💬 My cousin from Delhi thought Hyderabad was just Charminar and biryani

My cousin from Delhi came during Ramadan last year and asked to see Charminar and eat biryani. That was his whole list. I said fine, but I made him wait 1 day first. First morning I took him to an Irani cafe near Nampally at 7. Bun and chai. Then straight to Hitec City because my friend works there. He looked at the glass buildings and went quiet. Same day, same city, 2 different worlds. He kept saying it over and over like a parrot. In the old city the shopkeepers asked where his family was from before they asked what he wanted. In Madhapur nobody looked up from their laptop. He liked both, which I didn't expect. I told him that's just Hyderabad. You get the whole thing in 1 afternoon, if the traffic lets you. Then food. I made him skip biryani for a day and eat haleem, lukhmi and double ka meetha. Mirchi ka salan too. He asked why nobody outside the city ever tells you about this stuff. No idea. Maybe biryani is easier to put in a photo. Nobody posts a picture of salan. He had 3 lukhmi and said he'd never seen anything like them. I took the credit. The 5 minutes thing got him too. I told him I'd reach in 5 minutes, and I arrived 45 minutes later. He was standing outside with his arms folded. I said, traffic. He said, that's what you said on the phone. He's not wrong. I said it on the phone before I had even left the house. We had a good laugh about it. I owe him a dinner now. He's coming again next year, this time for a week. He says he wants to hear people talk. The way we speak here, Dakhni, he calls it music. I think he's just being nice. Anyway, if you've got a plan for a visitor that isn't Charminar, tell me about it. I'm collecting places, and I've run out of ideas after the second cup of chai.

Ha, your colleague asking you to repeat a sentence 3 times is the best part of this thread. I once explained a joke in Dakhni to a friend from Mumbai for 10 minutes and he still didn't laugh. Maybe the old city and the IT side are both Hyderabad because of the same slow pace under it. Or maybe it's just the chai. It's usually the chai.

Ha, the 5 minutes joke. My friend says I'm coming in 5 minutes and I start making tea. Going from the Hitec City side to the old city for the weekend feels like switching countries. I'd add that Dakhni is my favourite part. A colleague from Pune made me repeat 1 sentence 3 times.