List - less!!!

Ya... its that time of the year, when I make a list of lists...A list for each festival. A list of things to shop for each festival, things to do, things to wear, things to get sorted. Hmmmm....crazy!!! Ain't I???

Well to give you a hint, the first list was for Navratri. As per our tradition, 

1. Buy 'Jowar' and two earthen pots

2. Sow Jowar in the pots

3.Water it for all days except on the 7th day.

4. On the 8th day, celebrate Ashtami by serving 'chana', 'puri' +  'halwa' to young girls. 

5. On day 10, celebrate Dussera. Look at Curd and the silver coin in the morning. 

6. Prepare the prasad

7. Do the Pooja and well - eat :-) the good food that I have PREPARED EARLY in the  MORNING!!!

and not to mention, shopping for all the things required for the Pooja. 

Hmmmm... tough....Next is Karwa Chauth, then Hoi Ashtami, then Diwali!!!! *eyes rolling*.

Now, I am not an overtly religious person per se, and nor I do bother much about the intricacy of the festivals celebrated, but yes - I guess this part comes with the package - of being 'married'. It is this time of the year, where I go bonkers shopping for trivia ...not to forget the not so trivial shopping of gifts for the family....but yes - after going bonkers, I go nuts!!!!! 

But, but, but..... but of all buts...(no pun intended), I also enjoy the end result....after all the hard work and cleaning and dusting, preparing lists, their execution, shopping and blah blah blah.... at the end of it all, I really enjoy the outcome. There's a happiness and satisfaction :-) 

I guess Festivals do that to you!!! Snap you of your mundane existence where your better time is spent running from pillar to post, where you struggle daily for your bread and better...festivals pull you out of that rut and let you enjoy some family time together...something which is not routine, not mundane and gives you a good excuse to just sit back and relax...and yes - give that odd phone call to your far flung relatives!!!! Now thats a good thing to add on your 'Phone call to relatives' list ;-).

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Hyderabad - A traveller's perspective

Hyderabad is the capital city of the state of Andhra Pradesh. It was founded in the year 1591 by Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah. It is a city which projects a strong cultural influence along with a booming information technology industry. Famous for its Pearls, Biryani and Karachi Bakery biscuits, the city is small enough to provide a sense of comfort and big enough to let you grow.

The Hussain Sagar Lake is a popular tourist destination which offers a boat ride, a small lake side restaurant and good snacks. In between the lake stands a tall Buddha structure.

The Golconda Fort was established by Quli Qutb Shah. The fort is in a good shape except for the grafitti which is an eye sore at some places. It is really painful to see love declarations of the current generation on something which has such a historic value

If you look closely, you can look at scribblings on the wall

We climbed all the way upto the Golconda Fort and the city view which was visible to the eye from the top was simply beautiful. During such a climb, I realised that I must really build up on my stamina or the lack of it is really going to be  a deterrant in other visits. There is a also a light and a sound show which we skipped since it was in the evening.

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View from the top

We learnt from one of the locals that inadequacy of water, and frequent epidemics of plague and cholera persuaded Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah to venture outward to establish new city with the Charminar at its centre and with four great roads fanning out four cardinal directions. Hyderabad's fame, strategic location and Golconda's legendary wealth attracted Aurangazeb who captured Golconda after a long battle in1687. Making a grand 'Gate' is one the main architectural points of the Mughal influenced architecture... If you observe carefully in all the cities which were under their rule, there is a 'gate' for e.g. India Gate (New Delhi), Gateway of India (Mumbai), Dilli Darwaja, Teen Darwaja (Ahmedabad). Other than this they made tombs ...or maqbaras which are also famous...the most famous one being the Taj Mahal which is actually a tomb.

Charminar, Hyderabad

Anyways, Charminar is famous for its locally found authentic biryani and the famous hyderabadi pearls. There are scores and scores of shops and bargaining is the key. We went to a wholesale shop and one of our friends bought pearls to her heart's content. I was happy buying a small pendent set for a relative from the shop which costed me Rs. 125/- WONLY.....:-)

Ahead of Charminar, is the Laad Bazaar. Popular for the bangles made of lac. In Hindi, it is more popularly known as lac ki chudiyan....couldnt resist myself and bought myself a couple of them.

Apart from the traditional places of Hyderabad, there is also a permanent handicrafts exhibition at Shilparaman. One can find all kinds of traditional arts and crafts from paintaings to footwear to bedsheets to clay art to sketching to junk jewellery to wooden artifacts and what not.

 I got myself a broad, shallow clay pot (dont know what to call it) mainly for the purpose of decorating rangoli or diyas during the Diwali festival for a mere sum of Rs. 100/-. In Mumbai, we find this at no less than Rs. 350/- :-O.

 Wanted to get a wooden jewellery box but they didnt have the sections which I wanted. So I opted for a wooden artisan's box with appropriate sections for Rs. 150/-.

Our hyderabadi friends gifted us 2 beautiful masks as token of memory. Touching. And no - I didnt inquire of the cost ;-).

Other than the shopping aspect, there are people who will put mahendi on  your hand in like 10 mins and sketch a portrait of you (well at least 60% familiar) in a very short time.

All in all, thoroughly enjoyed this trip to Hyderabad. Touched on its various aspects and felt enriched as to how another city / place has touched my life and how I will take back memories from here.