A Break from the Routine

My daughter has been asking me, to take me out in the city as it’s her holiday, school is closed for summer.  She insisted that I take her to the Salar Jung Museum.  I have visited this museum in the city as a child and also while I worked, I had the opportunity to take some groups for sightseeing.  I was not very keen, as its summer, and extremely hot - but my daughter’s excitement was so much, that I gave in and decided to take a break from my routine.

The Salarjung Museum in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh is the third largest museum in India housing the biggest one-man collections of antiques in the world. It is well known throughout India for its prized collections belonging to different civilizations dating back to the 1st century. Nawab Mir Yousuf Ali Khan Salar Jung III (1889–1949), spent a substantial amount of his income over thirty five years to make this priceless collection, his life's passion.

I was happy to see the Museum, there was so much to see, beautiful paintings, wall hangings, wood work, statues made of marble, and lot of exhibits in bronze, silver, porcelain cups and variety of jugs etc., photography was not allowed inside the museum, so Dorothy could not take pictures, but she was full of excitement and admiration for what she saw, and was very happy moving around the museum.

I loved the expressions on my daughter’s face, as she moved from one room to another, it was like reliving my childhood and this visit  also brought in beautiful memories of my past, I began to appreciate and felt so connected to the past. I recall my mom taking me to the museum with our cousins, and the most fascinating was to see was the clock, which was brought from England in those days by Salarjung III, it was a musical clock wherein a time keeper emerged every hour to ring the bell.

As a child I loved to watch that sight, and now seating arrangements have been made for people to sit and watch the time keeper. Another monument was the veiled Rebecca. The statue is made of marble, and the veil looks so real draped over her, it does not look like a marble. 

I took my niece Rachael along with us, and Dorothy insisted that she taste the Hyderabad’s Biryani.  Hyderabadi Biryani is a non-vegetarian dish and its main ingredients are meat, rice and spices. So we went to a popular place and enjoyed the meal.

After which, we went to beautiful monument, called the Chow-Mahalla Palace. Chow means four. And Mahal means Palace. Chow-Mahalla therefore means four palaces. This place has lovely architecture, beautiful courtyards and vintage cars; this place is very neatly kept, Dorothy was happy to take a few photographs. It was a refreshing experience for us, and I was happy to spend some time with Dorothy and Rachel.

“Monuments are the grappling-irons that bind one generation to another”. Joseph Joubert Quotes.

The whole day was meaningful  experience and I treasure the moments I spent with my daughter and niece, I am glad I visited this place, and am thankful to my daughter for motivating me, I felt a lot richer and happier in her company.

Be Happy!