Historical Walk through Hyderabad: a Biryani (and Traffic) city.
If there has been a time you've dreamed of a city where past and present dance through it in somewhat chaotic balance, think about an epic journey to Hyderabad. Located in southern India, it is a city that's also regal and down-to-earth, chaotic and charming, and humid enough that it's so humid you have to question every wardrobe choice you’ve ever made. At the beginning of the story: food. You can't speak of Hyderabad without mentioning the city's crown jewel in spades, the Hyderabadi biryani. It is a dish so famous as to have its own fan club. Every restaurant purports to produce the “authentic” version, and that, needless to say, must be at least fifty of authentic kind. Which each argues is true, and after three or four, you’ll notice they’re all right. There’s something strangely spiritual about spooning into fragrant rice, spicy meat and caramelised onions while sweating so hard in 35-degree weather. But Hyderabad isn’t only about food-induced enlightenment. There’s history within the city, which just practically seeps from its architecture. The Charminar, for example, towers tall in the center of the old city, amid a maze of markets that supply you with pearls and perfumes and perhaps lose all sense of direction. The Charminar — built in 1591 — is a testament to the city’s Mughal heritage. But it is also a stark reminder that centuries of monuments tend, increasingly, to attract people more interested in selfie-taking than cultural comprehension. Then there’s the Golconda Fort, a monumental building that once protected the city’s jewels and, now, guards a group of tourists scoured for the best spot to enjoy wide views. Climbing to the top is no easy feat, but you can experience the vistas from the old metropolis to the shiny new tech centers in every puff of breath you exhale. You can almost feel history judging you with your shoulders raised, rather than with the ancient stones you climbed.
Speaking of glittering, Hyderabad has embraced modernity with an almost dubious zeal. The part of HITEC City is like a whole new planet: glass towers, IT offices and cafes providing oat milk lattes to those who will probably refer to “synergy” unironically. It’s a striking juxtaposition to the old bazaars and palaces, a kind of visual metaphor for how India continually balances the ancient and the absurd today. And then there’s the traffic. Oh, the traffic. If you’ve ever wanted to experience the allure of near-death encounters without actually dying, cross a street in Hyderabad. Honking is an art form here. Lane discipline actually is a form of philosophy more than a rule. But bizarrely, it is effective. You’ll survive, and sooner or later you’ll finally start to feel the buzz of the chaos.
At the end of your trip when you’re at a café watching the sun set behind the Charminar, you might be smiling. Hyderabad is not perfect, it’s crowded, noisy, messy even somewhat bewildering and confusing at times, but that’s precisely what makes it one of the best, haunting places. Like the biryani it’s a lovely swirl of flavors that somehow falls together as just the perfect amalgam in the end. |
