An unsual day in Hyderabad.

It was in the month of March,2010 when I was planning for shopping in Hyderabad. The occasion for shopping was my brother’s marriage. The situation in Hyderabad was dampening with Telangana issue.
On March 6th, the OU students and Telangana JAC triggered “Chalo Assembly” movement for the separate statehood of Telangana. My blog is not to comment on the movement of Telangana but to share my bizarre experiences on that day.

Phase-1 (Journey from Kacheguda Rly stn to my home):


It was around 6am, when I got down from Kacheguda Express in Kacheguda. Those are the days when I used to spend some rigorous time in GYM( don't think of any action in this episode). My home is in Himayat Nagar, around 4kms from station. So I started to take a brisk walk to my home, at that point I don’t have any idea of this movement.

I reached Barkatpura Junction in no time(around 6 20 AM). There I was amazed to see the police battalion blocking the roads and not allowing vehicles and commuters to go towards Narayanaguda. Then I enquired about the movement and came to know that all the roads leading to Assembly were blocked till the assembly sessions are completed (till 2pm). So it gave me a clear picture that Himayat Nagar was completely blocked.

I waited there for 20mins and went straight towards Chikkadpalli, then went to Narayanaguda Circle. It was blocked completely. Then I urged the police people and crossed one side to reach Deepak Theatre. As I am from the same place I know all the routes that leads to my home. I took a small road adjacent to Deepak Theatre and went to Himayat Nagar junction. It was an entertaining walk with the people throughout the road talking about the issue and its effects.

I reached Himayat Nagar Junction and it was no surprise that all roads were blocked. Its again the time to urge police and went to home around 7 30AM, ending the marathon after 90mins covering around 6+ kms.

My parents warned me to skip shopping after listening to my marathon. But I convinced them and started to Hyderabad Central (Panjagutta) around 9AM. Its around 7kms from my home.

Phase-2:


Its again time to walk and started to do the same and reached Liberty. As it was office time its good to see a lot of people on roads which gave me a hope to reach Central. Liberty Circle is fully blocked by police personnel. People going to office got fumed up seeing the blockage and started to criticize the police and government. I was a observer there seeing and listening to all the tantrums. Then after some time I started to move though a small passage as commuters are allowed to pass. Then the tantrums turned violent as they started to throw stones on police and I was lucky to sneak though and the passage was also blocked.

Now it’s the time to see the drama on secretariat road. This was the moment I seriously thought to go back to home but some crazy thought told me to move on. Commuters are also blocked here and only Secretariat employees are allowed to pass by. One personnel stopped me and asked me to show ID card as I was trying to sneak through. I showed him my PAN card to castigate him and told that I was a software employee. He shouted at me that only Secretariat people would be allowed and later allowed me (I was lucky there). I was laughing at myself for the PAN card one and entered the Lumbini Park road.

This road is one of the best roads in Hyderabad but it was a surprise to see it empty with no life on it. I could see only military and police people with AK-47. I started to head towards Khairtabad. I was terrified with the military people over there. It reminded me scenes from movie BOMBAY. It was like a curfew situation and I started to pray God to not give me any more surprises for the day. I reached Necklace Road circle and entered Khairatabad flyover to cross Khairtabad. After that there was no blockage for me as I am moving away from Assembly.


I thought of taking an auto to Central but later avoided it to complete my journey with my own mode(walking). I completed the next 3kms walk and reached Central around 10 30AM. It was an exciting journey throughout in my favorite place Hyderabad.

Then I met my friends Prasad and Pavan and did shopping and reached home around 8pm. This was my unusual experience in Hyderabad.

Hyderabad is always a happening place for both good and bad, but sad to see that the bad is dominating now-a-days. But it’s just like a spice to add more flavor to the city and lets hope for the redeem culture to be revived with full peace in the next few years.

The Bharat Bandh on July5th, over fuel price rise prompted me to write this blog.