A school visit

On Sunday evening Sandeep took us to “Eat Street”. This is a cheap food mall located right on the lake which separates the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. A well lit road termed the “Necklace Road” stretches right around the lake lined with statues of great legends of Indian history. In the centre of the lake, reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty, is a standing statue of Buddha. A boat takes you out the the statue island.

We drove past “Snow world”- a giant building filled with ice statues and snow sports- funny if Freya’s first experience of snow will be in Hyderabad! Next to that is a giant IMAX cinema complex, larger than any I have ever seen, so Caspar’s eyes lit up at that. Now we have to face the task of acquiring tickets for the latest James Bond movie, which could take a few days! At eat street, which is a lot like Sydney’s Darling Harbour, we ate “Chaat”, which is a selection of snacks such as crispy bread chips covered in yoghurt tamarind, onion and tomato. It is both soft and crunchy, sweet and savoury as well as spicy- a taste sensation. 4 plates of Chaat set us back $4. The kids were also happy as they found a “Subway”- not much you can’t get in India these days!

Monday morning we rose early and drove 1/2 an hour out of town to visit “The Jain International School, where Sandeep works. The school building is designed according to the Indian Feng Shui, and from above forms a big X. It took only 5 months to complete the building, which already has beautiful garden bed plantings and lawn areas inside! The school has housed pupils since June, and is hoping for a big influx for new academic year. The school rooms are very spacious, the marble floors and plantings making it feel very cool and airy.

When the kids arrive in the morning by bus from as far away as 2 hours, they are served breakfast, consisting of cereal, hot noodles and Indian cooked breakfast items. There are morning and afternoon snacks served with fresh juices, and a vegetarian feast for lunch. Caspar was dreaming of having such catering at his school..We were welcomed at their morning assembly, which was entirely run by the kids. They presented tips on English grammar, as well as explanations as to “Why English is a great language”; we also got a news and weather report- very informative altogether! We were invited to give a short talk to the kids, as they stood straight and still with full attention. So polite, observant and respectful they were.

We went on a tour of the school, and Caspar got to play basketball with class 6. He captained one side and the sports teacher the other. It was sweet to hear all the Indian boys voices calling “Casper…Casper”. The teacher gave Caspar a little coaching on how he should take charge, be more forward and take more chances in his game! We sat in on a dance class, and Sandeep had everyone wrapped and spellbound.

On our way home we raided a pharmacy full of wonderful ayurvedic products at amazing prices, a french style bakery and also a supermarket, where we bought some cheese for Freya. When we got back Freya had her first dance lesson. As predicted she is fully programmed for the Bharat Nathyam style of dance (from her teacher in Sydney), which is much stiffer that Kuchipudhi. Sandeep expects it will take some time for her to soften up her movements for the more ballet-like and beautifully expressive style she will hopefully perform soon. I must admit the thought of her getting ready for that in time, and with Sandeep being at work 6 days a week really scares me….It is going to take a bit of a miracle.

Back to the food situation: For dinner we had another big treat. Mr Narayan, a most lovely Hyderabadi town planner wanted to take us to the old city for the real Hyderabadi byriani experience. He guided Sandeep’s car into the old Moslem part of town which was just amazing. Crowded streets with narrow bazaars exploding in the glitter of gold and sliver shops, rows of leather chappal seller and whole side streets devoted to bangle sellers, like something out of ancient Arabian times. All these dazzling roads eventually meet at the “Char Minar”, a huge and intricately carved stone monument with four towers, built by one of the Mogul Nizams (kings) of old Hyderabad.

This is where we found the old mozlem “Shadab Hotel”, famous for its Byrianis. First course is a very rich and heavy curried Goat soup with an unpronounceable name which translated simply to “bone soup”. This is eaten with a square leavened bread cooked in a tandoor oven. The byriani looked pretty ordinary, and came with a curry sauce and sweet yoghurt. But once we put a spoonful of the rice grains in our mouths we were blissed-out by the fragrance and fullness of the favour. We were not really very hungry, but this byriani was just too good to hold back from. We now understand why Byriani was made legendary here!

(By the way the whole meal which included extra vegetarian dishes for Sandeep, and chai afterwards came in total to $12 for the 6 of us- so even the prices were ancient there! I must note that we have seen maybe 4 white faces maximum in this city since we arrived, so it really is not overrun by westerners as would be expected in the cooler season).