For someone who thought that Ranganathan street was the epitome of confusion, chaos and crowd, I saw something that made T Nagar look like downtown Las Vegas. not like i’ve been there in any case

I had gone to Charminar in Hyderabad on Monday. My room mate had some work there, so I decided to tag along with her. Moreover I wanted my sister (who was visiting me) to see the other face of Hyderabad. We decided to go a little early just so that we would avoid the peak hours crowd. But luck was smarter than us. And woh man! Was it crowded or what..

Some of the rules that would help one navigate through the crowd is as follows:

• Always move in only one direction, the direction in which the crowd wants you to move. Don’t even think of going against the crowd.

• Make sure you have a family song or a theme song or something that would help you identify your kith and kin if you get lost there, cos all other ways of trying to find the lost person is extremely useless. and yes, this is inspiration of our very own tamil flicks!

• Even if you happen to drop your most priced possession, DO NOT bend to pick it up. If you do, that’s the easiest way to die.

• What ever happens, you must continue walking. If you stop against the crowd’s will, the results will be disastrous. and i mean it

• If you know your destination is 100 meters away, slowly.. this is the most important part, slowly try to move towards your destination. This requires a lot of skill, as in the process of doing so, you should not disrupt the crowd and earn the wrath of the people on the road.

• In a road where there is no space for people to walk, there are some thoughtful souls who bring their luxury cars in to the lanes. If you happen to encounter such people, I would advise you to give them as much space as you can. I say this keeping in mind the best of the reader’s interests. Otherwise you are sure to go deaf due to the pleasing sound of his horn.

Coming back to my story, after a lot of trouble, we managed to get into one of the innumerable shops that sold sarees and dress materials and bangles and ghaghras and what not. Being festive season, the shops were really busy. I got some ‘gyaan’ about the latest fashion or the ‘fast moving stuff’.

First of all, there’s the Veer Zaara stuff, and the Kaanta Laga sarees and Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya saree and what not. The way these sales men sell their stuff is mind blowing. If you’re looking at a saree, he not only educates you about the latest stuff but also wears them and displays them. In short, a mini ramp show happens before you buy one saree.

And these shops will give Pothy’s Indha colour contest a run for their money. Pothy’s boasts of having sarees in every possible color. But these people have every possible colour in one saree. Now thats unheard of!!!! To get the shop keeper show you a sober ( or atleast somewhere there) saree, you should assure him that it is NOT your wedding and you don’t want everyone to look at only you. If he is convinced, he might show you something that doesn’t require you to wear anti-glares before you look at it.

What ever said, it’s an extremely unique experience that reflects the rich culture and tradition of Hyderabad. The colors, the extravagance, the richness and the pride of the Nawabi tradition. 🙂