Mumbaiya Hyderabadi!

Getting Ready Arijit Singh Live in Concert, on 7th December at GMR Arena in Hyderabad was an event we had been eagerly anticipating. Known for his punctuality, boundless energy, and engaging interactions with the crowd, as shared by friends and family, this was an evening poised to sweep us off our feet Near to the airport, the drive to the venue was smooth through ORR. We arrived early, and there was ample parking space. Had to walk some distance from the parking lot to the arena. Well-arranged and managed entry gates with wristbands, enough toilet areas inside each ticket class area and F&B counters at both ends of the venue in each ticket class area. Except for the Platinum, the rest of the tickets were all standing. Thoughtfully arranged stage, with a runway stage that stretches out from the main stage into the audience, allowing the performer to interact more closely with the crowd, was an arrangement that we loved as the runway stage ends at gold class ticket area, where we w...

Getting Ready The All Hearts Tour by Shreya Ghoshal, on 30th November at LB Stadium in Hyderabad was a concert to look forward to. Our first experience of a Shreya Ghoshal concert, we took a less tiring approach to travelling by metro to the concert, avoiding the traffic induced pressure, anxieties and long waits. Travel by metro was a breeze. For the concert scheduled to start at 7 PM, we reached the stadium around 6:15 PM. The stadium was a short walk from the “Assembly” metro station. At the stadium, quickly headed to the ticket counters to gather the wrist band for entry into the designated viewing areas. A gold class ticket with seating that cost Rs.2,300/ticket, was too far from the stage, though the viewing area was within the grounds and not the stadium seating (which was silver). The stadium facilities were inadequate, with temporary outdoor toilets and a limited selection of overpriced snacks (a small popcorn bowl for Rs. 200).  Concert The concert started around 40 minut...

Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is one of the best places to spot the majestic big cats in their natural habitat. Located in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra, India, the reserve covers an area of 625 square kilometers and is home to around 115+ tigers, as well as leopards, sloth bears, wild dogs, gaur, sambar, nilgai, and many other wildlife species. The national park is divided into 3 forest ranges: Tadoba North Range, Moharli Range and Kolsa South Range. Each of these ranges has core zones and buffer zones. The buffer zone is the area surrounding or adjoining the Core Zone where conservation takes place along with some limited human activity. We visited Tadoba in April 2024, which is considered the peak season for tiger sightings. The weather was hot and dry, with temperatures reaching 40+ degrees Celsius during the day. The forest was mostly brown and yellow, with patches of green here and there. The water sources were scarce and the animals were forced to come out of their hi...

Day 1: Arrival in Goa Started early from Hyderabad, around 4 AM, embarking on a long drive to Goa through highways and deserted roads (at times) with long stretches. Our plan was to take a breakfast pitstop at Hotel Nisarga, Manvi, but to our surprise that day it wasn’t open around 8:30 AM. Thus, dropping the breakfast plan, we sped to our next pitstop for lunch at Sugar N Spice, Hubli (slight detour). Non-stop drive except for fuel breaks (& toilet) and lunch, at decent speed, deserted to manageable traffic, helped us cover ~700 Kms in around 12 hours, reaching Club Mahindra, Varca.  There are 2 major road routes from Hyderabad to Goa, 1) via Raichur - Hubli; 2) Solapur. We took Route 1 while going to Goa. It had long stretch of highways, especially NH 67 that was deserted for stretches. However quite a few areas on this route were rough and bumpy. Watch out for high-speed bumps on this road, multiple times our car's bottom was tested putting shock absorbers at play. On the w...