The Telangana march robbed citizens of a Sunday, usually spent going to a restaurant, movie or for a drive. People chose to stay indoors, resentful about having lost their day of leisure. “The best picnic spots in the city are Tank Bund, Necklace Road, NTR Marg and Lumbini Park,” said Gajender Lal Gupta, a resident of Srinagar Colony, which were chock-a-block with T activists and police and too volatile an atmosphere for a family outing. “All TV channels were showing how tense the situation was. The picnic spots should be excluded from the list of agitation venues,” he added.
Sunday restaurant goers, who had stayed away from meat during the Ganesh festival, felt deprived of a chance to eat a hearty meal outside while restaurants that are usually bustling on week-ends, such as Persis or Paradise, pizza and coffee outlets, went empty. Multiplexes, malls, commercial establishments, shopping complexes and Udipi restaurants remained closed. The few that opened their doors to customers in the morning downed their shutters.
‘Jai Telangana’ echoes in city
The city echoed with loud slogans of “Jai Telangana” on Sunday as students, teachers, government employees and activists of various peoples’ organisations proceeded towards Necklace Road, the venue of the Telangana march, in large numbers braving the heavy police bandobust right from morning. Though the T-march was scheduled for the evening, people started going towards the venue before 10 am.