Hyderabad Central

It is impossible to live in Hyderabad and not be awed, stunned or at the very least thoroughly inconvenienced by Hyderabad Central. While on one hand the monolith is guilty of hugely increasing the traffic congestion in an already-cramped-for-space Panjagutta, this giant red tinbox also offers well-heeled shopping addicts an exhilarating experience - the whole nine yards in variety. In plainspeak, if you haven't been to Central yet, it's high time you plunged into the deep end of this ocean.

Central is tough to describe because once you enter, the overwhelming feeling of wide-gaped awe never leaves you. Here the lesser mortals of the city gather to see the local glitterati shop for their usual Guccis and Armanis. While the ground floor is bursting with eateries waiting to be sampled, roti and kapda change their connotations ever so slightly at its high-end grocery shop Food Bazaar. But if the prices here don't make you sweat, go right ahead and pick up all your household needs in this snazzy take on a kirana shop.

In what they clearly think is a clever line, the folks at Hyderabad Central invite you to "shop if you're not eating" and "eat if you're not shopping". Let's tackle the first and primary concern - shopping.

If you're a compulsive shopper and have the mammon to back up your expensive hobby, there's no better place than Central. These five floors of brands, offers and sales will wrench the miser out of you and let you make up for all the shopping sins you did not commit. From jewelry to handbags to watches to footwear, from Lee to Levi's to Provogue to Tuscan Verve, all manner of brands reside on these gleaming floors. Plain blue Jeans straddle the shelves while silken sherwanis stand tall on mannequins. Any item of clothing you could possibly imagine is here, and hot off the branding iron.

The 5th floor houses a franchise of Ohri's called Fuel Station. This outlet isn't as good as the others in the city, though it does have a few shockers on the menu such as the traditional idli and dosa. Luggage, home furnishings and infant needs compete for attention with the inconspicuous gaming section and a cramped outlet of Odyssey.

There is, as we write this, an ambitious PVR multiplex that seems to have run up a blind alley with the cops. Something to do with the fact that we do not have space for 5 movie theaters at Panjagutta X Roads. Or for one extra cat.

Still, Central is to shopping as Prasad's Multiplex is to movies - the undisputed champion of style and substance.