Global warming has finally been explained: the Earth is getting hotter because the Sun is burning more brightly than at any time during the past 1,000 years, according to new research.

A study by Swiss and German scientists suggests that increasing radiation from the sun is responsible for recent global climate changes.

This explains why are we haveing hot summers in hyd and also across the whole planet of Earth…

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Global Warming…

It was Friday evening. I was wondering what I would be doing this weekend. Forget about the weekend. What should I do this evening? Couch in that easy chair in my Madhpur apartment and savour the last of Richard Bach’s The Bridge across forever. No, that’s what I have been doing almost everyday. I wanted more life. The only life I have been seeing these days consisted of my room mates and my office buddies. I was missing the watching-the-crowd-go-by-in-the-safety-of-a-window-seat-of-a-rickety-bus. I had done this innumerable times during my college days. So when I saw this bus called 127F plying between Kondapur and Koti as I was going back to my apartment from my office, I thought why shouldn’t I go for a merry ride in this bus. Koti, I was told by people was the vintage Hyderabad complete with the towering minarets of the mosques, vendors hawking handkerchiefs at the top of their voices, and road-side stalls selling anything from pav bhaji to biryani. And there is one more thing about Koti which immediately raises my fancy. It has the famous chain of second-hand book stores.
So as usual my fancier self won hands down and I did get into that rickety bus. It is a little exaggeration to call whatever I was traveling in as a bus. It is a sort of van designed ergonomically to cram as many people as possible. And luckily I got a window seat. Soon I was doing the watching-the-crowd-go-by-in-the-safety-of-a-window-seat-of-a-rickety-bus thing. The engine came to one sighing stop at Koti. As I got down the bus, I was looking for signs of the charming second-hand bookstores. There were lots of bookstores. But these were of a different kind. Tomes promising passers-by that they can crack the CAT, GRE, GMAT, Civil services, Army, Air force and what not. And these books in addition to their bold titles have their shopkeepers to market themselves. The shop keeper literally drags you to their shops had you dared to look at one of their books. Where is my R.K.Narayan, Sydney Sheldon, Louis L’Armour. ….
Soon I found the shops which sell fiction. The pleasure of selecting the books is all mine now. There is something truely romantic about reading a well-thumbed book. But selecting the book in that dinghy corner store is not that romantic at all. Second-hand book stores for all their charm cannot match the comfort of Landmark or Crosswords. I bought the following books:
1) Saint Him
2) The clan of something
3) The depths of glory
I had a light dinner in a decent hotel and found my way back to my apartment where Richard Bach awaited me patiently. I did the book the justice it deserved.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity . . .
Oh, well lets turn all “was’s to “is”s. Because you know, this is the one best sentence that always rings in my mind when I go across, Hyderabad, or for that fact any city, well anywhere I suppose. It is a wonderful sentence, carved :), either consciously or not, but can be applied anywhere down the timeline, anywhere across the world. So is hyderabad. Though I am not a native of hyderabad, but have been living in this city for the past 8 years, have my worst and best experiences over here. I love this city, for its adaptive framework of lifestyle, so spread patterns of living-hood. With its emerging IT infrastructure, and mashrooming MNCs, life is going to be more excited here. But, unfortunately, I am being so terrifically thinking kind, I not only see the best part of it, but the worst, like irregularities in all forms in all walks of city-life, curruption, manipulations, traffic irregularities, breaking rules on the face, and kind of atrocities that are seldom taking place in the suburbs and so on… But, anyways, you will say life is like that. But, my belief is life can be changed… Wouldn want to post my thoughts in coming blogs on some stuff like this. Keep watching…

The on-again off-again ORR (Outer Ring Road) kickoff seems to be finally moving. Teh contract tenders were opened. And looks like now the work will start. The biggest impediment seemed to be the alignment of the expressway. Lot of objections. Understandable.. as everyone wanted it to go next totheir property (for value appreciation), and not “ON” their property (then, they will need to goive away their land).

Anyway, finally it seems to be moving ahead. News is that the funds have already been arranged for the first phase. Nearly 40KM. And it is a access-controlled expressway.

The whole approach to this ORR project is very interesting. And far-sighted. (Sometimes, the beureucracy does “think”! :-) ). It is not seen as just a road project that links the economic hub to the new airport. It is seen (when the complete 137KM ring-road is done), as a channel for economic growth. There is a very planned integrated development planned around this ORR. There is a strict zone implemented all thru, for 1KM on either side, with different development rules. PLans are afoot to launch major realty project- integrated townships that include commercial, retail and residentia spaces in huge integrated townships.Basically, decongest the city, and at the same time get better quality of work and life.

Very neat. And very forward thinking. So far all seems to be going well. Need to see how well they execute.

6 years before no one was interested in Hyderabad. Reasons, heat, rocks all over the place and not much facilities. You could buy one square yard of land for 100-300 rupees. Yes. This is true. And how many people know madaphur that time. Is there a place called gachibowli where I could invest on land. The answer was not for majority of investors of middle class.

But now where are we now. Hyderabad (HUDA) sold its land for the record price. Land value near Jubliee hills, Banjara hills sky rocketing. Land costs are in more than crores. Flats in Madaphur over reached 3000 rupees. Jubliee hills, Banjara hills out of the reach for middle class people. I m not quoting any land values, the values might change by the time you read this :)

Where are we heading too? Are we upto something?
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Have been anxiously waiting to see a few movies this summer. So far many ended up duds, including Pournami (Prabhu Deva’s venture after his debut’s runaway hit last year). And Bangaram and Pokiri, became inaccessible due to its kid unfriendly censor-assessment. Godavari is one that I was hoping doesnt end a dud. The movie released last week. And all indications are that theteam his lived upto their super-duper success from last year- Anand. Have read many reviews. All are uniformly very appreciative. I tried to see th emovie over the weekend. Just couldnt manage to get the tickets (in one theater hawkers were selling off-counter tickets for nearly 150bucks! The counter price of these tickets is 45!) Another indication of the rave following the movie is getting. Will make sure we see it this week.

Nice to see such young talent- the director Shekar K. IN The Hindu there was a feature with Shekar and Sumant (the leading actor in the movie) having a conversation. Interesting to note that both of them studied in the US, spent some years there and decided t o get back. Both of them went to Film School.. and both did something else before going to a Film School. I liked Shekar’s quote that he is quintessentially Andhra. And this reflects in his movies. How true. The culture and values reflects so well in th emovies. And in Godavari, he has added nature into the mix. As he says, the river becames an integral part of the movies’ canvass. Cant wait to see this mobvie…

Friends..

Presenting to Y’ALL the Old and the New hyderabad..

Every December - January there will be a festival in Shilparamam near Hi-Tech city.
This will be a great place to see arts and crafts from all over the country. Shilparamam is a very big place. The whole place will be filled with all kind of shops of Indian traditional dresses, arts, crafts, bangles, pots etc. During this time every day there will be an event in which each state will display and showcase their cultural values. When I visited the place during the festival time one such great display of traditional value was from South India the dance they call it as “Karagam“.

You can see lots of eat out places (you cannot sit, order and eat your food) and food ranging from pani poori, pav bajji, chicken noodles, fried rice, veg/non-veg Manchurians you name it you get it. When I was strolling through the path I was really excited and happy to see the way people used to make the romali roti. The guys tosses the flour in the air and its gets expanded and just 2 minutes your roti is ready. So hot you can eat. No worries about amoeba culture
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Have you seen the begumpet foot over bridge that is nearing completion? When they were fabricating the huge structure next to the site, it seemed real fancy. Kind of like a “hanging bridge”. But when they finally finished and erected the bridge on site, I am not sure anymore. I do like the very elaborate (and huge) structure. Does hold interest. But not sure if I would consider it pretty though. Anyone there that finds it pretty?

Now, have to agree about the utility from this. The FOBs are very badly needed. has anyone tried crossing the road at Lifestyle (no.. no FOB yet here)? It is a nightmare. nearly 10 lanes of tarffic to be crossed. And one of the densest traffic points in the city. A very very steady strea, of vehicles. Can be harrowing for a very able young person. And scary to see older people and folks with little kids trying to cross the road. Seems like it will be safer to just get into an auto and have him make a u-turn and come back to the otherside!

If MCH has its way, we should be seeing more FOBs. And they have engaged multiple architects to come up with varying designs. Just to add to the interest on the roads. Now.. will these be pretty or ugly.. remains to be seen. And more so.. remains to be seen by the individual “beholders“, to “see” the “beauty“, if at all it “lies” in there :-)

Car, Bus, Motor bike, Auto, Bi-Cycle…No problem. The simple rule to drive in the city is “Do you see a way for your vehicle to pass through. If yes just drive in the way” . No need to see who is on your right or who is on your left. Never bother to have a rear view mirror. This is Hyderabad. This is the lesson my driver taught me when I was new to hyderabad. Now I have become an expert driver and zap through any high traffic in hyderabad.

In India we drive on the left side of the road. Mostly we all drive on the left side of the road even if the road doesn’t have a divider to divide the road in the middle. But don’t be surprised to see a big truck coming against you heading your way on the left side of the road. It’s a day today affair in here. Do you feel bored to drive 2 kms to take an “U” turn? Don’t worry hyderabad is very flexible and friendly for you. You get to the opposite side of the road driving against the normal traffic rules. Don’t be scared that people coming on the right direction will stop by and beat you up blue and back. It all happens and this is normal. If you want to see an 8th wonder in this world, then it would be the people living in hyderabad driving properly without violating the traffic rules.

Ooops, did I forget something!!! Yes, traffic signals. Those are just Red, Orange and Green for your vision test. It really doesn’t say anything for you. You drive in 80Kms/hr and you see a Red traffic light. Oh, watch your back bro. If you stop then you will be hit from the back. Just keep looking at the traffic light and the traffic police and keep driving in the direction you want to drive, unless there is a bottle neck in the road that literally stops your vehicle to move. Else those signals are mere decorative for the road.

These are the usual thrilling moments you will face and come across when you walk out of your home. This is a common scene in most part of the city especially near old city.
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