In search of a croc!

For the last 2 weeks Swat ,P and Kiran were in the colony due to the Telangana holidays.I had some work so I went there yesterday only for one day.Swat insisted that we go out somewhere that afternoon and i agreed.we took out our bikes and started off at 2 15 in the afternoon.Tumalacheruvu was the destination.Its a lake situated at about 3kms from mundikonta.Nestled in between 3 hills its a very beautiful and scenic place.The kacha road from mundikonta slowed down our progress but it didnt take more than 15 mins for us to reach the place.The lake is quite big with scenic hills in the background.The hills with trees covering three fourth of them and the rest with grass made an excellent background to the lake.At the side nearest to us there was a small dam.We settled down on that and took in the atmosphere.Swat visited this place quite recently with his nana and he told us he saw a crocodile.We were excited to know that crocodiles were present right in our backyard.so now swat took us to the place where he saw the crocodile.This place was even more beautiful.There was a small stream of water flowing .from a small area it diverged into a wider area spreading out.the left and right banks of this wider part were covered with lotus plants and from here the water flowed out in a slow flow.the whole place looked like a scene right out from a national Geographic documentary.we rolled up our jeans and stepped into the water.the crocodile was spotted at a distance from here so we were very careful and confined our movement to only a small area.the stream was very shallow here and the flow quite good.Akram, being the mischeif maker he is,started spalshing water on swat.Now swat retaliated by throwing much more than what akram did and very soon we were all into it and soon soaked.
All the while the thought of the crocodile was lingering in our minds.After taking some pics we moved on deeper in to the forest surrounding the lakein search of a view of the crocodile.we trudged along the stream maintaing a distance from it.we moved silently and hearing every sound.the only sounds we could hear were of the birds chirping and of the steady flow of the stream.At the exact spot where swat saw the croc we waited for sometime but to our disppointment there was nothing.as it was getting dark we reluctantly made our way back to our bikes.And thus ended a very short but as always, unforgettable trip.
pics in the next post.

Akrams B day party

This Independance day, akram,swat,abhishek and myself found ourselves in the colony.I-day was on monday and we came on saturday.And the best event of this trip was Akram's birthday party on saturday.we all took out our bikes,loaded them with petrol and took off for Manuguru.We started after iftaar and reached our usual hotel,Venu in 30 mins.Tired of eating biryanis everytime we go for a party,we ordered something different this time.we checked out a few different chicken curries with the usual, butter naans. After that lip smacking dinner we had some local sweet pans, after which we set off back to the colony.The return had a minor hitch where the headlight of my bike stopped working.Because of that our return journey took a bit longer,but  we were not complaining.For us, the longer, the better!!
Another good thing we did this time was attending the I-Day celebrations at school.Though it was a 'thanda thanda' affair unlike the grand affair it used to be in our times.

planning for a party on june19th.expecting all 9 of us to be together after a long time!!

cant wait!!

a visit to bidar fort

Public Gardens or Bah e Aam in Nampally is a place i saw many times while passing through nampally while going to abids.But i never had a chance to visit it.Finally last sunday,getting bored i called up akram and farooq and suggested a trip to PG.The three of us soon boarded a bus to nampally.Its a journey of around 15mins from Mehdipatnam.We got down at nampally busstop, crossed the road and reached the park entrance.Having reached the entrance we were a bit confused about the layout of the garden. some aimless wandering later we found our bearings and started our stroll.The garden itself is beautiful with a small lake in the middle.To our pleasant surprise we found a number of school children who came on an excursion.Strolling leisurely,with a gentle breeze blowing,we watched the kids joyfully whistling and shouting as they played 'out-out'.After this leisurely walk i came down to business.My actual idea behind this visit was to take a look at the 6 heritage building that this garden encloses.I could only find 5 i dont know what the 6th one is.The 1st is the archaeological museum.We made a quick visit inside and the main attraction of the museum is the Egyptian mummy.
Its one among the 6 mummies found in India.There are many other artifacts,guns,coins,paintings and things on which i ,as an ameteaur cant comment.Maybe sometime later ill write an entire post on this museum.Next heritage building was the Jawhar Bal Bhavan. We couldn't go inside as some renovation was going on.I clicked some pics and then moved on to the next building,the Jubilee Hall.This was a palace made in 1913 during the reign of Mir Osman Ali Khan.The silver jubilee coronation of the 7th Nizam was held here hence the name.As we were taking some pics ,a person who looked like some kind of a supervisor asked us who we were and what we were doing.On telling him that we were students and taking pics ,he rudely stared shouting at us and told us to leave immediately.I tried talking but he would have any of it .He kept asking us if we had permission to take pics.I still dont know if we require permission or not.Anyway we left him there shouting and moved on to the next building the Shahi Masjid.Walking ahead i saw a building with some intricate designs made all around it.This was the mini Bal Bhavan.Presently it houses the HQ of dept. of horticulture.From here we wound up our small tour and i boarded the return bus happy with the knowledge that i could strike off 5 more names of heritage structures from my list of 150.

I was waiting for a chance to go the heritage walk for a long time .it finally came yesterday. I called up two of my friends and requested them to join me. To my delight they agreed.
I reached Charminar at around 7am and Mudassir and Layak, my friends were already waiting there. >We went towards the Heritage Walk stall setup at the base of the Charminar. The security guard pleasantly inquired if we were there for the Heritage Walk. We replied that we were and soon tickets in hand we made our way inside. We waited there for a while till the arrival of our guide at around 7 40. Till then many other tourists gathered and surprisingly there were more foreigners than Indians. Our guide was a polite and good natured lady. After a brief and colourful introduction by her, the walk started.
The first stop was immediately outside the Charminar. The jama masjid was built my Mohd Quli Qutb Shah before the construction of the Mecca Masjid began. Jama Masjid was the first big masjid to be constructed outside the Golconda. We looked only from the outside as the locals refused permission to let us inside. After the explanation by the guide,we walked towards the charkaman. 'kaman' means gateway and 'char' means four. This gateway frames the charminar beautifully when viewed from some distance.The four ways leading outward from the Charminar all have one kaman each.The surroundings have many such kamans apart from the four mentioned above. As we moved on, we came across a crossroad ,the center of which had a fountain named Gulzar Houz. To the left is the Sehr-e-Batil kaman and to the right is the Kali kaman.From the Gulzar Houz we procedded towards the Patherghatti Market.As it was early in the morning all the shops were closed save a few. One of them was an antique shop.There were many beautiful and interesting articles in the shop.All of us looked with interest but to the sellers's dismay nobody bought anything.
The moment the patherghatti market ends,the dewan devdi complex starts at the right side of the road.'Dewan' means 'prime minister' and 'devdi' means house.This structure belongs to the Nizam era and not the Qutb Shahi era. Much of it does not exist today,only some small portions can be seen. Further walking brought us to the Dewan Devdi Darwaza ,which thankfully is in fine condition.This was the home to many of the prime ministers of the many nizams.Also the Salarjung Museam was based here before it shifted to the present location.
The last stop was the Badshahi Ashurkhana,the place of mourning built by Mohd Quli Qutb Shah.This was undoubtly the most beautiful structure in the whole walk.The Ashurkhana lies opposite to another heritage building,the Alladin building.The main Aashurkhana complex is square shaped with four buildings at each side.As we enter, to the right side there is the Nagar khana and to the left the Ashurkhana.The other side has a kitchen and some rooms.The Ashurkhana itself was not as big as i expected. After acquiring the keys from the caretaker and removing our footwear,we went inside.The main wall was breathtaking to say the least.It had enamelled tiles which glistened in the morning sun's rays.We spent a long time looking at the tiles.Sensing our interest right from the start,the guide gave us some more interesting nuggets of information.One such was that in the 1908 floods of musi(yes!! the musi did flood some times in the past)half of the Ashurkhana was submerged damaging the tiles below the waterline.These were later repainted by the nizam but the glory of the qutb shahi tiles could not be regained.After some time, breakfast packs were distributed and then some sizzling irani chai was served.After this, the walk eneded and one by one the tourists left. Soon we found ourselves alone with the guide,with whom we talked for sometime. She soon left as she had another tour to go to. We clicked some more pics and then left.
It was 10am and the breakfast didn't appease mudassir's appetite,so we went to the famous hotel shadab and had some local hyderabadi fares .Layak still didn't want to go so i suggested why not take a look at some more heritage buildings nearby while we were there.He agreed and we then had a look at the Govt City College and the Puranapul. After that we decide to call it a day and went home.

This is my first post in here.
Right now its three in the morning,7 more hours to the last exam of my end sem. A mountain of syllabus to be covered.I am sitting idle unable to sleep or concentrate.I am in a mixed emotions now, a little fear for the exam tomorrow , excitement about day after the exam and why did i open my facebook at at this time.After seeing few pics of the school, now i am lost in the thoughts of school days . That days i could never forget in my life , I hope my end sem could be completed earlier and i could get back to the colony for the school reunion. I am very eager for it and to meet all of my friends at one time which until now never happened. I wish the exam paper and invigilator would be liberal tomorrow .Bhanu signing off........

day 3--
As it was my plan to visit kondapalli fort ,so i got up first early in the morning at 5am.After i got ready,i woke up p and afterward swat ,sumant and lastly akram got ready.We were on the road by 7 05am,just 5 mins behind our planed schedule(which was quite an achievement considering akram).We went to the bus sation and after some inquiries we boared a bus to kondapalli village.The bus dropped us at the main road from where a samll road led towards the villagen and the fort.The sun was out in the sky and was beating down hard on us.It was a long walk and on reaching the vilaage we had some drinks and as akram's bag was the heaviest,we kept it in a shop.We bought some snacks and drinks and after getting the directions from the locals we started on the path. I read that it was a 1 km trek uphill to reach it,but nobody wrote how hard it would be on a hot and humid day.The path was lined with stones.

It looked ancient but i dont know who laid it and when.We had to take four stops in between for rest,as the heat was proving too much for us.We were drenched with sweat by the time we reached the fort. I forgot all else as soon as i laid my eyes on the arched hall,it was beautiful,not like in the black and white pictures i saw. I read so much about this fort and its history and to see it in person was an exhilarating experiance.As we entered the fort complex, to the left of us was a lake nestled between two hills.The most striking point of this fort is that,it is located between two mountain peaks,unlike the golconda or the elgandal fort,the fort itself is not on the highest point,it is in between two tall mountains.To the right (inside the complex) is the main arched hall,the face of this fort.As we made our way inside,we saw two boards declaring two wide open spaces to be the diwan-e-aam and diwan-e-khas.The diwan-e-aam ,the court for the general public and the diwan-e-khass for the courtiers. Next came the narket yard.Neverbefore did i see a market yard of the olden times.It was systematic in the shape of a square,with walled spaces or cubicles for the shops at the perimter of the square.Personally, i liked the marketyard the most of all the structures we saw.From the marketyard we moved on to the the rani mahal and the raja mahal.Nothing was left of them, just there were only ruins left now.As we strolled along ,we reached the toop khana and the royal jail.Both were imposing and had the dungeons look about them.Sounds of bats squealing prevented us from going inside.Behind the toop khana,there was an excellent viewpont.


There were some cement chairs there ,but with the scorching sun beating down upon us,we couldnt stand there for a long time let alone sit.The view there was good.We made our way back and saw the dancing hall at the entrance,before we settled down under a banyan tree overlooking the lake i mentioned before.We had some snacks and drinks before we left the fort.Fortunately for us there was an auto waiting in the parking area and we found out that there was a motorable road.That road was an astonishing 6km from the top.The problem with the road was that it takes you away from the base of the fort or the village and drops you many kilometres away from the village.We had akram's bag in the village so we talked the autodriver into taking us there and he reluctantly agreed.We reached there and after taking akrams bag, we went to a shop selling the famous kondapalli toys.(at last i found them and i was determined i would bring back some as souvenirs). p and swat bought some ganesh idols and swat bought a big beautiful fan.I bought a hand fan and a candle holder. After our purchases we walked back to the main road .Just as we emerged on to the main road , a manuguru bus was approaching .so akram and swat boarded it.P, sumant and myself went back to the bus station where we had another one of those finger licking andhra meals.After that hearty meal,p boarded a bus to tenali and sumant and myself catched a bus to hyderabad.Sumant got off at suryapet.Thus ended a wonderful weekend trip for which i was longing for a long time.

Day 2-
The same routine as the previous day followed and the workshop concluded at 5 30 pm in the evening.Before the conclusion there was a short competioin called best flight.We were taught a simulation software and were told the one who flys the plane best would be given an aditional certificate.From our group of five,i was selected for the final round ,involving 5 students selected from 5 other groups.In the final round , 2 students crashed their planes,while the rest of us took off and landed the plane perfectly.To decide the winner without any conflicts,the instructor told us to take off and land the plane once again.This time myself and another student crashed it leading the 1 student remaining the winner. I was dissapointed but not much.Afterwards,we thought of watching the cultural programmes but akram had some work and we decided to leave the campus and head for mg road in vijayawada.At the exit,a short argument started bteween few students and the security guard.(what it was about is along story).As we were in a group(ansd i like to argue when in a group) we too joined in.
After 15mins,we were let off and we took a bus back to vijayawada.At the boarding point,many students had gathered as many events at the KLU had ended.After a long time two buses came one after the other and everyone ran towards them.In the confusion that followed,akram and sumant got sepataretd and they boarded the second bus,while p ,swat and myself boared the first.As akram had work near the railway station he went there,while we went to besant road for some shopping.After his work was finished akram and sumant joined us.Swat bought a pair of jeans at kalaniketan.All the while i was looking for kondapalli toys but coudnt find any in the streets or in the shopping malls.And to my surprise,when p asked a salesman at kalaniketan,if they had kondapalli toys he replied"kondapalli bommala? adi enti?" meaning "kondapalli toys? what are those?" i had imagined that vijayawada streets and shops would be flooded with those famous toys but i was wrong.I made a point to check it out in the kondapalli village we were about to visit the next morning.We had our dinner at a local hotel and i enjoyed every bit the pure andhra meals i had.they were just awesome.We reached our hotel at around 10pm and soon fell asleep.

vijayawada trip
It all started with an email i received two weeks ago.It was about a workshop on aeromodelling to be held in klu in vijayawada.my eyes lit up as soon as i saw this because the workshop was for mechanical engineers and our planned trip to vijayawada last time didnt materialise.Sensing a multipurpose visit ,i called up the others and informed them aboit this.P ,Swat and after some convincing Akram agreed.P and swat brought along their friend from suryapet,Samant.
day 1
As p and swat were in the colony,they started from there. While akram and myself started from hyderabad.Samant started from suryuapet.All of us met at the bus station in vijayawada at 4 00am in the morning.we were not sure if KLU would be providing us with accomodation or not.As we were pondering about the plan for the day,to our relief we saw a counter setup by KLU at the busstand.Two or three students were sleeping on the chairs behind it.We approached them and woke up one of the them,gently.He informed us that accomodation will be provided and everything would be taken care of by the university. By 8 00am,a big group gathered and all of us started off for the hostel where we were supposed to stay.We told them that the five of us wanted to be in the same room and they complied.soon we settled down ,freshened up,had our breakfast and made ourselves comfortable in the bus provided.
The bus took us to the university campus and by 11am,we were seated inside the seminar hall.
The campus was vast and lush with plants and trees.It took us quite a while to find the seminar hall as so many events were takng place.By 11 30am,the workshop started aand though it was good it did not meet our expectations.At 2 30pm there was a lunch break.As we strolled around the campus,we came upon many food satlls like dum ki biryani,fried rice etc.by the time we made our decision to eat something,every stall had closed except a roti and dal stall.So we had no other option than that.That stall had a huge crowd and we had to push our way through the crowd to the counter.After a lenghty battle with the crowd,we got our rotis and after eating it,we all agreed on the one thing.Our struggle was not worth the rotis we got.At 3 30pm the workshop resumed and by 5 30pm in the evening , it ended.We learnt the history of aeroplanes, about aerodynamics etc.and we also got to learn a software,foilsim.
In the evening there were some cultural programmes like dancin ,mimicry,ramp walks etc.they brought in a RJ and DJ and they kept the crowd entertained throughtout the evening.At around 8 30pm , we boarded the KLU bus back to hostel.We made our plans for the next day and slept blissfully.