I have been in Hyderabad, the Nizam's city for more than a month now and the city never ceases to surprise me. Over the time I have been here, there are a few things which have been new to me, thankfully most of them for good.

As a person who has been in Chennai for almost my entire lifetime till now, I am used to the notorious behaviour of "Autorickshaw wallas" , where I have to engage in a 5 minute "about-to-fight,about-to-leave" encounter with him before a reasonable fare is agreed. So, I was all geared up for the fight when I waved out my hand to stop and Auto . I said "Banjara Hills, kitna loge ? " and I gaped in disbelief, when he told me "Meter" !! I did not know whether it was a genuine or tampered meter ,but he was not ready to engage in a conversation regarding the fare with me. I agreed thinking that maybe only Chennai drivers are notorious, but this guy did not fail to surprise me by taking me on a ride for 5 minutes before taking a U-turn and then reaching a place right opposite to where I started and the meter was ticking thick and fast already. Yes, autowallas did live up to my expectations here.

Another thing I noticed on the second day in the city was that just like your pizza order, buses in Hyderabad come in 3 different varieties - Small(Setwin Service ), Medium ( RTC) and Large (Metro) . Each of them have their own "differentiating factors". The Setwin buses are for those who desperately need to reach their destination, are willing to fit themselves into the smallest available and cry in despair when you find one of the other varieties overtaking the bus you are in. They are a very hospitable family and are ready to accomodate any person who stretches his hand out on the road, irrespective of whether he is in the Bus-stop or not. The RTC and Metro are just your regular buses, the former being the older traditional rattled buses which has withstood long years of rain and shine while the latter is a newbie on the roads. In striking contrast to their Chennai counterparts, I hardly find any of the drivers and conductors getting down for a tea at each and every terminus, the bus just seems to be on a non-stop schedule.Live for yourself too, are'nt you a government servant - defined as those who manage to spend more time drinking tea and eating refreshments in office hours than working ? Why don't you join the gang ?

Next thing is undoubtedly the restaurants in Andhra. As Arun informed me yesterday, an average Andhraite eats 1.75 times the amount of rice as an average non-Andhraite. Anyone new to Hyderabad will be amazed at the amount of rice served to you for one "Hyderabadi Biriyani". Do not venture into it alone unless you have been starving for quite sometime, they do taste excellent when had at the best places - I have tried them out so far at "Hyderabad House " and of course "Paradise ". Being a vegetarian, I am apparently not enjoying the real thing, still it is a taste to savour.

Something that I mentioned in passing above, the riduculous nature of Hyderabad roads. I have travelled quite a few times on official purposes with Arun and often end up having to travel 2 kms forward despite seeing the place that you want right opposite to you - to take a U turn. The design is just beautiful- makes you enjoy your ride, drink loads of petrol everyday and pollute the planet more as well, what more can you ask for ?

I have enjoyed my stay here so far, both at work and off it. I am yet to see the "sights" of the city - Charminar for one , Golconda and of course the biggest Film Studio in Asia - Ramoji Rao Film City. I hope to find someone who can accompany me to these places before my stay here ends .