Back to India Via Hyderabad – I

We have been planning to settle in India for a long time, and it was time to decide. I loved India; because I think that’s the best place for Aisha- she can grow up being a better human. At least, that’s one of my beliefs. So I decided to go come back to our home country. We also planned a short tour on our way home.

Diwali @ Hyderabad.

Hyderabad is a place where you can steal into the medieval times of India and emerge into the modern days simultaneously. You can see the temples of Hindus and the Durgas (mind it – not masjids) of Muslims at every nook and corner of the state. The place is known for its rich history and varied culture with lots of monuments, museums, palaces, parks and other architectures. To walk through every pages of the Hyderbabad history book, you will need almost a month. And now you have also got the modern Hyderabad too, where you can see a combination of north and south Indian cultures along with what you call the ‘modern’ or ‘western’ culture.

We knew that we wouldn’t be able to tour the entire Hyderabad within the five days of our stay. But we wanted to make the best efforts. We started from Dubai on November 13^th. Aisha was officially a child now, and so had her own seat on the flight. She quickly learned how to close and open a seat belt and was practicing it until she finally slept.

It was Diwali season in India. Diwali is a festival celebrated by the Hindus. There are many stories behind the occasion including the one in which it says that diwali is celebrated to welcome the Lord Rama when he came home after 14 years of excile. The people of Ayodhya celebrated the return of their lord by lighting candles. In short, Diwali celebrated to denote the victory of good over evil.

We reached Hyderabad at 9 pm, to the thundering sounds of firecrackers, the blinking LED lights and the beautiful Diyas (ghee lamps). Aisha, although tired and sleepy, was delighted to see the crackers far in the sky. Hubby’s friend S and his wife D were going to be our host for the five days. We arranged a cab to drop us at their house and they were waiting for us. Aisha was excited to see a huge fountain-cracker just in front of her when we stepped out of the car. S also has decorated their beautifully home with Diyas and flower garlands.

Although tired, Hubby was seeing his friend after a long time, and so we chatted for a long time after dinner. Aisha was asleep.  D and I sat down to hear my hubby and S reminiscing about old times.

Diyas.