Gawking in Jubilee hills

As a concerned Hyderabadi I make it a point to drop in at other neighborhoods to check on how they are measuring up with respect to things like potholes and the like. I go on such sorties whenever I happen to be in Hyderabad and have nothing better to do. So it is only occasionally that I get the chance to visit other localities especially upscale ones like Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills. Since they are very far away from where I live I don’t get to visit those places as often as I want. However, last week I happened to be visiting Jubilee Hills for three days.

So far all my previous visits to Jubilee Hills have been purely personal and on my own volition. My latest visit to Jubilee Hills was, of course, for a change, on the orders of the government. In short, I had been drafted to undergo a training at a premier training institute which fortunately is located somewhere deep inside the labyrinthine streets of Jubilee Hills. After days of trudging through nondescript villages I sure felt glad I was getting a change of scenery.


One reason why I love breathing the air in Jubilee Hills is that it smells of money. Jubilee Hills, for those who don’t know, happens to be the only neighborhood where the rich folk of Hyderabad live. They all seem to own palatial homes set in more than an acre of land. Though I haven’t been inside those fabulous homes I am certain every house must have a minimum of twenty rooms not counting the servants’. Anyway I am always glad whenever I visit Jubilee Hills. Given the way things are in Hyderabad- poor roads, poor civic sense, poor driving and poor everything one gets the impression that there may not be many rich people living in Hyderabad. So it comes as a surprise to learn that some people are rich and rolling in money in Jubilee Hills. Sometimes I feel that we Hyderabadis should actually be grateful that there are places like Jubilee Hills so we can go there whenever we can and gawk at our rich. To live in Jubilee Hills you need to be a millionaire many times over but fortunately you don’t need to be one to pass through the area.

Since a long time I had been trying to visit ‘Editions’ the pen store in Inorbit Mall in Madhapur. One day after my training was over I set out for the mall which gave me a mild shock when I saw how big it was. When I first saw it I was certain it would take me at least a week to check out each and every store in it. Fortunately, they all seemed to be the sort of stores stocking goods which I couldn’t anyway afford to buy so I could go around in just a couple of hours. ‘Editions’ was small but impressive with some nice pens on show and helpful staff. Right next door was a Mont Blanc outlet where I found what needs to be done about the hole in the cap of my Meisterstuck fountain pen. It seems I have to leave it with them for at least a month for it to be sent to Rajkot for repairs.