NTR Gardens' opening set for Sankaranti

By K.V.S. Madhav

HYDERABAD, DEC. 26. The place would stand out for its sheer contrast. Like the man in whose memory it is being constructed. It has all the trappings of extravagance and lavishness, even bordering on garishness at places, like the film world which made him the most popular Telugu actor ever.

NTR Gardens is the place and will be thrown open for the general public by January, 2001, on the occasion of `Sankranthi', the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority officials, the nodal agency for the prestigious project coming up around the burial site of the founder of the Telugu Desam Party, N.T. Rama Rao, affirm.

Coming up on a sprawling 55 acre site at a cost of Rs. 27 crores, the place would be yet another addition to the string of recreation centres coming up along the banks of Hussainsagar lake. ``More importantly, the gardens are bound to emerge as a significant stop on the Hyderabad tourist map,'' officials say.

Designed by famed art director, Mr. Nitish Roy, the place is a combination of some enchanting designs - as in those arches and nicely carved paths - and the fanciful. Almost every conceivable fruit in this part of the world finds a concrete form - one has to look at the pineapple shaped restaurant to believe it. Then there are those insects, huge concrete versions of the original tiny ones bound to amuse the visitors.

There are `car cafes', ``mobile six-seater cafes to be more precise,'' wherein people can enjoy a cup of coffee driving through the length and breadth of the gardens. Mini trains would also chug along the place. But, the cynosure of all eyes is bound to be the ``Machan restaurant'', a multi storeyed restaurant set on a tree! While huge concrete planks double up as the trunk, the branches are carved out of fibre glass and coloured grasshopper green! Inspiration has also come from the Far East too as a section of the gardens is designed in the Japanese style and one is sure to walk into the `Land of the Rising Sun'.

The complex would also house a souvenir shop not to forget sprawling lawns, ``the stretch of silver oak trees transferred from their original location along the Secretariat road owing to road widening and re-planted in the gardens are another attraction,'' HUDA officials say. But, the biggest gain to the Hyderabadis would be the parking lot spread over an acre of land in the gardens. Remember the choked Buddha Purnima and Necklace Road stretches on holidays?

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