hyderabad is still trying to figure out if i’m a tourist or a ghost

i woke up to the kind of heat that makes your teeth ache. 30.97 degrees celsius outside, which is code for ‘this city is trying to murder my skin.’ i checked the weather app and it said something like ‘feels like a sauna,’ which is accurate because i’m 70% sure i saw a black blaze near the train tracks yesterday. wasn’t even hallucinating.

last night i ran a 5k but it felt like 20k. every step was a battle with the pavement. the air tasted like construction dust and regret. i passed a vendor selling ice cream cones but they were just melted plastic now. maybe they were sentient. maybe not. who knows. would’ve bought one if they weren’t shriveling at my feet.

the neighbors here are… complicated. there’s this trio of ducks down the street that seem to know my routine. they’ll quack when i pass and glare if i don’t have my headphones on. i swear they’re judging my life choices. or maybe they’re just really into yoga. either way, they’re not helping. if you get bored, [cities] are just a short drive away, though the nearest one feels like a mirage right now. it’s like hyderabad is stuck in a loop of ‘what even are we?’

i heard a rumor from a guy at the market today. he said the localinek Oficina coffee shop has a secret menu item called ‘the ghost brew.’ he said it’s just regular filter coffee but served in a cup shaped like a human skull. i didn’t believe him but now i’m questioning everything. maybe i’ll go there and pretend i need a psychic reading. or just a strong coffee. probably the latter.

street art here is wild. last night i saw a mural of a man riding a goat while holding a pack of cards. it looked like he was trying to bluff a poker game. someone told me that’s a local legend about a failed gambler. i asked an old man near the bus stop about it and he just ignored me. probably because he’s busy judging all of us for existing here.

i checked TripAdvisor and Yelp and holy moly, this city has opinions. one review said the mall’s escalator smells like old regret. another said the street food is so good it’ll make you question your life choices. i’m 80% sure the person who wrote that was high on mango lassi. mine was lukewarm and tasted like betrayal. but hey, at least the mosque on the corner has free parking. that’s something.

unexpectedly, i found a busker selling vintage vinyls under a bus. they were covered in stickers that said ‘don’t sell to kids’ and ‘i regret nothing.’ i bought one anyway. it was a beatles album. i’m not sure if that means anything. maybe i’m just a sucker for a good logo. or maybe i’m about to regret this like the goat guy.

i tried to take photos of the chaos but my phone died. had to borrow a stranger’s wifi to upload. the images are blurry but they capture the vibe. there’s one of a dog wearing sunglasses, another of a vendor crying over expired sausages, and a third of me trying to eat a taco in a supermarket. the dog is definitely the highlight.

underneath all this heat and chaos, there’s this weird peace. the city doesn’t care if you’re a marathon runner or a bored student. it just wants you to experience it. maybe that’s why i stayed this long. maybe i’m just here because the map said ‘adventure awaits’ and i trusted it.

follow me on instagram if you want to see more blurrystuff: @nomadalgorithm. or don’t. we’ve both made bad decisions today.