Hyderabad

MOPO-am-Sonntag reporter Philipp Dudek worked for an Indian newspaper for four weeks. more ...

Don’t look too closely: The little cup is almost always very old, has at least one crack, and might even be a little dirty. It always stands in its saucer in a little puddle of chai. The cup and saucer never match. Yet drinking chai in Hyderabad is a great experience, especially if you’ve pounded your fist in your open hand three times, calling loudly “Strong! Strong! Strong!” to signal to the waiter that you want some tea in that milk. more ...

A hill is burning on the outskirts of Hyderabad. It is 50 metres high and weighs 10 million tonnes. Thick, grey wads of smoke waft into the valley. They crawl through the public housing quarters that were built at the foot of the hill and pollute the air in the old villages around it. more ...

Afterwards, I had to decide whether I should just throw my t-shirt into the bin or rather take it home as a souvenir. In the end, Holi, the festival of colour, did turn into a party – at least a children’s party. more ...

A legend occupies a glass box at the end of the office corridor. Subhani is the cartoonist of the Deccan Chronicle in Hyderabad and has fans in all of southern India. Every day, the 40-year old comments on current political events on the first page. more ...

Hyderabad plans to install 220 new traffic lights. The city will spend the equivalent of approximately 10 million euros for the project. With LED lights, red and green light countdown, remote controlled, the modern lights will be set up within the next twelve months in Hyderabad and bring at least a little order to the chaos. more ...

Recently, I was awoken in the night by a bird. At least the noise sounded like the mating cry of a rare Asian bird. “Ooo-hark, ooo-hark, ooo-hark,” then a pause, “ooo-hark, ooo-hark, ooo-hark,” and another pause. It lasted about two minutes and then the mating was over. That’s what I thought. more ...

Treasure hunters in Hyderabad are going to school. For two days, they have dug up sections of the athletic field at Vidyaranya High School with excavators. Now, they are standing on a small hill upon which the Birla Temple is enthroned above the school with electronic measurement equipment, driving metal rods into the earth and calling out numbers to one another. Reporters in Hyderabad are also going to school. For the fourth day in a row they are standing on the little athletic field at the foot of the hill directing their cameras at the treasure hunters. The only people one does not see at school are the pupils. They have a holiday, although their final exams are coming up in a few days. At present, other things are more important: jewels and gemstones. more ...