Hyderabad Diaries

“So you and I share the same city after five years and you feel the need to check the continuously pinging Lumia of yours?” Guiltily, I switched off my internet and put the phone back in my pocket. And together, my high school best friend and I set out to write the new chapter of my life, Hyderabad Diaries.

Often times in my previous writings I have mentioned that, it’s not the place but the people who matter. Sure enough, it isn’t about the old forts or the new malls that I visited. It is about the pinky finger my friend held out while crossing every road. Initially I found it quite funny, but later I got used to it. In Hyderabad, you do not cross the road with precaution; you just take a leap of faith that the people driving on that road do not want to end up in an accident or behind the bars. Anyway, while sharing  the McD meals and the famous Hyderabadi Biryanis I realized we had more things in common than I assumed we had when we texted, made a few calls and met a couple of times in the past few years. Maybe after all these years, we still have many mysteries to unravel and this time we can do it together.

But Hyderabad isn’t just about the person I already know. I disliked the place and its people for the conservative, patriarchal mindset and ambience since day one. And I thought the majority of youth didn’t care about God during the last three years in Delhi, but I was wronged here. God dominates the lives of people, and probably nobody dares to question the existence of the Almighty. In such a society, to find an atheist like me is bliss.

So atheism found me a new friend in this alien city. Our interests in Piyush Mishra, Fight club, Gangs of Wasseypur and other movies, debates on caste, class and religion and need for changes in the society helped me believe that I can find people sharing my wavelength of thoughts even here. This classmate’s absence from online social media only made us bond over the offline socializing place, that is, the classroom. I found myself sitting next to him after the first few weeks in college. Listening to a boring lecture, we managed to know more about each other by written conversation on a piece of paper and eventually playing tic-tac-toe. Sharing Faluda(s) and having the conversations about the things one probably never talked to many people, left me stunned. But I guess, that’s the thing about knowing new people, one is always surprised.

Finally, there is this girl from my class who went beyond her limits to help me through my ups and downs in the new city. Trust me; being a Delhite one doesn’t expect things like this from anyone. She took the pain of making my bus pass¸ standing in the long queues, while I was continuously chattering throughout the process. So I still do not know how to make a bus pass. I lost my wallet for the second time a couple of days back and the stigma of being careless left me broken. So she took the pain to search the places I had been to that day, over and over and over and over again. She accompanied me back to my hostel, which was completely out of her usual route even though she was getting late for home. I asked her to not bother herself, but I was glad that I wasn’t left alone. This helping act was completely unexpected.

So I managed to make a few friends in this city only after a couple of months. But since day one the strangers have surprised me, be it the bus conductor who spared me the change or an old man in mmts who thought I am capable of being a good professor or the aunty who asked me to button my shirt from top to bottom. I was amused. Somehow in these good and bad remarks, I felt a familiar pang of homesickness. Irrespective of the clashes I have with my mom and dad for our difference in thoughts, it’s a pleasure to be at home. It’s the only place where I can be with the people I love and also, have a room of my own when needed. It’s, after all, the only place which gives me what I seek outside, the freedom of thoughts and the warmth of togetherness. 

This post has been written for KissanIndia. Please check out the video about their new initiative Kissanpur, Real Joy of Togetherness.