Our Taj Hotel is right in the heart of westernized Hyderabad. Across the street is a 5-story, air-conditioned mall decked out with a new McDonalds, Chuck-E-Cheese, Adidas, and Reebock. We ate at the top of the mall that had Tex-Mex and Indian Pizza? We had a taste of the Tikki Paneer and Tandori Chicken Masala pizzas. Quite tasty! This city is such a contrast to our visits to Delhi and Kolkata. We hear that there are also western parts of those cities, but more on the outskirts. It seems like Hyderabad is building more and more of these western malls between 14th century mosques. It’s sad.
There are also so many more Muslims than what I’ve seen in other cities. Most women are in full on burkhas with a pantsuit underneath. They’re riding in rickshaws, on motorcycles and walking alone or in groups through marketplaces. We’re going to a few schools in this city and I hope to see a school that has a Biotech course. In Kolkata, we visited the Birla School for Boys, a privately funded school that offered Biotech as an elective for Class 11 and 12. They showed me their textbook/syllabus and it was pretty comprehensive. That day, they were drawing blood from students who volunteered!!! No parent permission slips, waiver forms, nor latex gloves. Just rolled up the sleeve, flicked the syringe and took a sample. That wouldn’t go well at Gunn… They were going to isolate this student’s DNA and run it through a gel. It was crazy. I’m going to pick up a copy of their textbook. So far Hyderabad is just as cool as Kolkata, minus the shopping malls. P.S. Rickshaws in Hyderabad are scarier than in Delhi.
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