all roads lead to charminar...

...well, that's how we felt. We've been to the Charminar quite a few times now. Every time we go that side, we go with the idea of exploring the areas around the monument but each time we get stuck in the mosque and the adjoining areas. Today was different, we stuck to our plans of exploring the old city more. But one thing that surprised us (or not) is that wherever we went and we asked people - "where does that road go?", there was a universal answer - the road either goes to the Charminar or comes from Charminar. Today we went to areas that I've never been before. Lot of life and different character in those narrow alleys; interesting people as well. There were narrow streets totally lit up by the sunlight - had we been there an hour earlier, it would've been heaven. Then there was this alley which was barely a few feet wide, I am sure two scooters will have difficulty crossing each other...on top of that, it twisted around corners after every few seconds, making it even more mysterious. A few days ago, the muslims celebrated Milad-ul-Nabi - Prophet's birthday. The streets and alleys of the old city were decorated with green flags (with white moon and star printed on them). We started photographing that when a local stopped by and commented - "They are capturing on camera how we have converted this place into Pakistan" - that came as a shocker. He was not a grown up - a mere teenager he was. We chose to let it pass and ignore the comment - probably a smart thing not to get into a debate over a controversial issue in the old city.

Two more things worth mentioning. First - an old ambassador car parked right off the main road. We could tell from the dust it had gathered that nobody had used it for a while now. Still, the locals said that it belonged to the shop just behind us. Probably not many photographers venture into that area - the locals, adults and young ones alike, showed a childlike curiosity in knowing what we do and why are taking pictures and why do we take pictures of small parts of the car instead of the whole car itself :)

Second was a street-side snack shop. I could tell from the shopkeeper's Hindi accent that he is from UP - a state in north India. His shop was quite small but the interesting fact is that here he was - a thousand miles away from home running a small snack shop selling south Indian delicacies. I've met several such people in Hyderabad who are so far away from home here, working for a handful of money. Not really sure what drives them to make this journey.


Lastly, thanks a lot for all the comments and wishes in the last two blips. I (we) genuinely feel honored and happy. :)