Lifestyle of the Rich, Famous and Dead in the Deccan Plateau of India

Chowmahalla Palace. This photo only courtesy of rahul kumar.

Golconda Fort

Nizam's throne at the nizam museum - photo courtesy of flickr's krithika

Now something has to be said about the drivers - autorickshaw, taxis, tuktuk drivers of india. They are the bane of a tourist's life. They come to the world with dollars and moolah instilled in their minute cerebral cortex. In the spirit of my insightful musings, i would like to dedicate this post to them:

MAY EVERYONE OF YOU DECIMATE, DISINTEGRATE INTO SUBMOLECULAR PARTICLES WITH NO CHANCE OF REGENERATION! FURTHERMORE, MAY YOU ALL ROT IN HELL AND BE FED WITH THE CHILLIEST INDIAN DISHES THAT WILL BURN YOUR IDIOTIC GREED TO ETERNITY! Having said that, may every greedy Indian driver turn into amoeba where, at least they will be excreted to where they rightfully belong - the sewers!

Hmmm. That felt better! LOL

It was interesting how these ancient lives of rich men, mughals, kings, emperors mirror the affluence of the past as it also puts a distinct comparative demeanor to how 1.2 billion Indians live nowadays. 90% wallow in abject poverty, and when your stomach is churning and doing cartwheels, all matters of decency jump off the window.

NIZAM

The Nizam's Museum was particularly interesting to me. Accoutrements made of gold and silver, ivories and marbles - everything would equal the grandeur of the royal jewels of the British Monarchy.

Golconda Fort was a 20 minute ride from the city. It sits atop a hill - and the whole fortress is an inspired amalgam of towers and temples. From the top, you can see the awesome view of Hyderabad.

CHOWMAHALLA PALACE

Chowmahall Palace was also picture perfect. Divided into 4 towers, all the old riches of the ancient owners are in full view; some available for public photography; some not! And of course, there's an extra fee if you take your still camera or video cam with you. Everything in India has a price - for foreigners! And why not? Beauty has a price.

I just felt lazy today so I opted not to check out the museum and just took a walk around the lanes and the nearby market. Gosh! I consumed 3 different kinds of ice creams, which are said to be famous in Hyderabad - as well as the Karachi breads.

Another One

I will be on another overnight train journey going further south tonight. Am starting to feel the tedium of these train journeys, although I know I shouldn't complain. But it does take some physicality - and require stamina.

Chennai, here I come!

This is the Eye in the Sky!