Back to India Via Hyderabad – IV

Friday meant Jumua prayer. So we decided not to plan any tour activities today since it would be difficult to take part in the prayer. We decided to meet my friend, Nishana, who lived in hyderabad. We have been roommates during our collage life, and going away without meeting her was out of question. Actually I wanted to spend a couple of days with her, but the tight schedule of our program made that impossible. We were invited for lunch which made it easier for hubby to go for Jumua prayer with her hubby, J. Nishana’s 3 year old daughter Liya was also waiting to see us Aisha. It took a lot of time for the kids to get friendly with one another, as initially they were fighting for the toys. But later, they became good friends and walked hand-in-hand (and yes, this time there were no toys to fight over. The new discovery- the toys spoils the relationship!).

Aisha with Liya.

Nishana treated us with the special dish of hyderabad, a Hyderabadi Biriyani. It was a splendid lunch and I loved the beef roast she prepared. We don’t get good beef in Dubai and it was after a long time we tasted beef. Nishana and her family dropped us at S’s home.

We planned for a city tour for the next day and booked our tickets. But once at S’s home, someone called to tell us there was a minor issue at some place of Hyderabad – a communal riot. How these riots spoil everything! Hubby was afraid to go for the city tour, and he had good reasons for that. First, we don’t know Hindi, Urdu or Telugu (the languages spoken in the place) and second we don’t know the place. So we dropped the plan for the next day and went for shopping with S.

Later that night, after dinner and Aisha sleeping, we sat for another chat. S was the follower of Hinduism and we had long and meaningful discussions on various topics, including religion. S practiced yoga and he gave an informative talk on yoga. We also discussed on how politicians and unfaithful religious leaders have used religion to allure the public and bring communal riots. It was 2 am when we went to sleep!