Sunday 29 June 2014

ORR - Outer Ring Road :)

For someone who is bound by traffic on a light showered monsoon evening, the city's Outer Ring Road - ORR is an obvious pit stop. Heading towards the Cyber Towers, we took a left, going w.o.w at the Trident's iconic architecture to our right. A truly stunning piece of art. And then a right turn, much later a left. There it is, right there - the ORR. 


 As soon as you enter, there's this magnetic force that develops between your right foot and the accelerator.That moment, physics unfolds right under your right foot - the law of attraction. ( law of affinity, to be precise :p ) An instant self propelled magnetic force that stops you from acting sane anymore.The speedometer starts feeling abnormal as the engine starts developing a raging fever, and then, you start feeling as light as helium while the windows start rolling down.

A speedy-monsoon evening, the super charged ourselves - meant, stopping by a desert shop on the way back.
The sweet life!



It was a yellow blue place with some light music playing in the background, little pinks and lots of white window frames. 



And by little pinks I mean bougainvillea. I like bougainvillea in the backyards. :) I sort of love how delicately imperfect they are, so fragile, but at the same time completely flaunting their beauty. Feeling happy with the happy place we took a stroll to check it out.


:: The routine thing.

Then came a hazelnut ice cream topped with colourful jujubes (toothsome chewys), rainbow sprinklers and white-choconuts.


:: The good thing.

When it's a dessert day, brownie and vanilla combo is a must! Like an obsessive compulsion - because sometimes, you don't have to choose between a goodthing and a new thing. Old things are always good. The mere fact that they've stayed with you for so long replicates how awesome they are! :p

But this time it was an old thing with a new touch. Presenting, the *vanilla dark chocolate sizzler* - A srumptious hot chewy brownie bathed in dark chocolate sauce, left to sizzle until it turned golden and started bubbling, then topped with a large scoop of fresh french vanilla ice cream. :D 


:: And then, the new thing.

Those 'pink n pretty' luscious strawberry cupcakes. They've got the looks and also a delectable flavour to back them up. And that one on top was a caramelized strawberry. I don't know what it is about them that makes for such a lovely pair! They are heavenly together. Caramelized strawberries. :* They stir up your gastronomical senses and direct your mind to coordinate your toungue to go 'Ummm!' in appreciation.


The most flavoursome dessert listing for a chilled monsoon evening. :) 


Thursday 1 May 2014

Gautama Buddha - Hussain Sagar :)

It was one of those hazy summer evenings. It was a hectic day. We planned to visit an ancient church a week ago, but forcibly chose to forget about it. I was at my desk, dispatching some urgent mails, hoping to squeeze in sometime to write, inorder to make up for an unexcitedly spent monday and then my phone rings, partner-in-crime it reads, as it rings.
   
The voice on the other end says "Come down, I'll be there in five minutes, we are going out!" Over.

In the next ten minutes, I find myself clicking away random people on the road through an untinted windshield. :)





Two minutes after the engine stopped, we find ourselves standing in a queue, a board overhead reads - Ticket counter. 


There was this  northindian women who was draped in a jig red saree with sindhoor in her hair - half way up her hairline, clutching her bag in one hand and holding a baby in another, standing right next to us. She wore a sweet smile and was taking in all of the surroundings at one glance with her innocent eyes and then her eyes darted to a tall man in his late twenties, standing at the ticket counter with a straight face counting the change he just received along with the tickets. As more tourists swarmed in, this family of three slowly disappeared from sight.

The ticket counter was a circular place with around 6 ticket collectors  half facing the road and half facing the entrance from the car parking area. I said, "Tickets for 2". After 300 seconds he realises he doesn't have change for the 100 rupee note I gave. Neither I nor my friend had change. So we waited in the line till some blessed being with 10 rupee notes came up.

  There was this family behind - a family of four - mummy, papa and two kids - 'hum do hamare do' type :p
A women in her early thirties, she was short, had a high pony and huge shades which covered 3/4th of her face, she was accompanied by a man of similar age with a bald and not so cool T-shirt. Kids are kids anyday, jumping here and there, one hitting the other - the other crying and complaining. One hiding - other searching anxiously for the lost one, feeling annoyed, realising theres no one to fight with. :p


There was another queue at the boating front - A guy in the family (family includes his wife, his lil son, his father and mother) who stood right infront of us starts acting ultra conscious of being checked out by us. We looked at each other - we understood - and then we burst out laughing. "Anna- please anna - even if you were the only one left on earth we'd show no interest in you. Please stop acting wierd _/\_ " we talk this to ourselves and then we start laughing again. Before more drama happens, our boat arrives and a man in khaki guides us inside. :p

Do you wish your backyard opened to something like this? ;)

After some hustle and bustle our captain triggered the engine. As we went further into the sagar, he seemed more closer, the one i was so excited to meet. He's an year younger to me in our city. I've been here for an year more than him. His arrival was late, but his existence dates back to 500 - 400 BC. :)


He is tall - 58feet high reaching out to the skies.There's a serene charm on his face. He stands in the middle of a lake which was once drinking water. I've seen him so many times. I just can't forget the way he looks at me. He's pretty silent all the time, doesn't talk much, still I hear him. I know him. He knows me as well. He knows all shades of me. The excited me, the happy me, the angry me, the petrified me, the 'all' me :p  He's been there through summer and winter, he's been there day in and day out. Never less radiant than the day before with a serene look on his face, lucidly complex, conveying something new, each time we meet. He's been there throughout. Today we meet. I touch him for the first time since we are born. The first time ever. He feels happy..he's so gald to see me - so am I. :) 

My phone did a better job than my 50mm. The complete man completely. 
 Before Buddha.

Yes that's the Birla Mandir from Gibraltar Rock. :)
Birla Mandir Out-of-focus :p


Before we do the usual talking, our boat was back,and the khakhi uncle was urging us to get in. All serenity lost in the Rock of Gibraltar, we were back in the city again.





Stopped by a shimmery shop on the way back.

Then all of a sudden our tummies started talking :p

Telling ourselves we burnt few calories walking all the way up and down to the boating front, we decided to have some cheese , some more cheese and stopped by Dominos to have a Cheese Burst Pizza. Badluck knocked Dominos and they ran out of stock. We then headed to PizzaHut not planning to drop our cheesy dinner plan.

A nice day should end with a nice dessert. Yes or no?

Next stop - Donut House!

Recollecting how much cheese we had, we thought of cutting down on dessert and somehow managed to agree to share one.(Frankly we were already full) As we entered the place the donutty aroma compelled us to forget our vow.

There was this father-daughter duo - and their table filled with colourful donuts. Chocolate was all over the little girls face, here and there, everywhere. Then suddenly they are remembered of a living creature back at home, who also survives by eating food. She says,"Daddy, for mummy? :o".Then the father walks himself to the donuts in display and says '3 take away'.

It was hard to choose just two out of the many in display, we were gazing at butterscotch seriously thinking if we should take it :p There was a single butterscotch left, uncle says,"Pack butterscotch", he then noticed us, glaring at him like a thief who just robbed a gold bar and ran away. He politely said "If you want that, you can have it. They'll make another one." :p Then we politely smiled back to assure him that we weren't planning to kill him. :p

Butterscotch and White marble.




Happily lost!
28 April '14 :)


Wednesday 23 April 2014

Life in Yellow!

It was a very unexpected drive. It made me realize the beauty of clicking 'people'. Frankly, I never enjoyed clicking faces (till date). Simply coz I never wanted to. It all started with my first escapade atop Charminar. Yes, first! :D

I walked through a space where Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah prayed for the end of a plague that once ravaged his city.

I could hear prayers (which happened long long ago), from the mosque atop the heritage stucture. (Yes, there's a mosque on the top floor) Though tourists aren't allowed to go any further beyond the first stop, books never impress me less, in knowing about the structure which represents the city I belong to. :)

From there started a journey, a journey on which I've never been before, a pretty long drive -> Charminar - Moazzam Jahi Market - Abids!

Here's the first unknown man i have ever clicked. :)

His eyes are full of stories. Can you hear them?

Atop fourtowers.


Moazzam Jahi  Market scene.
Muchiwala auto uncle!



Who are you? BLOW HORN!

 Parking - only infront of the gate. :p               


We lead you, they say.
We fund you, we say. :p


Monday 21 April 2014

Hello everyone! :)

I am Harika, an Engineer, a Stargazer, a history-buff, a decent Sketcher, a happy Camera-owner, classical music lover, an Ilustrator, a (wanna be) Violinist, a fancy writer, a Bibliophile, a Car-lover, a Movie enthusiast, a Gourmet and the list goes on :D

I belong to a nawabi city with a history that reads like a love story and a past that sounds like a fairy tale. :)

I have some mad, inexplicable passion towards history, historic monuments, and historical tales. :D When I'm not talking to the Buddha(Hussainsagar) or roaming around the house irritating my mom, I drive to meet an old monument or an explicit piece of history - alive even today. I love stories and every brick and stone in my city tells tales about its existence.

This space is a celebration of a little girl's never ending escapades and a tribute to a city that serendipituously surprises her with its innumerable stories. :)