to save some money on flights, we flew from pune to hyderabad for about 24 hours before the the next leg of our trip. it happened to be new years eve! we went to a new years eve party at what is apparently one of the nicest hotels in the city – it was somewhat underwhelming but an experience nonetheless. the countdown to midnight was unceremoniously disturbed by hundreds of intoxicated partygoers trying to get on the stage for a photo at the same time, to the distaste of the emcee who wanted to keep the stage an exclusive space for his countdown; the countdown was perpetually delayed and finally concluded about 8 minutes after midnight!
hyderabad is a massive city in central india with a storied history. it almost joined pakistan and bangladesh during partition as it has a high proportion of muslims, but then was conquered by the indian army so didn’t end up having much of a choice. it is famous for its biryani and is a hot spot for india’s burgeoning information and technology sector, hence its other moniker – cyberabad.
on new years day i took a rickshaw downtown to see the charminar, a four-pillared, elevated mosque built in the 1400s, the can’t miss sight in hyderabad!
