A Special Evening!

Yesterday I, my husband and my kid visited the newly inaugurated Lake Front Park in Hyderabad and it was a wonderful experience.

The entry fee is Rs.50 per adult and Rs.10 per child. The park has been built over 10 acres of land bordering the Husain Sagar Lake. There are wonderful walkways connecting several parts of the park. We were treated to really beautiful views of the Husain Sagar, the huge Indian Flag that holds a place of honour in the lake, the enormous statue of Lord Buddha who has a separate island amidst the lake and last but not the least, the majestic Secretariat building and a towering statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar. Needless to say, the park is a heaven for photographers! Also, the gentle breeze that blows in the evening and the beautiful views serve as a treat for the nature-deprived souls from the city.

As the evening progressed and the sky gradually started darkening, we got treated to a stunning sunset that painted the sky in hues of purple and pink. The purple sky, the lights that popped up in the park and the beautifully lit-up Necklace Road that is visible from the park turned the park into something surreal. It was as if we had walked into a new dimension.

There is a Karachi Café in the park which serves coffee, tea, sandwiches, pastries, puffs and the likes. It was here that we had a very humbling realization. After having coffee here, as we were leaving the café, we saw another family enter the same. The eldest member of the family said to her kids just as I passed by her, ‘Apne budget main yaha kya milega? Ice-cream milega kya dekho.’ It made me realize that those things which we take for granted are luxuries for many people. I hope the family had a great time there and every one of them could get what they wanted.

As we left the park, we got a pleasant surprise. Just outside the exit was a double-decker bus. The bus was being operated by HMDA (Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority) and gave free rides to Jal-Vihar (a water-park which we haven’t visited yet), the Secretariat building and back to the Lake Front Park. It was my son’s first ride in a double-decker bus. Needless to say, the kid (and his parents!) had the time of their lives sitting on the upper deck of the bus and taking in the beautiful views of Necklace Road.

We got down at People’s Plaze, a huge ground where various events are held from time to time. It was just our luck that there was a space-based exhibition there. We wasted no time and went inside the arena, only to be greeted by the sight of an imposing ISRO rocket, a model of Chandrayaan! As we walked further inside, we saw a life-sized model of Pragyan Lander billowing smoke and placed upon a terrain that was made to look like the moon’s rugged surface.

But the best part awaited us further inside when we walked into a literally alien world! Several types of life-sized alien beings were on display, waving at us or beckoning to us threateningly. The kid enjoyed this part the most. There were characters from Avatar, Venom from the Marvel Universe as well as another being which my son identified as Predator.

A large Mela followed thereafter where there were giant rides and other games as well as several shops selling everthing – from bangles to clothes to shoes, you could find them there. The Mela gave quite a rural feel and we felt like we had been transported to a simpler and better time of life.

The evening was all about enjoying simpler pleasures of life! Traveling in an auto and taking in Hyderabad’s busy life, enjoying a beautiful sunset in a beautiful park, the kid’s first ride in a double-decker bus, the grow-ups riding on the bus after what seemed like an era and seeing a simple yet stunning exhibition – all these made the evening really special!