After nearly three months of rigorous assignments and assessments the much awaited and well deserved vacation had finally arrived and it was time for the education vacation, our trip to the City of pearls, Hyderabad.
This trip planned out by DOT School of Design for the foundation course batch, was a 4 day long trip aimed at providing design exposure, travel experience and a lot of fun and frolic at the amazing city of Hyderabad, which has a rich history and is the seat of modern industrial development too.
In the evening of 15 December our squad bid farewell to their families and boarded the train to start the 12 hour long journey to Hyderabad. With nearly 60 students and 6 faculty members, almost 2 coaches were occupied by us. This was the first time that the whole batch got to spend time together. We played a lot of games, sang songs, chatted and laughed together.
The next day we arrived at our destination and were taken to our dormitory. After some refreshment and breakfast we set out for the famous Ramoji Film City.
Ramoji Film City is a huge establishment spread over almost 2000 acres of land founded by the famous tycoon of the Indian film industry, Ramoji Rao.
The campus includes a theme park and many studios and sets used in movies like Baahubali 2, Dilwale (2015), Drishyam 2 (2022), etc.
We attended many shows performed in the campus which include:
- Neon light show: Artists dressed in fluorescent costumes performed a musical skit on different genres of films.
- Space Yatra: An sensory graphic animation about a journey in outer space.
- Lights,Camera, Action: An interactive and demonstrative session which was a walk through of the whole process of filmmaking like, camera, graphics, costume, lighting, sound, acting and editing.
Volunteers from the audience were asked to carry out the whole process, which made it more fun.
- Filmy Duniya: A ride on wheels through a tunnel which took us through the journey of the Indian film industry across different genres over the past decades.
- Finally there was a dance performance with songs from Bollywood with amazing choreography and direction and with fascinating props and lighting.
Then we all had the most thrilling experience of all, more of a fan moment, as we entered the royal sets of Baahubali 2. We had great fun in relating the backgrounds to the corresponding scenes in the movie.
Fortunately in the evening that day, we could attend the amazing Winter Carnival 2022 at Ramoji film city. What a beautiful note to end the day with.The programme was a good chance to unleash our party beasts and everyone enjoyed getting on the dance floor. The programme also displayed the signature procession of Ramoji film city which was majestic to watch.
All through the day we experienced the deceptive yet pleasant weather of Hyderabad. The sunny afternoons and chilly nights were sure to be a confusing routine for the body but after walking around in the sun all day the cool nights felt very rewarding.
17.12.22
The second day of this trip was dedicated to touring the old town in Hyderabad. A part of Hyderabad now called the ‘Old Town’ consists of buildings, streets and bazaars which have been preserved with the original architecture designed during the reign of Muhamad Quli Qutb Shah many centuries ago.
It was interesting to know the histories and politics behind the monuments and architecture. Mr. Yunus Lasania was our tour guide for the day. He and his fellow mates walked us through the Old Town and revealed many interesting facts about the Golconda Sultanate that ruled at the period of construction of this part of the city.
The important highlights of the Old Town that we visited were the Badshahi Ashoor Khana, the Chowmahalla Palace and the famous icon of Hyderabad, The Charminar. The royal interiors of the Chowmahalla palace made us feel pride that might have run through the then ruling dynasty.We climbed a narrow staircase to reach the view point at the top of the Charminar. The view of the Old Town from the towers of Charminar was splendid and worth a great selfie.
Later in the day we visited the famous Salar Jung museum located in Darulshifa, Hyderabad. On entering the massive huge premises, we realized that passionate artists like us would need more than a few hours to enjoy this museum. The museum houses over 46,000 Art objects, over 8,000 Manuscripts and over 60,000 Printed books, their ages ranging from 2nd century BC to early 20th century. The collector of these relics is Nawab Mir Yousuf Ali Khan Salar Jung III, THE FORMER Prime Minister of the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad. The thought that behind the collection of this massive building full of relics from across the globe, is just a single man, was breathtaking. We could strongly sense the passion and dedication that he had to create this massive collection.
After the museum visit we all found some time to do some fancy shopping in the bazaars of the Old Town, again a great note to end this day with!
18.12.22
A tour of the Old Town let us sneak a peek into the history. But now it was time to explore the future of the modern era lifestyle with IKEA, Hyderabad! Our visit to IKEA let us explore various products used to furnish modern day houses. The demo interiors displayed in the showroom gave us useful insights about interior designing. The functioning of the whole store was observed to be very well taken care of. Boards and maps shared with the customers at regular intervals throughout the store kept us from getting lost in the building. Facilities and infrastructure were observed to meet international standards and facilitated a pleasant and satisfying shopping experience. The store sells a lot of innovative products to enhance the lifestyle of people. We drew a lot of inspiration from the product designs which will definitely be useful in our future.
The visit to IKEA gave us an idea of the real world market and the ways of various manufacturing industries.
Later that day we visited the ‘Crafts Mela’ at Shilparamam, a famous tourist attraction. Shilparamam serves as a platform for craftsmen from all over India to display and sell their craft works.It was a good opportunity for us to appreciate Desi crafted products. After a good amount of shopping there we called it a day.
19.12.22
The next morning the faculties were unusually in a hurry to get us aboard. They hurried us saying we had to cover a number of design studios that day and couldn’t afford to get delayed’. Little did we, students, know that we were on our way to watch the latest movie ‘AVATAR 2’ in a luxurious theater! What a fantastic surprise!! Our hearts were just filled with joy and love for our Awesomely Rocking faculty members.
After three hours of popcorn and movie we all gathered at a restaurant for lunch. This time, little did the faculties know that we also had a sweet little surprise planned for them. We students made a memorable ‘toast’ about the trip and our experience on board and gave them a treat with a round of dessert.
We know every experience has to come to an end sometime. This was the end of our trip but the memories and moments shared amongst ourselves will remain evergreen.
Returning home was hard after all the fun we had, but we all were happy to look forward to yet another thrilling experience in the days to come.
-Madhumathi. S
(Communication Design)
