Want to enjoy Hyderabadi biryani at midnight, come to Somajiguda. If you are game for an idli at 2 a.m., drive to Madhapur and stop by roadside trucks-turned-hotels serving all types of south Indian snacks. Those wanting to sip Irani tea at 3 a.m., head towards Charminar. Even piping hot bone soup is readily available there at 4 a.m.
If this and a few pubs serving liquor with rocking music beyond midnight albeit surreptitiously is night life, a few parts of Hyderabad are full of it. But, for many Hyderabadis and scores of visitors coming here from other parts of India or abroad , most parts of this 400-year-old city begins to shut down after 10 p.m.
By the stroke of midnight, 90 per cent of the city slips into sleep barring a miniscule section of bars and restaurants attached to star hotels and those operated clandestinely with ‘unofficial’ support from the local police. The Secunderabad railway station, Charminar and Hi-tec city surroundings in Madhapur are the only bustling places after midnight. They too are shut by 2 a.m.
“That doesn’t mean people are averse to a night life here. We want to party and shop late in the night but the options are limited,” shrugs 23-year-old Akki, into his first job. He and his friends believe Hyderabad has the potential to have a night life but the administration didn’t want to give it a fillip .
Packed hotel lobbies for midnight buffets, thousands of employees returning homes in late hours and scores dying to find an eatery for even a cup of hot coffee or quick bite is a clear indication of the need. “What is wrong if shops like KFC or malls are allowed to open after midnight when bars and restaurants attached to big star hotels continue to serve their customers all through the night?” wonders Raji, a young techie.
The police, in fact, had all these years been putting their foot down on any move encouraging a night life. They never went on record about what holds them back but privately confide that even a small clash or a drunken brawl at night - especially in communally sensitive areas - would disturb the city’s peaceful atmosphere.
That is changing now with Hyderabad Police Commissioner M. Mahender Reddy’s new initiative of not enforcing closure of eateries at nights. Earlier, siren blowing police patrol vehicles would start moving at 10.30 p.m. and not leave until all the shutters on the main roads were downed.
A Night bazaar with the theme of round-the-clock shopping was opened at Shilparamam, the crafts village, at Madhapur a year ago. After flourishing for a few weeks, it slowly lost its charm. Even the late night services by the RTC introduced after a clamour saw poor patronage.
