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Hyderabad 2010: Day 1 — Eat Street, Charminar and Mecca Masjid

By Mithun Divakaran
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Jul 31, 2011
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Hyderabad, India, Travel

Date: 26th December 2010

After beginning this year with a visit to the UAE, then Singapore, Malaysia & Thailand later in the year, I capped off my 2010 travels with a trip to Hyderabad. The main purpose of the visit was to attend a friend’s wedding, but we (my usual travel buddies Ramesh and Loiyumba) decided to go a bit early to do a bit of sight-seeing.

This wasn’t my first visit to the capital of Andhra Pradesh. I first came to Hyderabad in 2002 to visit my brother when he worked there briefly.

In some ways I was looking forward to this trip because it was after a span of nearly 9 years that I got to travel by train again. We boarded the Kacheguda Express from Bangalore Cantonment station in the evening.

Kachiguda Express Indian train sleeper bed Loiyumba — Loi didn't wait too long to cuddle up in his sleeping bag and doze off

We arrived in Kacheguda station (not Hyderabad’s main railway station) at a chilly 5:45am. We had reserved a room for us three at Nand International, a nearby hotel, so we figured we could walk it there. But after walking for around a minute or two, we couldn’t spot the hotel and the auto drivers we passed by were telling us they could take us there for just Rs. 10. Figuring it was cold and we had luggage, we got in… and literally 5 seconds later, up the same Station road we were at, we were dropped at Nand International! Pissed at the fact all he had to tell us was to walk a few steps further to get here, we shouted at the auto driver — but relented from ruining our morning and just paid him Rs. 10 to get lost.

We checked in to our three person bedroom/family room.

Nand International three bedroom Kacheguda Hyderabad hotel — Costs Rs. 870 ($19/€13) per night for this centrally air-conditioned room

Since we were still sleepy, we crashed for a few hours.

Got up around noon, had tea and pondered about where to have lunch. In a city famed for its food, we weren’t keen on hitting up the street food joints near Charminar straight away. So we decided to go to a place called Eat Street.

Eat Street Necklace road Hyderabad India — Cost nearly Rs. 60 to get here by auto from Kacheguda Station Road

Eat Street is just some food court by Hussain Sagar Lake, one of the largest man made lakes in India. We passed through scanners (apparently security is pretty tight in Hyderabad) and walked in to a not-so-busy food court.

We checked out the various stalls, some open open for business… some not. You get your usual choice of South Indian, biriyani (of course), chaats, western fast food, etc. But despite being in the city famous for its biriyani, I wasn’t going to eat it from just about anywhere.

Eat Street biriyani fried chicken fries Hyderabad — So I had burger, fried chicken strips and fries instead. Lame, I know.

Ramesh and Loi both tried out the biriyani and they described the food as: “sucks” and “horrible”. So there.

Eat Street Hussain Sagar lake Mithun Ramesh Hyderabad — Loiyumba took this photograph using his camera

Hussain Sagar lake Hyderabad India — Hussain Sagar lake (Photograph by Loiyumba)

Hussain Sagar lake Buddha statue Hyderabad India — There are boat rides in the evening to go to the Buddha statue (Photograph by Loiyumba)

Post-lunch, we already feeling a sense of ‘boredom’ and wondered what to do next.

Hussain Sagar lake park tarot reader afternoon Hyderabad — We left Eat Street and aimlessly walked through the park around the lake

Hyderabad book fair 2010 stalls people India — There was book fair going on

Hyderabad book fair 2010 stalls India — It was the annual Hyderabad Book Fair

Hyderabad book fair 2010 stalls afternoon India — Considering none of us have the habit of reading books much, we left fairly quickly

Prasads Imax theatre Hyderabad mall — Crossed the road over to Prasads

The one good thing about Hyderabad is that they have an IMAX screen, and it can be found at Prasads on Tank Bund Road. The security was pretty tight before entering here as well (I take it’s because of the Telangana issue?). We checked out the mall a bit before going to collect our pre-booked tickets for Tron which was playing.

After checking out Prasads, we stepped out, took an autorickshaw and went to see Charminar, Hyderabad’s iconic structure.

Charminar market bazaar Hyderabad — There are many old bazaars leading up to Charminar... and traffic was very congested

We eventually asked the auto driver to stop and decided to walk it further up.

Charminar pearl bazaar shops Hyderabad India — Plenty of pearl stores here, Hyderabad pearls are quite famous

Charminar fort Hyderabad India — The road goes all around Charminar

Charminar Tiffin centre South Indian food Hyderabad — I ate from here on the third day, really good South Indian food!

Charminar literally translates to “four towers”. Minar or minaret being the towers or pointy structures you find in just about every mosque and char which just means four.

Charminar fort blue sky Hyderabad India — Built by ruler Qutb Shah in 1591 AD

Charminar fort entry visitors Hyderabad — There was a queue going half way around Charminar

Charminar fort street kids old coins Hyderabad India — Old coins for sale. Genuineness unconfirmed.

Charminar fort visitors queue Hyderabad India — We queued up, paid the Rs. 5 entry fee and entered

Climbing stairs Charminar minaret Hyderabad — You climb narrow stairs up one of the minars

Charminar stairs minar Hyderabad — The walls were quite cold

Charminar balcony view woman Hyderabad — You obviously get a better picture of the surrounding from up here

But walking through the halls, I couldn’t really help but not ignore something.

Charminar inside writing damage wall Hyderabad — The walls

Charminar wall damage inscribed Hyderabad — It's quite apparent how badly the walls have been vandalized the past few years by callous visitors

Charminar ceiling islamic architecture Hyderabad — At least the ceilings were hard to reach

Charminar wall names scratched Hyderabad — It's an appalling sight in many of our heritage monuments

No writing damaging walls sign Charminar Hyderabad — Despite the efforts to curb the practice and a law making it a punishable offence...

Charminar wall writing damaging wall Hyderabad — ... even to this day, to some worthless citizens of this country, it's still a joke. As if these historical monuments are just another building to them.

Laad bazaar bangles street Charminar Hyderabad — Laad bazaar a.k.a 'bangles street' -- guess why it's called so

Charminar main hall ceiling design Hyderabad — The open hall in between the four minarets

Charminar ceiling pigeons Hyderabad — Five pigeons

Charminar traffic view from top Hyderabad — Traffic is quite messy (and very busy) around Charminar

Mecca Masjid view from Charminar Hyderabad — Mecca Masjid, where we were headed next

Palace opposite Mecca Masjid Charminar Hyderabad — Nizamia Unani Hospital, opposite Mecca Masjid

Charminar circle view down Hyderabad — It was time to head back down

Charminar steps down minar tower Hyderabad — Down another minar we went

Charminar done, we decided to sit in a cafe to have something to drink.

Charminar restaurant falooda Hyderabad — Ramesh played it safe with Pepsi, while myself and Loi had *extremely* sweet falooda

Gajini-ki-shaadi film poster Hyderabad India — As seen inside the cafe

Gajini-ki-shaadi Hyderabad poster — Looks like there is a parallel film industry within Hyderabad making low-budget unofficial sequels to mainstream film releases 🙂

Excessive sugar intake complete, we decided to quickly step inside Makkah Masjid.

Nizamia Unani hospital opposite Makkah Masjid Hyderabad — The markets are quite bustling in these parts

Mecca Masjid mosque Hyderabad India — Mecca Masjid is the biggest mosque in Hyderabad and one of the oldest in India

You have to leave your bag and shoes at the counter and walk barefoot once past the gates.

Mecca Masjid sunset pigeon feeding Hyderabad India — People had gathered to see hundreds of pigeons being fed grains

Mecca Masjid evening pigeon feeding Hyderabad — Not very exciting... but still

Mecca Masjid pigeons flying evening Hyderabad — It's always such a photo moment when hundreds of them fly away at once

Mecca Masjid entrance hall Hyderabad — I decided to check out the mosque

Mecca Masjid prayer hall muslim Hyderabad India — The main prayer hall

Mecca Masjid prayer hall mosque Hyderabad India — Wonder what those honeycomb-like bags hold

Mecca Masjid side visitors Hyderabad — Went around the mosque

Mecca Masjid pigeons evening lamp posts Hyderabad — Pigeons, pigeons... there are a lot of them

Mecca Masjid pigeons electric wires Hyderabad — Needless to say, there's a lot of pigeon poop on the ground

We left the mosque and decided to call it a day.

Punch Mohalla Charminar Hyderabad — Took a rickshaw back to our hotel

Charminar bakery road Hyderabad evening — That's a heap of bread crumbs and rusk being sold in bulk. Not very hygienic in these conditions I would presume.

Once back in Nand International, I was quite cheesed off. Despite claiming to provide 24 hours hot water, when I opened the tap, I only got cold water. Went to the reception to complain and the man with a straight face told me it only comes on from 6am to 6pm. I then raised my voice and told him “well, that’s not what it says on your website!” and demanded I need hot water as it was quite cold (which it was outside). Only then did I get a bucket of hot water. So a big thumbs down for Nand International because of that.

Post rant, we concluded day one in Hyderabad with dinner at nearby three-star hotel restaurant where we had, yes, biriyani.

It was alright, but I would have much better biriyani in the next few days.

Coldplayer – Live in Bangalore, India (Coldplay tribute concert)

By Mithun Divakaran
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Apr 13, 2011
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Concerts, Music/Videos

Date: 03/04/2011

After concerts by Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd tribute acts, it was a time for another tribute concert organized by Gigbox. But this time, it was for a far more recent band — Coldplay.

If you are wondering “why Coldplay?,” well then, you probably aren’t aware of the slew of hits the British Band have produced since 2000. Coldplay (and Linkin Park) are undoubtedly two of the biggest bands to come out of the 2000s, and both are still going strong. Sales in excess of 50 million worldwide and hit singles from four studio albums — that is enough material for a tribute band to play in Coldplay’s honour.

I wasn’t expecting as many people as there were for the Breathe – The Floyd Sound concert, simply because Coldplay’s fanbase isn’t as big as a legendary band as Pink Floyd. Plus, April 2nd was the Cricket World Cup finals which India won, so most of the city was still reeling in the joy (and hangover) of last night’s match.

But being a massive Coldplay fan, there was no way I was going to miss this show.

The opening act was American solo artist Thom Chackon.

Thom Chackon singer concert Bangalore India — His music was mostly acoustic fare with a country vibe

Here’s a video of some songs he performed:

Thom Chackon performing Bangalore India — Thom Chackon performed a good 6 to 7 songs

Once Thom Chackon left, it wasn’t a long wait before Coldplayer hit the stage.

And they kicked things off with…

After “Politik,” the opening track from A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002), next came:

I didn’t record “Violet Hill” in full because I needed to conserve space on my camera memory card.

Coldplayer band performing Bangalore — The band were dressed similar to how Coldplay dressed for the Viva La Vida tour

One of Coldpay’s greatest songs – “Clocks”

More songs from A Rush of Blood to the Head (“In My Place” & “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face”)

Lead vocalist, who does a really good Chris Martin

“Trouble” and “Strawberry Swing”

(“Strawberry Swing” was performed two tracks later actually)

Coldplayer Gareth Whiteside guitarist Craig Johnson bassist Bangalore India concert — Gareth Whiteside on guitars; bassist Craig Johnson

Coldplayer drummer Jacob King Bangalore India concert UB city — Jacob King

Moving on to my favourite Coldplay album, X & Y (2005)…

Coldplay’s epic “Fix You” (followed by “Talk”)

And then, the song everybody knew (most of) the words to…

My card got full halfway through the song and had to swap the second one in, thus the break in recording. No worries… as you’ll see down below 🙂

The band then left the stage after “Yellow,” which didn’t imply the show was over. There was no way a Coldplay tribute act was going to end a show in 2011 without playing “Viva La Vida“.

Come back on stage they did. Now, it was time for a break in pace and some acoustic fare.

Besides “Don’t Panic,” they also sang “Green Eyes” and one other song which I wasn’t too familiar with.

“The Hardest Part/Postcards from Far Away” and that song which is now a Coldplay anthem…

From Vida or Death and All His Friends, they played “Lost,” “Strawberry Swing” and this:

Coldplayer Gigbox concert inspection — Hmmmm…

Coldplayer then performed the final song in their setlist…

But since the awesome crowd asked for more…

Coldplayer Gigbox concert band members talking — The band decide which tracks to perform (either that or they wondered what was for dinner)

“Life in Technicolor II” (from the Prospekt’s March EP)

“Shivers” (from Parachutes)

For the final song of the night, since the reception this song got the first time was so good, Coldplayer ended their gig with an encore performance of Coldplay’s first hit single:

With that, Coldplayer bowed to the audience and finally left the stage — this time for real.

Gigbox’s third concert was yet another stellar show. Sure, the UB City amphitheatre wasn’t as packed as it was for Breathe – The Floyd Sound, but you really can’t compare the fanbase Pink Floyd has in the city to Coldplay. The crowd was a lot younger this time and as you heard from the videos, they were very receptive.

Coldplayer concert crowd Nithin Divakaran — My brother (extreme right) and his friends surely enjoyed it

Coldplayer concert Gigbox crew — The folks at Gigbox who put on the show

So after tribute acts for Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Coldplay… who is next?

Ireland’s biggest musical export — U2, played tribute by U2UK. May 7th, see you there 🙂

Breathe – The Floyd Sound, (Pink Floyd tribute concert) Live in Bangalore (India)

By Mithun Divakaran
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Mar 03, 2011
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Concerts, Music/Videos

Date: 26/01/2011

After the introductory gig by Led Zepplica held by Gigbox at UB City last month, next up was a tribute to another legendary band in the world of music — Pink Floyd.

The band doing the honours was British act Breathe – The Floyd Sound. Apparently, this wasn’t their first time in India. Looking at their past gigs, Breathe – The Floyd Sound has toured India every year since 2008 — mostly doing college festivals and clubs. Hey, you got to start somewhere right?

The concert venue was the same, the UB City Amphitheatre.

Breathe the Floyd Sound Bangalore concert crowds — There was quite a crowd (Photograph by Loiyumba)

Breathe Pink Floyd concert flying pig Bangalore — I love that they had this pig up in the sky (Check out the album cover of 'Animals' if you don't get the referance)

Breathe the Floyd Sound UB city amphitheatre crowds — Given the popularity of Pink Floyd in India, I wasn't surprised to see a lot more people turn up for this gig (Photograph by Loiyumba)

Gigbox concert Ducati bikes display — Ducati were one of the sponsors (Photograph by Loiyumba)

Dark Side of the Moon laptop wallpaper — The sound engineer was in the right frame of mind

Breathe Pink Floyd concert backdrop UB city — With the sun set, it was time to set the stage & check the lights

The show began with the opening act — rajeev’s Wolfpack.

Rajeev's Wolfpack rock band Bangalore — The lead singer is Rajeev... so I guess that makes the rest his Wolfpack

Rajeev's Wolfpack opening act Bangalore — They performed at the Led Zepplica gig as well. Doing mostly covers of U2 songs.

Rajeev's Wolfpack UB City Bangalore concert — They did play a few of their own compositions this time though

Rajeevs Wolfpack UB city Bangalore — Before ending their set with The Proclaimers' "I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)"

As it neared 8pm, Breathe – The Floyd Sound finally hit the stage.

Breathe the Floyd Sound Bangalore concert entering stage — And they kicked off with...

Then followed it up with:
“Time”

“Money”

I didn’t record every song in full and I don’t remember the exact sequence, but here are some of the songs myself & Loiyumba did record:

“Hey You”

“Brain Damage”

“Breathe”

After going through classics from ‘Dark Side of the Moon,’ they performed tracks from the Syd Barrett-era.

Syd Barrett Bangalore Pink Floyd tribute concert backdrop — The late Syd Barrett, former front man of Pink Floyd

Breathe the Floyd Sound Syd Barrett tribute — They even performed "Arnold Layne," Pink Floyd's very first single

“Sorrow” (the only song they played from Momentary Lapse of Reason)

Breathe the Floyd Sound Bangalore concert Dave Gee — On drums, Dave Gee

Breathe the Floyd Sound band members — Keyboards: Joel Anderson

“Shine On You Crazy Diamond”

Breathe the Floyd Sound Bangalore concert lead vocalist — Lead vocals & guitar: Chris Barnes

“One of These Days”

Breathe the Floyd Sound Bangalore concert bassist — Bassist Peter Worley

The one song every Bangalorean was waiting to sing along to…

Breathe the Floyd Sound Bangalore concert lead guitarist — On lead guitars, Andy Fenton. He did an impeccable job recreating Pink Floyd's guitar sounds!

Band introductions and ‘thank you’s… and “Wish You Were Here”

“Run Like Hell”

Breathe the Floyd Sound ended the night with one of the greatest rock songs ever…

Unfortunately, my camera battery signalled that it was about to die. Which is why I ended up recording the final performance of the night on my phone.

Breathe the Floyd Sound Bangalore concert end — With that, the Pink Floyd tribute concert came to an end

As was the case with the Led Zepplica gig last month, I’ll never get to see the real Pink Floyd play live. Apart from old age, the relationship between David Gilmour and Roger Waters is still a strained one. Heck, and I’m a guy who can just do with David Gilmour! (Sorry Roger Waters fans, he sounds terrible now — and I rate David Gilmour to be the better guitarist)

None the less, this was another great tribute concert from Gigbox. The crowd was better — except for the idiots who expected everyone to sit down for a rock concert — and there were no sound issues this time around. I wonder who they plan on bringing next.

Might I make a recommendation?

If you haven’t heard of Steel Panther, you should! They’re freakin’ AWESOME and bloody hilarious! Just read their bios! 🙂

If you haven’t figured out from the spandex and hair, Steel Panther plays tribute to 80’s rock. From Bon Jovi, Poison, Van Halen, Def Leppard (mine & the lead vocalist’s favourite band) to Journey, Whitesnake, Guns ‘n’ Roses, and… Backstreet Boys?

Not only so they do awesome covers, in 2009 they released their own album called Feel the Steel. This was their first single off the album:

Other good songs are “Community Property” and my favourite, “Party All Day“. I’d love to see them live in Bangalore performing 80’s greatest rock hits! But I’m not sure their humour will appeal to everybody (conservative women, parents who thought it was a smart idea to bring their kids to a rock concert, guys who don’t get sarcasm, etc.)

These guys have balls… they went to Tokyo and performed a song called “Asian Hooker“!