About a year back, one pleasant winter afternoon, I found myself outside the Hyderabad airport looking for a cab. My eyes were still wet (have been sobbing throughout the two-hour flight much to the discomfort to my fellow passengers I guess) and I found myself led to the taxi stand. I was supposed to report at my new office, a job I honestly had very vague idea about. But what the heck…. am I not the kind who is excited about bungee jumping?

I explained him the address, and made my customary phone call to my parents (the dutiful daughter that I am) to inform them about my safe arrival. The cabby asked me to hurry up with the call. So I reluctantly hopped in, secretly wanting to turn around and catch the next flight home.

The cabby took me through the streets of what I call the ‘hybrid’ city of Hyderabad. As I passed the Tank Bund road, I looked out of the window, and saw these cute seats on the sidewalk, sparsely populated with couples of all generations. It was a familiar sight…. Back home I have passed the lake near my house millions of times, watching couples of all ages sitting on the little seats, attempting an inconspicuous conversation behind an umbrella.

I reached my destination in what I thought to be record time, much to my discomfort. I was counting on a longish journey, which I thought would cool my nerves. But alas, that was not the case. I soon found myself walking into a hybrid apartment (it didn’t look anything like the traditional high-rises, more of a house actually) which was to double up as my workplace and shack for the next couple of weeks.

It took me a while to get used to my new bedroom, my desk at work, my neighbourhood, the food..... the usual routine that you follow when you relocate. And having done this more than once, I have to admit, I was not prepared for the experience I had here. Before I knew it, I had blended into the city life, and the process appeared to be seamless. I had been to the city at least a couple of times before that, but those visits were personal, essentially for a very short period. I had never interacted with the city on my own till that day a year back. When I look back at that first day of mine in Hyderabad, it did not show me the day… it remained yet another mundane addition to the already existent 3.6 million cosmopolitan crowd. It is now, after spending almost 365 days in this city, that I realise in awe the appeal of the city and the spirit of those who reside here.