.Techdots.

The reason I am writing this post is this. I got recruited into Oracle through my campus placements. And I got to know that I will be posted in hyderabad only a month back.  The offer letter said that I am supposed to report to Hitec city by June 29th 09. Naturally I was curious to know whats sooo HIGH-TECH about that place. So I Googled to find the wikipedia entry and a couple of blogs. But I wasnt happy with the info about the city. So I decided I’ll make a post containing more info about it after I reach. Here it comes , the complete guide to Hitec city…

HITEC stands for Hyderabad Information Technology Engineering Consultancy City. It is the technology hub of Hyderabad. Its about 15 - 20 kms from the main Hyderabad city.  You can find more about it in the wikipedia entry.

So if you are one of those who are lucky(?) enough to be posted at Hightec city , then this guide will be usefull to you.

Accomodation :

The main concern when you land up in an unknown city is finding a place to do what humans do for 1/3 of their lives, sleep. If you are looking for a place near Hightec city there are 2 choices you can consider.

1. Either stay in Madhapur which is closer to the Hyderabad city but has lesser number of flats available for rent

2. Look out for a rented flat in Kondapur which is farther from Hyderabad city but is a residential area and has better choice of rented flats available.

Hitec city residential areas

I would recommend you choose Kondapur because Madhapur comes in between Hitec city and Hyderabad main city. So the traffic near Madhapur is unmanageable during the peak hours. But Madhapur has its own advantages. It has its own HighTech Movie Theatre. Also many of the international brands like Levis,Woodland,Reebok Adidas,Dominoes, Baskin Robbins and a few good restaurants are close to Madhapur. Banjara hills is also closer to Madhapur than Kondapur and you can find some of the best restaurants in Banjara hills. Whereas Kondapur is preferable if you want to have a wide variety of residential flats for affordable prices. Cost of living is also higher in Madhapur than Kondapur

Whitefields near Kondapur is the closest residential area to the hightec city offices. There is a short route which takes you directly to Hitec city without even touching the main road. The prices of flats in whitefields are high compared to Kondapur. And most of the landlords refuse to give rooms to Bachelors

Shilpa park is a newly developed area where there are a few flats. Again the prices are slightly high compared to Kondapur and you have to come to Kondapur for the basic amenities.

Kondapur is the best place to reside in terms of cost and the facilites you get. There is a apsrtc bus stand in Kondapur and every 10 minutes, there are buses to Koti (No.127) and Secunderabad (10H). There is a Reliance fresh where you can get groceries and everyday use products. They do accept Sodexo coupons/cards instead of cash for food products which will help you increase your tax savings. There are a few small restaurants like Hot rottis,Occasions, drum sticks, Swagath De Royale closeby. You can also find few bars like Club 8, Rooftop garden in Kondapur. There are 2 wheeler service centers for Her Honda, Bajaj,TVS and Honda. Also Toyota has its showroom here. Kondapur also houses a few medical clinics, a lot of medical stores and a lot of general stores (called KIRANA stores). You can find a handful of Mobile phone recharge/accessory retail outlets.

Conveyance:

If you reside near Hitec and dont own a vehicle, then the best way to travel to office is by shared-auto rickshaws. During office hours, you can find a lot of auto-rickshaws plying to Cyber towers and charge less than 7 Rs. There are autos from both Kondapur and Madhapur.

Chill outs:

If you want to have some fun during weekends you could visit the Hussain Sagar lake ( 15kms) , Lumbini park (beside the lake), Prasadz IMAX theatre (close to the lake), Snow World ( 20 kms), Golconda fort ( 15 kms - towards Gachibowli) etc

• Hussain Sagar lake ( you could spend 2-3 hours) - Boating , visit to Buddha Statue.
• Lumbini Park (2-3 hours) - 3D Laser show at 7pm
• Prasadz IMAX - you can watch 3d Underwater movies. Also visit EatStreet on the necklace road nearby(1 km from Prasadz)
• Snow world - (5-6 hours) - Artifical snowfall , artificial rock climbing, the room with mirrors everywhere, a not-so-scary artificial dungeon etc.
• Golconda fort - (4-5 hours) - climb up the fort, watch the light and sound show about the history of Golconda kingdom.
• Charminar (never visited )

Weather

The weather right now is pretty good. It varies between 17 - 32 degree celsius between June to Dec. Nights are really cold during winter. The summer season is supposedly unbearable.  I havent personally experienced it, but people recommend me to buy atleast an air cooler if not a conditioner.

Cost of living

The cost of living in Kondapur isnt as over inflated as some of the areas in bangalore. The approximate rent of a 2 BHK unfurnished flat is around 10 K Rs. Although you could get small flats for 7-8 K. If you are lucky, you can get  3 BHK furnished for 15 K and sometimes a 5 BHK unfurnished flat for 20 K. Usually people catch hold of brokers who charge 50% of the first month rent as brokerage fees. You could also get cheap working-mens hostel, although I would not recommend anyone to go for it.

When you are considering a flat, enquire for the right split up of Maintenance charges , monthly rent, annual deposit, annual increment in the rent, agreement period ( usually 11 months), availability of separate electricity meter, generator backup etc. Demand for the immediate signing up of the rental agreement as a precaution.

In Kondapur , a standard North Indian Thali would cost anywhere between 45 Rs - 60 Rs. South Indian meal would cost you between 30-50 Rs. If you stay in Kondapur and are lazy to walk upto the restaurant, you could get a free home delivery from the restaurant called Occasions (Paite pooja ho jaye) if you order food stuff worth atleast 150 Rs (2 thalis + a lassi) by calling them on 040-65194444.