Somebody, less charitable than D, has written a piece in Lonely Planet suggesting that the city has attempted to create Washington DC and ended up with Pyongyang. This refers to the area to the east of the city, either side of the Gomti River, that is officially Dr Ambedkar Park. We have driven by and seen this but today we intend to explore it. As we leave the hotel we are hailed by an auto driver. It would appear from the price quoted that he is under the impression that we wish to buy his moth-eaten machine. Fifty yards on we get a perfectly acceptable price and are efficiently deposited at the front gate of the park. When we attempt to enter we are told that it does not open until 11 am, half an hour hence. We have no urge to stand in the sun next to a main road for that period so we look around for something else to do.
About 500 metres away there appears to be some kind of elevated walkway overlooking the park. We make our way there and are rewarded with views of a totally weird stretch of real estate. Almost the entire area is paved in either sandstone or marble, there are very few trees, only a couple of tiny flower beds and absolutely no grass. There are various structures dotted about, some very big, and dozens upon dozens of stone or concrete elephants. There is very little shade to be seen. Nothing could be less like the Residency and its shady gardens. We walk the full legth of the elevated walkway which is in fact a dual carriageway with wide pavements and plenty of stone benches that leads to a fairly nondescript building that has plenty of signs but none in English. On the other side of the dual carriageway they are doing major works on the river bank. We are gobsmacked. It must have cost a fortune and appears to us to do be a massive waste of money in a state that does not have to search for problems. Dr Ambedkar was a social reformer, who fought for the rights of women and lower class Indians. He mainly wrote the Indian Constitution and was an associate of Mahatma Gandhi. One wonders what he might have said about his Park.
It is hot out on the breezy Esplanade and we have no urge to fry on the hot slabs inside the park so we seek cooler pursuits. A branch of Big Bazaar, a supermarket chain, is handy so we adjourn there and entertain the staff for half an hour while R compiles her list of must have kitchen items. Two years ago we took home a pressure cooker. Anything is possible. We make a token purchase of tissues and a small packet of biscuits. Our next target is a famous bookshop on MG Road, near where we had the chaat yesterday. D spies a book by Ramachandra Guha about Indian cricket and flicks through a few pages, seeing enough to buy it. Next we look for and find Sugandhco, a renowned perfume shop, that is small and packed with people so we don't stay long.
D has a hankering for some trendy kurta pajama trousers, not just the boring white ones that he already has. This turns out to be a little more difficult than anticipated but R suggests asking for churidwars in a shop on the Janpath market and a pair of natty black ones in a cotton silk mix are found. We spend a bit more time around the market, disappointing a man who thinks that R wishes to buy an extra large twin tub washing machine and then finding a lady with a bangle stall who also offers mehendi hand painting. R is a sucker for this and gets a hand done which she then has to carry immobile for an hour to let it dry.
The culinary plan is to have a v late lunch/high tea at the original Tunday Kababi on Naaz Cinema Road. Accept no substitute. Our auto driver claims that he cannot drive down the last part of the route that he has chosen to get us there but the walk turns out to be interesting enough. This is not on the tourist trail and we get stared at, pointed at and shouted at in a good natured way. The bazaars round here are famous for chikan embroidered fabrics and clothes made up from them. R considers most of the styles on offer to be a bit 60's. We will have to take her word for it.
Tunday Kababi has a big kitchen fronting onto the street and a side entrance leading upstairs to a bustling room full of diners, waiters, bus boys and floor sweepers. The surfaces are all hardwearing and kept clean and even the loos are pretty good. There is an alcove that seems to be reserved for mixed gender parties and we are seated at a corner table in there. The menu is quite simple - people come here for kebabs and biryani. We order mutton kebab, tandoori chicken, mutton biryani and a nan bread. For the avoidance of doubt when we write mutton we mean goat. Sliced onion and lime segments came with the table whilst a very nippy green sauce arrived with the chicken and kebabs. From time to time different members of staff come to take a look at us and our station waiter is most solicitous. The food is great. The biryani is the best that we have had but we have never been to Hyderabad. The bill for the meal is Rs 345.
The temperature is now very pleasant and we walk the half mile or so to Charbagh station where we go to the prepaid auto stand and bag a ride home. As we reach the river there is a monster traffic jam until a motorcade of about a dozen white Ambassador cars trundles by with police escort. A total free for all ensues with traffic going both ways round the big roundabout in an attempt to be first on the bridge. Back at the hotel there are major preparations under way for a wedding. When we get up to our room we realise that we can see three different weddings from our bedroom window. Tonight must be really auspicious. Let's hope things don't go on too late. We are back to early starts tomorrow as we head for the Corbett National Park and maybe a tiger sighting. We are not sure how good internet will be so there may be a gap before further posts.
Okay, you did visit Aminabad as Tunday is in Aminabad.
ReplyDeleteLucknowi biriyani IS the best! The Kolkata biriyani evolved from the Awadhi biriyani.
ReplyDeleteAs for the pachyderms, well dot dot dot