How delightful it is to witness the lucky ones frolicking around Hussain Sagar at midnight! Some are basking in the glow of antiquely-lit footpaths with their car boots thrown open, some bikes precariously balanced on their stands with cakes atop, garlands, and party poppers in hand. Some faces are smudged with cake and the unmistakable scent of celebration in the air. Ah, the envy-inducing energy of their carefree laughter and camaraderie, a glimpse into Hyderabad’s multifaceted nightlife. Oh, how we’ve all had the pleasure of seeing it, but there is more, a lot more. CE meanders through downtown and upmarket suburbs to witness its ever-transforming nocturnal attire, to experience an underappreciated but important satisfaction, through driving therapy, which is likely to be a trend, for shops now, with some restrictions are allowed to stay open 24x7
HYDERABAD: It’s 11:40 pm. Maybe you should be in bed, but something — you might not know what — is keeping your mind active. You are determined not to use the screen, no social media, no TV. It could be a comforting warm night — the heat of the day has finally relented; now it’s the perfect temperature, and you can go for a drive just in your nightdress. You’ve got the world pretty much to yourself, and you’ve not done this in a long time, or perhaps not alone.
You decide and start. The warm, golden glow of your very own streetlights struggling against the vastness of night strikes with a new charm. Some still yellow dull, some LED, shining bright. Rustle of leaves, as they dance gracefully in the soft evening breeze, creates a shadow on the colony street in the silence of the night, cooled by the breeze, widening into the buzz of traffic, as the approaching distant main road.
We start from Narsingi and drive to Hitech-city. The cityscape metamorphoses, the roads less dusty, the skyscrapers approaching taller and lit, adorned with neon lights that bathe the streets below in an otherworldly glow. Some employees dressed in formals take a walk. A small group meeting their late-night sugar craving with ice cream from a hawker who always stands there. More glass and steel skyscrapers pierce the night sky, as we approach the Biodiversity road; the hum of technology is palpable.
Take a detour, cross University of Hyderabad road and exude an air of tranquillity and introspection. The lush foliage that surrounds the campus rustles gently in the breeze, making us pull the windows down. The avenue far from the skyscrapers is lined with majestic trees, forming a canopy that is engaged in a tender dance with the wind, as the branches sway gracefully to a silent melody, almost on all days.
Perhaps stop at DLF food street, or just whiff the aroma of uncountable varieties of food. If not, glide through the Durgam Cherruvu Flyover and venture into any of the lanes of Jubilee Hills.
Roads with a life of their own
The serpentine roads of Jubilee Hills, seemingly carved by the cream of society, is through a verdant labyrinth. Each turn reveals palatial abodes adorned with manicured gardens and bathed in the soft light of Bungalows. These magnificent dwellings, inhabited by the glitterati, will strike silent witnesses to the dreams and aspirations of the city’s denizens, but never mind, there’s a pleasure in seeing. Or hearing, we did come across a distant sound of a guitar, a faint voice mixed with a lot of chatter and laughter at 2 am. There was a secret party going on somewhere.
In Jubilee Hills, the topography transformed once more, as the winding paths ascended and descended with the gentle undulations of the terrain. These roads, though meticulously designed, seemed to take on a life of their own, as if they were the sinuous pathways of a living organism, until, you find a way, somehow to KBR park. The park road, flanked by the lush greenery of the park on one side and the alluring charm of upscale neighborhoods on the other, offers a sense of respite from the frenetic pace of city life.
There’s another place, that is worth stopping by, the Lakshman Bagh, it’s on the main road, make a mistake and slide under Shaikpet Flyover to see it. Unlike, buildings that glitter, and homes that scream sophistication, the walls of this bagh have been through centuries of rain, wind, and sun; moss and lichen have made homes for themselves wherever they could get a foothold, layers peeling out - it’s not getting worse; strangely, it’s nicer because it is older, counteracting the idea to be old is to be worn out, unlovable, useless, ignored, you must experience it to feel. Also, experience the sunrise from Khajaguda Hills, its quite nice.