Snippets from Hyderabad

Snippet 1: 

The Microsoft R&D offices in the Financial District of Hyderabad are the epitome of modernity and the symbol of the city’s cyber-corporate ambitions. Having reached early I was welcomed in by an HR representative of the company and was shown through the halls which were dotted with comfortable couches and seating spaces to the mammoth cafeteria which resembled the mini food court of a shopping mall. After taking trays full of food we made our way through yet more open workspaces and common chill out areas that sported foosball tables, carom tables and ping-pong tables. Also noticed, numerous coffee stations equipped with soft drink machines, coffee and tea dispensing machines, candy and noodles and of course....a microwave. Later, ensconced in her room, which had a fabulous view chatting over breakfast the HR lady told me that the company employs the best software brains of the country and does not blink while providing them handsome pay packages and numerous benefits like work from home options and a work environment that is casual relaxed and peppered with perks. In return they ask for tremendous quality of work performed and the pressure to deliver as well as to compete and better ones peers is crippling. Quite a price to pay!

Snippet 2: 

The road leading to the Charminar and the Makkah Masjid is lined on either side by shops and vendors. Women clad in burqas haggle with the shop-owners while a steady stream of cars and autos makes its way through the congestion. My laptop bag slung over one shoulder and my handbag clutched in one hand I threaded my way through the masses, taking in the sights and sounds and basically scouting the roads for a pearl shop. Suddenly I become aware of a few men walking purposefully after me chanting “Madam...dollar exchange? Dollar exchange?” I dodge them only to be caught up by two new ones with the same query. Feeling insulted at being hounded by touts in my own country I turned around and asked them squarely if I looked foreign and explained that I had no forex that needed liquidation. 

Snippet 3: 

After some serious shopping I made my way to the Charminar wanting to take some photographs of the views around from up above. The lady at the ticket counter took one look at me and exclaimed that a single girl without a guardian or a guide would not be allowed upstairs. The reasons cited were my personal safety and the possibility that I might leap to my death from the top of the monument. The guard standing beside the gate overheard the conversation and added his tuppence worth saying “come back with your Mummy and Daddy”! I indignantly stated that I had come from a different city and was not going back without climbing to the top of the minaret. They only agreed to let me go upstairs when I promised to take little time in the viewing verandahs and to come downstairs and meet them to assure them of my safety. The gall of these people irritated me but I could not help feeling slightly amused at being of such concern to them. 

Snippet 4: 

Tired from all the walking and shopping and the afternoon sun I took an auto to take me to the famous Karachi bakery. The auto wallah was a chatty young man who was soon sharing his philosophy of life with me and then the tale of his broken heart. Apparently he was in love with a cousin who got married elsewhere and this prompted him to take a blade to his own cheek and neck. Later he got married to another cousin but the heartbreak from his first love haunted him still and he had taken to the bottle to drown his sorrows. All through the ride he regaled me with shayari that spoke of lost loves and betrayal. I couldn’t help feeling part sorry part amused at this incident.