Situated in the southern state of Telangana, India, Hyderabad has a unique combination of old and new cultures, societies, architecture and knowledge centres. The city is well known for its rich heritage of Moghul architecture and its culinary offerings - the two major reasons that attract tourists to this city.
But today, Hyderabad is widely associated with global techie brands, such as, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Amazon and other technology giants; they have set up their regional offices in the city - which also offers quality IT skills with India’s growing youth generation abundantly joining the tech industry. As the city began to evolve as an information technology hub over the last several years with glass and steel structures covering most of its landscape, Hyderabad is now known as Cyberabad.
Although the invasion of modern architecture is quite apparent all over the city, visitors to the city would not miss much of the old world charm either, where the day-to-day life of people is quite unassuming. Despite the advanced tech developments, the city folks still go through a simple lifestyle; street food, retail outlets selling sweets, and roadside tea kiosks are aplenty. Last week, the global entrepreneurs, including the daughter of American President Donald Trump, Ivanka, gathered in Hyderabad to discuss the opportunities and issues of young entrepreneurs. The summit put a spotlighton the city which is a model for India and its neighbouring countries in terms of promoting business and investments.
A cutting edge metro system was also launched simultaneously, by Indian Prime Minister Narandra Modi, adding another feather to the cap of the city which is marching steadily into the future.
A densely populated metropolitan city, with people bustling in and out of cafes, offices, temples and from nowhere, Hyderabad is fast turning into a modern cosmopolitan, like the New York City. Its fair share of history and culture seems to be overtaken by the metro image, with sprawling cafes, malls and corporate and residential buildings.
Land of pearls and biriyani
A short walk in the town would give you the feeling of walking down the streets in the Pettah, in Sri Lanka.
The hawkers with pearl accessories and blinging costume jewellery boxes would follow you throughout, whether you want to buy them or not. Hyderabad is also known as a land of pearls. There are plenty of shops with pearl jewellery for visitors to choose from. The natives talk proudly about their Mughal cuisine, especially, the Hyderabad biriyani.
According to the natives, to immerse yourself in local traditions, the best time would be Ramadan time as some areas and streets in the city come alive after dark transforming into a colourful night bazaar.