20 June 2007

My neighborhood

Banjara Hills is a nice place to live in if you're going to live in Hyderabad. I've lived here the whole of the almost-two-years I've been here and I'm not complaining. The park is nearby, the shopping centres are not far, I have all my favorite eating places close by...

And oh yeah, I share streets with the likes of Mohammed Ali :-)

It's also got its little oddities. It's supposed to be a posh area where the affluent and hip and cool Hyderabadi lives. But India is India and I'm reminded of that every time I go out for a walk. You find places like this very fancy furniture store along the street -

And then you walk on and just a couple of minutes from the fancy store, you find dumps like these -

And this..??! Well go figure what a broken toilet is doing sitting around outside people's mansion-like residences :D

The apartment I live in is by no means mansion-like, but I was still a little surprised when I was new here and I went walking checking out my new neighborhood and I found a little slum just a few minutes walk away.

And one thing I still find funny is going walking in the mornings/evenings and seeing dhoti-clad, brown-legged servants walking pedigree dogs of all kinds, the dogs themselves looking regal, furs sleek and shiny. They'd look so off-matched, dogs and walkers. Owners probably sleeping in their 4 poster beds, or sitting in their high-backed chairs reading the news, or eating breakfast in bed, or probably fat-clogged arteries just won't let them. Anyway, I think it's a pity because when it's 'work' you start hating it. Many of these dog-walkers obviously do. I've seen so many of them carrying sticks and hitting the dogs. But I blame the owners more. No one's going to love and care for your dog the way you do. If you have one, you should be ready to take care of it. Owning a dog is not just about having money and buying a blue-blooded dog just to show off, as an asset to your house, to complete your status symbol, to sophisticatedly complete the 'affluent picture' while your friends show up for your tea parties.

But anyway, people can do what they want with their money. But they should know that their servants beat those things they do with some of that money. And that's just sad.

But we don't own pedigree dogs and we only have a visiting maid so we don't have to wonder if our servants are ill-treating our dogs. We walk and see all these sad sights and go home and forget about it and ill-treat the guitar and the camera and sing 'Hot Cross Buns'.
....but since these are inanimate, non-living, inorganic objects, I'm guessing that's better than abusing poor little innocent dogs.

17 comments:

Macabreday said...

hhhmmppff... i love dogs, and yea, its pissing of if someone has a dog but dosent even have time to take it out for a walk...if u dont have the time, then why own one in the first place......its like giving birth to a kid and asking ur maid to breastfeed it because u dont have time.

Pixie said...

I agree with what you have written about the dogs, its really sad to see the way they get ill-treated.
If you don't have time for it, then don't own a dog - very simple!
You see such sights everywhere! Here too, in Bangalore you have these "posh" areas with huge houses, but the streets, empty spaces will be littered with garbage...

mnowluck said...

Ninja ho zingah om a nuam ngai lo rere!

aha.. I stayed at malad(W), shopping malls are near,and all those good stuffs... and i get everything u got there in banjara hills,that too at a stone throw away from our flat... U will love to stay with us too .. LOL!!!! but u will miss Banjara hills for that public toilet.. hahaha..

Anonymous said...

k'u maimawm... heard u were p'd off at the chronicles for publishing xyz blog post of yours stating it to be by some 'Rema' of zoram.com

I'm sure it must've been some junior reporter not given his ethics class yet. Anyway, mail me the blog post's URL, and I'll have the situation rectified. If nothing else, I'll have them rerun the article in the Aizol Times crediting u this time round.

fair deal?

my email addy is findinggil [at-the-rate-of] gmail.com

Jerusha said...

anonymous - thanks! I was pissed yeah, but I don't wanna have it blown up, sort of embarrassing :) And they've apologized - sort of! So I guess I'm just gonna let it go..

claytonia vices said...

Have you had the Hyderabadi Zafrani Biryani that gets mentioned in Cheeni Kum?

Mizohican said...

Ah just read the comments here after I read your grievance at misual.com and replied there. Yes, if there is somebody who can help, its my nephew Gilbert.

Mizohican said...

I miss Banjara Hills. I stayed at Secunderabad (Karkhana) before moving to Masab Tank and Mehdipatnam, and my classes were at Panjagutta. So I used to pass by your place every day! :-)

Now I remember you! No wonder I felt as if I've seen you somewhere before we met that night (when you passed out) :-P

Gomi said...

It was titillating to read your last comment - ur' gorgeous 10 picks. hehe..

I think ur friend needs a pedicure treatment.. uaaakkk!!

Jerusha said...

Clay - nope, I've never been too much of a Biryani fan so haven't really bothered exploring the popular Biryani places. But that's on my list.

Jerusha said...

Thanks Kim, I didn't know G-wiz's your cousin! Anyway, I think I should let the whole thing drop now. And I got a proper apology email yesterday (guessing it's misual that did it finally!) so everything's fine now.

And I seriously wonder about your mental state. Who saw who passing out, and more importantly, who's got the pictures to prove it dahlin'? :P

Jerusha said...

gomi - LOL will definitely let her know. You will see prettier tootsies next time :-)

Anonymous said...

Just wondering.. what an amazing "partner" u would make?... just wondering....

Jerusha said...

anonymous - interesting thing to wonder about. I'm sure I'd make a damn fine partner for someone, and a a terrible one for some...

Anonymous said...

You look "damn" fine to me :)

Jerusha said...

rka - why thank you sir! :P I'm flattered.

ATUL said...

I agree with wat u wrote regarding dogs............ but all of the people are not like u........ they think it the other way and do get the other stuff too......... i m from kurukshetra, a religious place, small city but with people with more sense of responsibility n co-operation
Nowadays i have been living here at hyderabad(madhapur, near 2 hitech area)......... the one way is the hitech where lacs of people work, the other way is the fish market that throws a foul smell all way around,public nersury where people use 2 go 4 their excretas n wastes.............. banjara, a so-called posh area, is just a smart pic from the cover outline, but once if u start staying there, u get 2 know how much a posh it is, in reality!!!!!!!! The biryani has become a adulterated thing in hyderabad......... hyd, a place being famous 4 biryanis, is out of race now.......... except paradise, none of the other hotels in nearby places have maintained the standards that a hyderabadi biryani is famous for.Main Roads, with more traffic n less traffic lights, with a lesser sense of adherence 2 the local police....... people donot care abt the colors here..... whether green or red, they just drive whenever they want. But still, hyderabad is a "nice" place 2 live in ...