Namaste. My name is Vishnu and I was born in a place called Hyderabad also known as a Pearl city as it is famous for its pearls. It is located in Southern India. I grew up there for the most of my life and it’s a beautiful city. I would suggest anyone who get a chance to definitely visit it. You will find a beautiful Buddha statue floating on a lake which was inspired by the Statue of Liberty, the hi-tech city, the place where usually most of your tech support is based out of, the charminar which was build more than 400 years ago to commemorate the city and the surroundings of charminar and an old city part which is shopping heaven for cheap Indian jewellery. Also there you will find the hyderabadi biryani which is a very famous rice dish cooked with meat. You must try this if you visit Hyderabad.

I haven’t really travelled much in India which is a shame but I heard about lots of good places like Dharmsala, Rishikesh, Rajasthan, Kerala and others from fellow travelers. These places are a must if you plan to visit India. Although my favorite place in India is the highway from Chennai to Pondicherry in the state of Tamilnadu. I still remember the day I took a bus on this road and it was amazing to see the endless ocean right next to the road. It’s my dream to drive a bike on this road.

Since I like traveling I have a long list of dream destinations like any other traveler. I want to see the Sistine Chapel in Vatican, coliseum in Rome, pyramids in Egypt, Acropolis in Greece, the Great Wall of China and many other things in many other countries. But if I have to pick my ultimate dream destination it’s a tie between Alaska in US and Kashmir and Himalayas in India. If it was my way I would spend a year in both these places and experience all the four seasons there!

Since we are a country of more than 1 billion people a number of stereotypes exist. Starting with food, people who think chicken tikka masala is the best indian food should try the traditional Indian food as tikka masala was invented to please the British and is not really traditional. Rajesh Khootrapally from the Big Bang theory is a character just like Sheldon Cooper and doesn’t really exist or at least I haven’t come across one. Bollywood movies are just movies and we don’t go dancing around or singing for anything and everything. I am pretty sure 70% of Indians don’t do any Bollywood dance. And finally Slum dog Millionaire is just one side of the India. There is another side of India which is beautiful, rich in culture, history and pretty westernized and very safe to travel around with proper precautions.