Beautiful sunset at Jubilee hills, Hyderabad on a cloudy evening

Jubilee Hills area is a beautiful residential area in Hyderabad. It has posh independent houses, very little commercial activity and lush greenery. Mornings and evenings are quite pleasant. In summers too, the temperature is 3-4 degrees lower in Jubilee Hills than other parts of Hyderabad. On a cloudy and rainy day, I had a pleasure of enjoying the lovely and beautiful sunset, as viewed from the terrace. You could see the rays reflect off the water from the scenic durgam cheruvu lake. I am uploading some of those pictures for all of you to enjoy the scenery.

Pollution in Durgam Cheruvu lake at Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad

Durgam Cheruvu is a beautiful lake located in the Jubilee Hills area of Hyderabad. "Durgam" means secret and "cheruvu" means lake. Rocky hills covered with trees surround this lake from all around, so the lake is hidden from our sight till we actually reach very close to it. (See the picture on the left) This fact justifies its name. It is an ideal location to spend an evening with your family or friends. Good for morning or evening walks. One can do boating in the lake. There are restaurants too located inside it. There is a place for organizing parties and other functions too.

During one of my recent visits to the lake, I saw multiple fish lying on the banks of the lake. Out of curiosity when I went nearer, I was shocked to see that they were dead. (See the picture on the right) There were hundreds of them all around the lake. When one looks into the water too, it looks dirty. There are several software companies located in the vicinity of the lake. Several houses too have come up around it. They could be the source of pollution. There is an urgent need to check the pollution and preserve the lake with all the species that live in it!

Saraswati temple- the only one in India

There is a small town on the banks of Godavari, about 35 km from Nizamabad, and 180 km from Hyderabad, call Basra. It is famous for Saraswati temple (pic below). The idol is kept in the open and river Godavari flows behind this. All in all, a unique experience. One could take a holy dip in Godavari, offer prayers to Saraswati Goddess. From Hyderabad, it takes less than 4 hours to reach. So, one could reach back Hyderabad by 6 Pm, adfter leaving at 7 am. Though there are small eateries located there, it is advisable to take food with u.

Finally, Indian cricket team gave something to cheer

Last night, Indian team fought, and fought hard to defeat South Africa in the Pro 20 match. That it was their first ever official 20-20 match, the achievement was more creditable. Again, it was another newcomer in the team, Dinesh Kaarthik, wicket-keeper batsman, who stole the limelight. He was brilliant in the field earlier on and while batting, he displayed immense common sense that even the Indian team seniors seem to be lacking these days. One can only hope for some better performance in the last one day match to be played tomorrow.
Cheers!

Indian Cricket team: Do they need to be criticised?

After the heavy drubbing at Durban, the entire country is criticising the Indian cricketers and the coach. I agree that they need to be criticised, however, the degree and the manner in which it is done seems unfair. In a game, both victory and loss must occur as both the teams cannot win. We all know that Indian team at present is not among the best of the teams. We also know that this team rarely does well on foreign trips, especially on bouncy and pacy tracks. Therefore, despite our passion for the game of cricket, this team will not win more than 40-50% of their matches. However, bad losses like this should be used as an opportunity to impress on the BCCI officials to improve the infrastructure of the game. International players need to play domestic matches too. Younger kids need to be nurtured. Selectors also should be broad-visioned and balanced in their approach. If a certain player like Suresh Raina is not ready to play at this level yet, he should be sent back to play Ranji and Duleep trophy matches and perhaps Ganguly and Laxman given another chance.