Hyderabad - Bangalore - Is all the same?

People had told me that Hyderabad was a great place to see now. They said it had lot of fly-overs and wide roads and comfortable traffic. I asked them, can I take my son and wife to see the place. They said.. you must take them. I had the opportunity last week, and I went there with my son and wife. 

By the way, my son is One year and two months old now. He loves parks and watches curiously birds in the parks. He chases dogs and plays with kids in the park. If someone in the family doesnt take him out on a given day, he feels irritated and keeps pointing to the gate. And I thought, I can show him Hyderabad. So, off we went. And Hyderabad had everything, except trees. Hi-Tech city has beautiful buildings, but no trees, only rocky land. I visited Indian School of Business. Lush Green lawns and a bit of greenery inside, 100 yeards off the place.. nothing but rocky land. And when I asked why this was so, they said, we have no water to plant trees. And how would you get water if you didnt plant trees?

Bangalore had 200 lakes, I am told. Now hardly 10 remain. They dont have water and hence dont have trees at Hyderabad. We have lakes, but still we dont have the willingness to grow trees. Are we not being stupid? Everyone at Hyderabad said "You are from Banaglore! Wow! Its a nice place, cool and green!" Believe me that we their response. And we are making this city bare and naked in the name of modernization.

Know what my son loved there? The Nehru Zoological Park. We had planned to spend only a couple of hours there, but ended up spending the whole day under the shade of trees, while my son watched the lions and tigers, the birds and the monkeys in cages and was learning to imitate their sounds. His enthusiasm was at peak during that time. He didnt cry or even fuss about for anything. We had been to all other places like Golkonda, Salarjung Meuseum and Chilkur Balaji Temple, Lumbini Gardens and the like, but my sons response was the greatest when we were roaming around in fresh air under the trees.

He used to get irritated because of the hot weather in all places. He used to be ok for some time and then start cribbing for water or fussing around for something to eat and he never let us watch anything for a long time. But, in the zoo park, he was his own self. The very enthusiastic, curious, naughty and smiling young kid that he is. When we wanted to move away from a cage, he never let us move unless he had completely satisfied his curiosity. How much should he have longed for the fresh air of the park. And I know that all kids are like this. They love nature. They love fresh air. And what are we doing? Cutting down trees and destroying parks for widening roads!

If kids love nature, Bangalore Kids must love them the most. But, unfortunately we are taking what they love the most from them. I have seen parents coming to malls with babies and kids spending time in malls. What nonsense? Malls today aspire to be destinations of entertainment and have special kid zones. Parents leave the kids there while they do some shopping, and the kid gets to play in an Air-Conditioned environment. What a pity? In Bangalore, do you need an artificial air-conditioned environment for your kid? We have the ability to make our kids more happier in greener environments and all that we think of today is aritificially created "clean" environment. And we clear parks for creating Malls. I dont think we are going any closer to being modern.

Well thats about the size of my agony. Got anything to say about it? Post your comments and I would respond.