A long-time plan to visit Barkas was realized today. Khadeer was my guide for the day, and his brother Nazir accompanied us.
We met up early in the morning and drove to Barkas. First, some background. Barkas is part of the history of Hyderabad. The Arab soldiers who were part of the Nizam’s army lived in barracks, and their descendents continue to do so – except that the area where they live has come to be known as Barkas – a corruption of the word ‘barracks.’ Today, Barkas is an integral …

In the beginning of September 2010, Vidya and I took a jungle holiday in Uttara Kannada. The one thing that stood out in this trip was how we kept seeing Hornbills, and how sighting them shaped our holiday. This is the story of that holiday. Written with creative inputs from Vidya Sigamany.

In the beginning of September 2010, Vidya and I took a jungle holiday in Uttara Kannada. The one thing that stood out in this trip was how we kept seeing Hornbills, and how sighting them shaped our holiday. This is the story of that holiday.

A few weeks ago, I was stocking up on victuals at our local green grocer’s, which goes by the grandiose name of Veerabhadra Vegetables. Veerabhadra Vegetables is by no means a mean place – on the main road from Kothaguda to Miyapur, its location opposite Shilpa Park gives it a strategic advantage that the grocer has turned into an excuse for the most alarming (to outsiders) Nawabi attitude. It is also this that endears him to all his customers, me included. Wasn’t this the guy who looked at the awesome-looking …

Last week, Vidya and I discovered a coffee shop in Secunderabad. What’s so great about that, you might ask. Prepare for a longish tale. Get a cup of coffee if you want!
We both love a cup of filter coffee to start off the day. When we first set up house in Chennai, we went through a phase of experimentation with different types of coffee until we settled on our own blend – Peaberry and Plantation A, half and half, without any chicory. This is a pure coffee, as opposed to …

Last week, a census taker visited us, and for the first time, included us in the National Census of India.
The only previous memory of being included in the census was in the 1981 census, when I was staying with my grandparents in Bangalore for the summer holidays. My grandmother was sitting on the stone step outside the front door, removing adulterants from rice, when the census taker visited. My grandmother being a teacher herself, she got into a conversation with the census taker, who was also a teacher. I was …

Sparrows – those ubiquitous birds that thronged our childhoods – are rapidly disappearing today. After trying for a few weeks, I finally saw the one-legged sparrow who lives in my neighbourhood, and had the privilege of taking a few pictures of him. This blog post was the result.

Went birding in Anantagiri Hills this morning. It is 88 kilometers from my place in Hafeezpet, and Ajith and I drove down. We made an early start, leaving at 5 in the morning. The roads were nearly empty and the drive was comfortable.
Anantagiri Hills is just past Viqarabad, reached from Hyderabad through Moinabad and Chevella. The roads were good, though the ever-changing geography of the way to the airport made it a bit tricky.
As we were driving on the perimeter wall of the Gandipet lake, a sleepy Brahminy kite was …

An early morning walk around the Lotus Pond – Ajith and I have been planning this for a while, and managed to make it happen today.

We set out early (by my standards that is!) and reached the Lotus Pond around seven. There were a few cars parked outside, and there seemed to be quite a few people walking around. However, the birds were pretty much minding their own business, and didn’t seemed to mind us stopping and staring at them, and clicking away with our cameras.

The atmosphere in the pond …

Last night, I took a series of share autos to reach home from Panjagutta, and this seems to be an opportune moment to take a look at this alternate public transport system that so effectively supplements and complements Hyderabad’s official public transit systems.
My ride was simple enough – I got into a share auto in front of the Y2K restaurant at Panjagutta. Once I got in, it took about three or four minutes for the auto to fill up. The driver kept calling out the destination of the auto – Jubilee …