snow world. We were expecting a bit too much and were disappointed a bit when we entered the snow world. A Inch or two of snow all over, a "snow" volleyball court, an Igloo, a slider (not much exciting even in first run) and thats it. Initial few minutes were boring, but wait. It wasnt over yet. Fun part started when we started doing what snow was intended to be - making snow balls and throwing at each other. Aaaah! Kid amongst all of was came out. We started running, jumping, escaping from snow balls, throwing snow balls after lil hide n seek, attacking in a group, targetting one after a bit of discussion, drama as if you are deeply hurt to escape from snow, everything. This "return to childhood" was simply amazing.
And when we thought we had good time, Music was switched on amidst light snow drizzle. Fun time isnt over yet. Group dance! Everyone participated and oh boy! Didn't we had a great time. Yes we did! And also, we did n't forget to sing our anthem 'Bachnaaa Aee Haseenooo'!
A couple of scary houses were attatched to this snow world. One was dark jungle and other was skeleton world. We all went in at the same time, did manage to scare couple of ghosts. And yet again sang our anthem! :-)
-----------------------------
We came out of snow world and headed straight to Charminar. Good historic place, but asusual - not properly maintained. All girls headed towards bangle street. Visiting Charminar wasn't their major intention, shopping was. Amazingly glittering street. 100's of shops, either side of the road selling all kinds of bangles! Worth a watch during night.
We all had seen the movie Angrez and hence wanted to taste "Irani Chai". Bunch of guys headed in search of the same. After quering in couple of tea shops, finally found one. Placed the order and supplier came in with cups of tea. Just to be sure - we enquired -
" Irani Chai hain na"
" Irani Virani pata nahi Saab - Yaheech Chai milta idhar!" -- the waiter responded and handed us those tea cups.
That virtual Irani Chai wasnt bad either. But still were disappointed coz we couldn't try our Irani Chai.
-----------------------------
