Wildlife, Poverty and Occasional Chaos in Hyderabad
Brian McMahon | August 17, 2009
Brian McMahon is spending nine weeks in Hyderabad, India. Here, he poses for a picture after a visit to a local temple.
First Impressions – July 2009
After a quarter of preparing and about 32 hours of travel time, I have finally found myself in the City of Hyderabad in India. I am spending nine weeks here living at the University of Hyderabad and working on a data streaming system for a tsunami early-warning system. I’m here with two other PRIME students, Matt Mui and Dee Chen, who are working together on another project involving protein bonding inhibitors. We’re all living in one of the university’s international student hostels (the Indian term for what we would call a dorm) with other students from around the world who are visiting the university.
A view of the Charminar, a prominent monument in Hyderabad.
My first impression of India (other than the fact that it’s really hot) came from the first thing that I got to see: the university campus. It is distinctly different from UC San Diego, in a way best described as being untamed in comparison to the campus back home. The school is large, with lots of open space filled with trees, fields and rock formations. There aren’t many large buildings, but instead lots of spread-out small structures with the “rough around the edges” look that shows they were largely built by hand.
Another aspect of the school that gives it its character is the amazing wildlife. Where back home we get little more than the occasional ill-tempered blackbird, the University of Hyderabad has an incredible assortment of water buffalo, peacocks, lizards, monkeys, cows and massive bats. It’s incredible to be riding my bike to go work on coding and have to dodge through a herd of the many buffalo that roam the campus on the way. Almost every day, I discover some new creature that again reminds me of the wild nature of this place.
A fishing boat rests in the waters of Baga Beach in Goa.
The untamed nature of Hyderabad only increases when you leave the university grounds. We are situated on the edge of an urban jungle—one of the most hectic, confusing places I have ever seen. Generally, the first thing you notice when entering the city is the very distinct impression that one is almost certainly about to be killed by a bus. The concept of traffic laws is not something that is a concern here in Hyderabad, as what we would consider a three-lane street is populated by something like 15 effective lanes, weaving in and out of each other. Motorcycles or scooters (and no helmets) are the apparent vehicles of choice. The honking of horns is the sound of the city, and little things like stop lights, the direction of traffic and the laws of physics are largely ignored.
Life here is a very interesting change of pace from the timid, sterile streets of San Diego. Not everything is easy, the power isn’t always working and the showers aren’t always hot, but it wouldn’t be an adventure without a little bit of a challenge. So I gladly abandon the comforts of home for a while to discover India.
Getting to Know India – August 2009
A view of the Golconda Fort in Hyderabad.
After spending six weeks here India, I have settled into life in the Tagore International Hostel at the University of Hyderabad. The dusty streets I ride my bike to work on every day have become familiar, and hailing a rickshaw (and subsequently battling over how much I am going to be overcharged) has become second nature. I made many new friends here, mostly other traveling Americans and Scandinavians, and have seen the campus come to life as the Indian fall semester started. I have come to find my day-to-day life here very easy and enjoyable; mostly thanks to the excellent treatment I have received as a guest of the university.
Even still there are some challenges to be faced. My internship has been a source of a lot of difficulty, mostly due to issues with the transfer of information. Coordinating with people at the INCOIS research facility in Hyderabad and with those I am working with at the university here has proved very time consuming. The bottlenecks I have run into seem to be never ending, and progress has been slow.
Hyderabad's street markets, as seen from the top of the Charminar.
I have also come face to face with the widespread poverty of India, and have been surprised to find that it even extends onto campus. Just next to our hostel, one of the nicest accommodations on campus, they are little shanty towns where the construction workers building an adjacent residence hall live. I have also found out that friendly waiters who serve us our food everyday actually sleep on the floor in the kitchen, and essentially make their home there. Though these unfortunate situations can be difficult to see, they are an inescapable reality of India, and make me thankful for what I have here and at home.
A monkey at rest.
These challenges are worth noting, but they are by far overshadowed by my enjoyment of life here. I have been able to travel to Mumbai, and have just spent this weekend in the beautiful tropical town of Goa (I am writing this while waiting for my flight back to Hyderabad). Though short, these excursions have been amazing. In Mumbai, I traveled to a nearby island to tour ancient cave temples and be amused by the antics of monkeys. In Goa, I got to rent a motorscooter and explore up and down the coast, visiting some of the city’s famous beaches. I only wish that I could have even more time to explore this country, but I hope to make at least one more journey (to Delhi and the Taj Mahal) before I part ways with India.
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