Nizam College Grounds

A vast expanse of ground with enough room for everything, including the kitchen sink, faucets and even some dirty dishes, the Nizam College Grounds are used regularly by organisers of annual fairs and exhibitions, and do consistently well. The much-loved Inside Outside exhibition is held here in September every year, when throngs of determined wives and their reluctantly interested husbands go shopping-mad for their homes. You'll usually find a deal here that's not too spectacular, but good enough to give you a bargain buzz.

The Hyderabad Book Fair in December is also an annual event here, with bookstores from all over this city and others participating. With killer mirchi bajji stalls. Other annual events include the Sangeet Samaroh by Pandit Jasraj where fans turn up in droves. A hugely successful one-time event was the Asian Social Forum, where fanatics turned up in, well, droves. Where Arundhati Roy slunk around trying to look inconspicuous, where the sickle burned bright-red.

And where there were killer mirchi bajjis to chomp on under the smoggy blanket of stars. The Grounds had never looked so romantic.