Sights on my Morning Walk - Char Kaman, Khurshid Jah Devdi etc

Sunnie and I took off for an early morning paaya trip to Charminar (1591). Taher had suggested a hotel called Miskeen Hotel which was populated by only two people - so i am not sure if I should take Taher seriously on this recommendations (the paaya was not so great and I think was overpriced).

Charminar before dawn (pic courtesy Sunnie)

Hotel Miskeen

Anyway, first things first, we parked in the parking lot near Laad bazaar (the bazaar where one pampers) and walked all the way down to Shadab opposite which sat Miskeen.

Madina Hotel to the right - some inscription here 

The North kaman (Pic Sunnie)

Magnificent gate

Anyway Paaya done we walked back, past Madina Hotel, the bazaar with the stone buildings (apparently built during the reign of the 7th Nizam) which is called Pathergatti I think. The fountain on the middle of the road from which one can see the char kaman (which is called Gulzar Houz which I never knew). 

Pathergatti bazaar

The eastern kaman from Gulzar Houz

Eastern kaman

Sunrise behind Gulzar Sweets

From there we took a left turn and walked towards Purani Haveli where the HEH Nizam;s museum is. Sunnie wanted to see that place and we walked past the impressive kaman into the blood red sunrise, rising behind Gulzar Sweets. As we turned left at what is Mir Chowk (got the name thanks to the police station) we saw that the Hyderabad Metro work had begun on that  road and many houses and shops were begun to be demolished.

HEH Nizam's Museum and Purana Haveli

Down the road until we came to the Esin Girls School, turned right and saw the Durrushewar Hospital and then the lane that led to the Nizam's Museum or the Purani Haveli as it is called. The gate was open and there was a restraining tape put in just after the gate so we stood there and took a couple of pics when two security men arrived from either side. 'This is private property,' said one. 'Andar nahi aaa sakte.' 'Photo nahi le sakte,' said the other. I nodded and we stepped back out letting them enjoy an easy victory.

We walked back that road and in an inspired decision took a rickshaw to the Khurshid Jah devdi which has been on my mind for a while. Now we use to play league matches here in the ground before the devdi and in this ground no outside team would win a game. The ground was intact and a few cricketers were already at the job but the devdi was undergoing reconstruction. It has those massive Roman type columns as I remember and a lot of steps. 

Khurshid Jah devdi

Iqbal Ud Dowla devdi

We walked back and went to the nearby Iqbal-ud-Dowlah devdi which is another massive structure with a huge frontage and a lot of construction inside - there were people living inside so we decided not to go in.

Mosque at Mahbub Chowk

The clock tower at Mahbub Chowk (Pic Sunnie)

The walk back was past the Mahbub Chowk which was also being reconstructed, the beautiful mosque there and the clock tower. From there we hopped on to our car and headed back home - a good two hours later.

Very satisfying.     

Sights on a Morning Walk - Abids

 Sunnie and I met early at 530 am and headed off to Abids. We parked near my old IDBI office and walked towards Nizam College passing a model government school on the way - with a large ground.

Aliya High School for Boys (1892)

Once an elite college - Madrassa-e-Aliya 

 Then past Nizam College and then peeped into Aliya school/college which had a huge history but which I never deigned to look into all these years. Apparently it was run by Anglo Indians and  was one of the top schools in the early years - famous alumni include the 7th Nizam, Prince Mukarram Jah, cricketer Asif Iqbal, novelist Raja Rao among others! Right next to it, nestling between Aliya and Mahbubia School is a small gully that had a board -Department of Culture or something to that effect.

Mahbubia Girls School and College

I showed Sunny the path we (Ram and I) used to take as kids to go to school. Then past the wedding cars lined up and Blue Sea restaurant which was once the famous Bombay Restaurant where we ate many tandoor roti-mutton ordered by our adventurous Abdul Rub in his inimitable fashion every Sunday league match. 

State Bank of Hyderabad established by the 7th Nizam at Hyderabad State Bank in 1941

 

St Joseph's Cathedral (1820) Roman Catholic church

All Saints High School (1855) in the back ground

Past SBI which was then SBH and had a canteen where we would eat breakfast (Chakkar and I) for ridiculously low prices like 25 paise or something. I always felt like an impostor there because we were not employees but Chakkar seemed to know the ropes.

Rosary Convent  High School (1904) Roman Catholic

Then we turned into the gully that led to All Saints and I showed him the place where the famous Green Stores  once stood, selling stationary and stuff to school kids. Was there a pretty girl behind the counter? I don't know but we romanticised everything. Then we turned into the school side and found that the access to the school had been cut off thanks to some new platform raised on that open ground where all cars would drop off kids (including us). 

St George's Church (1844) Christ Church originally

ISKCON, Abids

We walked up the steps to the church which I found out was  called St Joseph's cathedral, imposing as ever. I showed Sunnie the little tunnel which was still open but with a steel door to secure its proper use. We snuck past the door to All Saints which was bolted from the other side. Now the entrance to All Saints is completely separate - the church and the school seem to have fortten to forgive and forget.

Jamatkhana,  Chirag Ali Lane

MCI Centenary Methodist Church, Chapel Road (1950s), Protestant

From there (I always wanted to know what and where this Gun Foundry is but that I will save for the next time) we walked down and checked out George Grammar School's church which was an impressive one. Again from the outside because the gates were locked. Past Taj which made Sunnie reconsider his breakfast plan but again reconsidered it - GPO, through Chirag Ali lane where the impressive Jamatkhana stands, a peek at the Methodist Church on Chapel Road where Timothy got married decades ago and back to the car.

Breakfast at the Udipi in SR Nagar and off we were. Was a nice long walk.       

Sights on an Afternoon Walk - Abids

 I went to meet Vinod at the second hand book market at Abids which is where he is normally found on Sundays. I had some books I wanted to offload and also catch up with him for chai at Grand Hotel. I met him in the usual gully off Tilak Road and we walked back to Abid Road. These are some of the sights along the walk.

Two pretty ladies outside a burqua shop

Clearly what is visible when we walk is very different from what we see when we are in a car or a bike. My school mate Shyam used to have a leather goods shop somewhere here and he would join the shop after school so sometimes we would see him working in the shop when we passed by. Now he has moved to a place in Himayat Nagar.

Masjid

The second hand book market bang outside the GPO

Grand Hotel which is quite old

Check out the two old postmen models on either side

Another view of the GPO

They have erected this huge Post Box in front of the GPO and have some plans for it looks like

Amazing how they dismantled the Golden Threshold - some work going on inside

Jawaharlal Nehru - never paid attention to his statue there

Also didn't read what was written on the plaque

A well preserved old building - Moosa building since 1942

In the 70s, me and my brother, then in our 7th and 6th class, would walk from our school All Saints High School at Gunfoundry, past Johns Bakery, past all the shops, past Asiad Sports Shop (now demolished) where we would buy table tennis balls every now and then, past FD Khan where we bought our school uniforms, past the Santosh and Sapna theatres, turned towards Golden Threshold, lingered outside a shop called Wonderland which sold toys, crossed the road near the Golden Threshold and went into a gully that emerged on the road leading to Moazzam Jahi Road near the Congress Bhavan which is where we lived for a short bit.

Much of it looks the same, no crazy high towers, most shops retained their look and flavour.  A literal walk down memory lane.

Sights on my Morning Walk - Mumbai

 I took off from Grand Maratha and kept the maps on towards Kala Nagar. It was 6 am and I thought I would walk till 730 and take a rick from there. Some very interesting sights on the way. Grand Maratha is right in the middle of a very busy area, slums to one side, some industrial activity on the other. I had to circle the airport and get on to the western express highway. 

The airport boundary wall

The airport boundary wall was lined with slums. One feature was the number of bikes that were parked along the slums. Its crazy how anyone will find their bike in those thousands. Then of course there were the small temples, many of them.

Temple

Another temple

The pot outside the house cooking at an early hour

Shop in action

Morning walkers