Picnic

After loitering in the jazzy glittery corridors of the Hyderabad shopping malls, spending hours uselessly window shopping and devouring frankies, corn cups and panipuris for the last 2 years, i decided to take an alternative way to spend my weekends....Exploring in and out of Hyderabad is my new addiction... the tranquil evening at Jayadarshini Temple and its near by lake, awakened our vagabond souls... i love my 'village'... literally called as 'Jeedimetla Village' or 'Kompally Village', i stay 26 kilometers from my place of work...unlike earlier times, when i used to crib for spending 3 hours a day in transit between home and office; i realize that it gets compensated by the weekends which i enjoy more and more over time...

Medak church was the next thing on the list....got selected primarily because of its location advantage in terms of nearness from our house...We had hit the national Highway 7 at 8:30 am on a Sunday morning... it was quite a surprise for my Mother-in-law, as it opposed the fact of my attachment to the bed till 11 am on weekends...as always, drives on National highways are fantastic...taking cues from the print out of ‘Google Maps’, we proceeded straight, bypassing small localities like Tupran, Ramayampalli, Manoharabad et al....at Manoharabad, we had to stall at a road tax collection booth, which exempted defense vehicles from paying the toll...my mother in law regretted not carrying her identity card coz of which we had to pay a duty of Rs 140 for either way transit....we took a left turn from Chegunta for the Medak road...the road took us through small villages and vast stretches of agricultural lands on either sides...my husband spotted a lengthy serpent crossing the road in its full size...but my visually challenged eyes could only see its tapering tail sliding inside the bushes...we also saw 3 peahens on a mini hillock; an old mosque looking very similar to the Charminar...

It took us 2 hours to reach Medak...Medak being a small town, didn’t take us long to reach the Church complex...built in Gothic style in shades of grey and white, the church has an imposing yet elegant demeanor ...the church would be the perfect model for a photographer....the intricate designs engraved on its wall beamed in the morning sunlight... the church has a distinct English style; the images we clicked were good enough for displaying in the LCD selling showrooms....the Church housed 3 huge windows, made with tinted glass, depicted stories of Christianity. ..sunlight penetrating through the coloured glass added a different spectrum to the otherwise imperial appearance..we visited the church at 10.30 am on a Sunday during the assembly time... the mass was being conducted...in a language I don’t understand....I read that the church is second largest in Asia and could accommodate as many as 5000 people...i feel I would have enjoyed the grandeur of the church better In silence, without the smell of coconut oil on wet hair tickling my nostrils....
Outside the church, the open field was flocked with hawkers and small stalls selling trinkets, especially photos of Jesus and other deities of Christians, puffed rice and sugar candies...many families were enjoying picnic...ladies were busy washing rice and managing babies and kids, and the male members concentrated on slaughter of chicken and other similar fleshy animals.... the place did not have much eating joints....at least I could not find one....thankfully I had got this info from somebody’s blog and we carried our victuals on the way...we finished our lunch sitting in the car, and thereafter headed towards the Medak fort....

Built on a hillock, the fort is in a dilapidated condition....recently the fort had been taken over by the AP tourism department and repairing activity have been initiated.... I hope to see the fort in a better condition few years down the line when I get my children here.....as of now, not many people visit the fort, and we didn’t get a guide to take us along...we were on our own trip to explore the ruins and remains of the fort..the majestic fort which once sheltered the kings, queens and the royals, is now inhabited by reptiles and insects...without adequate maintenance, the fort underwent weathering for several years...barring few structures, the building blocks which once formed a rock solid barricade is all loose, detached and strewn around...roots of trees penetrated deep inside the massive chunks of stones ... the crevices of rocks and bricks housed history and memories alongside slimy glides of poisonous species...dry leaves piled up on the sideways of the so called stairs....we stepped carefully, and noisily to drive away any creature resting in near vicinity.... with every step, we could hear them scurry away rapidly midst the bated ‘hush’ of the dry leaves .....we took the main way, leading from one door to the other....the fort had 4 doors, all built in a similar pattern....probably this was the only thing that did not wear out with time....we stuck to the main route till the peak of the hillock...we saw several sideways, and tunnel like corridors, probably leading to a new aspect of the fort....bushes and spider webs growing on those unfamiliar lanes and alleys, and fear of serpents/scorpions deterred us from exploring them further.......on our way up, we spotted a big pond. Water tank and a long flight of stairs plunging into the water body....i wanted to go down to the pond, but again the way to it was unfrequented, hence I chose to stay on the safe side... solace was in the fact that sun was overhead glaring down, and the heated rocks would probably not shelter the shade loving reptiles... the top of the fort had a mosque and a wide terrace, which offered a clear view of the city below....we could see the church at a distance and a huge green lake....the terrace had several tunnels, bearing close resemblance to ‘manholes’....i stooped to understand where it ended... an intriguing fact as it was, like a well, it did not have an end...our echo came back to us... there was no one who we could ask...the ambience brings back the memories of stories we read during our childhood days...of kings n queens, kingdoms, palaces and its underground tunnels linking cities...the path taken to escape .... historial fantasies flushed my mind...it was broad daylight tanning my skin, ..otherwise, had it been twilight or night hours, an additional, perhaps imaginary concept of ‘haunted’ would have made the place even more exciting, topping it with the romantic silver shade of the moon...

Soon it was time to go down....the umbrella did not seem to help much ...hankering or some cool shade we sped down...back into our Santro, we were on the homeward journey....

To view the photo gallery, click here

P.S :: Travel tips for folks who wanna go to Medak:
1. carry plenty of food and water with you .
2. the Road we took ie NH 7 was great, and also the Medak road was quite nice
3. For people with defense background, carry your ID card and you can evade road tolls
4. If you want to see the church, and not attend the mass, visit on a Saturday
5. we started at 8:30 am and were back by 4:30 pm traversing total of 165 kilometers....
6. We purchased several kilos of Yummy mangoes on the NH7 on our way back...it seems there are mango orchards on either sides of the highway, the workers sell them off for a 15 rupees a kilo, and they also give you 2/3 mangoes to taste ;)