With Friends:

- Movies: My first choice was always Prasadz or Hyderabad Central if you have the ticket - or are willing to put up with the traffic and the parking and the queues :D - No - its fun - trust me! Otherwise go get the tickets in black in one of the shady halls ;) Sterling has sofas btw!

- Coffee places with hookah - Oh its so much fun. Almost all Coffee Days, Mochas have hookahs. Time for high coffee ;)

- Long drives - Get your favorite CDs along! You can drive down to SaiSalem, Nagarjuna Saagar or even Goa :) - Depending on how long you wanna go - around Gachibowli stadium is good too.

- Eat Street - full of people, nice and loud, varieties of clumsy food, open seating (or standing .. haha). If you don't want to drive, take the metro, it stops right in front of the eat street. I wudn't miss Minnerva's tea and Mirchi Bhajji in this place.

- Durgam Cheruvu - Ideal place to enjoy the breeze in Hi-tech city. This place sometimes has boating, parties, discos and concerts

- Runway 9 and Dhola-ri-Dhaani

Fooding in Hyderabad depends on time - time of the day and how much time you have. Here are the places I really enjoyed:

- Chutneys: If you are in the mood for a healthy meal :) Most people who have been to this place will recommend this as THE BEST SOUTH INDIAN FOOD ever :) - You must try out the Steam Dosa - its copyright Chutneys.

- Ohri's Chaat: If you are in the mood of chaat - you must try their RajBhog!!

- Tewari's: If you are around TankBund early morning on a Saturday, you should try their Kachaudi. The kachaudi itself is not that great - but its served right out of the kadhai - and gives you a taste of north india

- Bombay Vihaar: When you are really hungry - and want good home cooked kinda food - but in a respectable environment! Their Gujju Thali is for you.

-Tea and coffee: My favorite coffee place was LeCafe (Right Opposite Barista on Road#1) - its open till 11, is not crowded, has open seating and they serve some nice yummy cakes and such. Tea: Once you go to Finjaan for tea, you can brag about gourmet tea ;) Its awesome.

-Roadside stuff: If you can gear up against the hygiene, you must try Mirchi Bhajji on most roadside Thelas. Also, there is coconut water every couple of blocks. If you are around Tankbund, you can try some hot corn as well.

Have you ever tried dating yourself??? It may be worth it :)

There are lots of things that one can enjoy alone. Here are some of the things that I have tried:

• Spending some time at Odyssey, the leisure store: I often go to this store. The store plays nice soft music, has got a decent collection of books and the staff is really sweet. They get you a chair wherever you are inside the store to make you feel comfortable. They also give a 10% discount if you smile at the counter ;). You can take your own sweet time before you decide to buy a book (if at all you do). There is a nice coffee shop right outside the store. So this turns out to be a good one-stop place for a 3-4 hour single date :)
• Walks at Shilparamam/ KBR park: I can feel my skin breathe and my mind really relaxes once I am back from these places after nice long solitary walks.
• Window shopping: I say window shopping and not shopping because when you are with some one you are under the pressure of not displeasing the person with you ;) When you want to just "check-out" stuff in the stores, go on a single date :)
• Coffee, book and you: Not coffee joints like Barista and Coffee Day. Go to nice and calm places like Finjaan (http://www.finjaan.com/) and Le Cafe(below Fusion9)
• Nothing works like Massage: My favorite was "Add-life" Kerala/ Ayurveda massage. Especially after reading Times of India on a lazy Sunday morning

A lot of corporate big shots emphasize on diversity - and for a good reason. Diversity is an easy means to getting a bigger perspective of life - and in all spheres.

Here are some of the things I did that added to my share of fun in life.

Profession - Having friends from different walks of life can get really refreshing. There is no dearth of people from backgrounds different from yours - one just has to reach out.

Age - Last week I went to movie "Ice Age" with a five year old. A week before that I had gone to movie with a friend's mom! Its different and its fun :) I am sure the makers of the movie had not expected that it would be perceived as scary and sad by a 5 year old :)

Gender - Your friend circle should be a healthy mix of men and women. Plain and simple - there are things that one enjoys with women and things one enjoys with men! Try both!

Religion/ Caste/ Region - If not anything else, you stand a chance of being invited for a home cooked meal at your Gujarati friend's house ;) Don't forget to reciprocate the favor :)

Here's an additional tip- Doing an activity together can prove to be a binding factor when it comes to socialising. Activity not only adds fun to socializing, it also makes it sustainable :)