In the midst of north Indian winter, I was ready to go south and to the warmer weather that lower latitude provides, so I hopped on a train from Bhopal to Hyderabad, the capital of the state of Andre Pradesh. This started a three city swing through the old capitals of the Muslim sultanates that held power in this region from the 14th century on. Hyderabad, in addition to a smattering of architectural remains in the form of Muslim forts, tombs, and mosques, is now on the map as one of the outsourcing capitals of India, home to numerous call centers, consulting, and tech firms with a growing middle and upper class. I had been to Hyderabad briefly on my first trip to India so I was using the city more as a transportation hub to get to the provincial backwater city of Bidar than to see the sites again. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the city and stayed a day longer than I had thought, wondering the photogenic markets of the old city, enjoying the serenity of the tombs and their surrounding gardens, as well as dining on the famed Hyderabadi chicken biryani.
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