So you've moved to Hyderabad, or you're about to. Welcome! You've picked a city with legendary biryani, great Irani chai, and some of the friendliest people you'll meet anywhere.
This guide covers the everyday things nobody tells you before you land in Hyderabad - getting around, eating out, working in an Indian office, getting along with your neighbours, and the festivals you'll see through the year. We've also added a few Telugu phrases to most sections, because a couple of words in the local language make daily life here a lot smoother, and a lot more fun.
Hyderabad at a Glance
The many sides of Hyderabad:
Hyderabad is the capital of Telangana. You'll hear a few names for different parts of it: the Old City around Charminar, Secunderabad (the twin city across Hussain Sagar lake) and the tech hub around HITEC City, sometimes called Cyberabad.
The weather:
Hyderabad sits about 540 metres above sea level. Summer (March to May) gets properly hot, with temperatures often touching 40°C, the monsoon brings heavy showers from around June, and winter mornings (November to February) are pleasantly cool. One tip: always carry an umbrella in the monsoon season, and plenty of water in summer.
The city:
You probably know Hyderabad as a tech and pharma hub, but there's a lot more to it. It's an old city, founded in 1591, with Charminar, Golconda Fort, pearl and bangle markets, and of course biryani. Telugu and Urdu cultures have mixed here for centuries, which gives the city its own distinct flavour. And it's the capital of a state with its own language, food and culture that locals are very proud of.
What Languages Are Spoken in Hyderabad?
Hyderabad is one of the most multilingual cities in India. Telugu is the primary local language, and you'll also hear plenty of Urdu and Hindi - which has its own local version in the city called Dakkhini, along with English being officially used everywhere.
English will get you through most of your office work. Telugu is what gets you the smile, the fair auto fare and the extra pickle.
Getting Around Hyderabad
Autos:
Auto rickshaws are the city's go-to ride for short trips. You can book one on an app like Uber, Ola, Rapido or flag one down on the street. If you flag one down, tell the driver where you're going first, then ask him to put the meter on. Most drivers are friendly and helpful, and things go a lot more smoothly when you can say a few words in Telugu.
A little tip: start with Anna (brother) when talking to any driver. "Anna, Gachibowli ki vastārā?" sounds friendly, polite and very local.
Hyderabad Metro:
The metro is clean, cheap and the best way to skip the traffic along the routes it covers. If your home and office are both near a station, you've won the Hyderabad lottery.
Buses:
TGSRTC buses go almost everywhere in the city and cost very little. They take a bit of getting used to, since many of the route boards are in Telugu.
Cabs and bike taxis:
These work through the usual ride apps like Uber, Ola and Rapido. You'll share an OTP with the driver at pickup, so it helps to know how to say the numbers.
The traffic:
Yes, it's as famous as you've heard. Plan around peak office hours in the morning and evening where you can, and take any "I'll be there in five minutes" with a pinch of salt - including your own.
Telugu for autos, cabs and public transport commutes:
- [Location] ki vastārā? - Will you come to [location]?
- Meter vēyanḍi - Please put the meter on
- Enta avutundi? - How much will it cost?
- Left tīsukōnḍi / Right tīsukōnḍi - Take a left / Take a right
- Munduku veḷḷanḍi - Go straight ahead
- Ikkaḍa āpanḍi - Stop here, please
- OTP cheppanḍi - Tell me the OTP
Eating Out in Hyderabad
If there's one thing Hyderabad takes seriously, it's food. Here's what to know before your first meal.
Biryani:
Hyderabadi dum biryani, slow-cooked in a sealed pot, is the city's pride. It usually comes with mirchi ka salan and raita. If you only have one meal here, make it this one.
Irani cafes:
These old-school cafes are where you go for Irani chai and Osmania biscuits, and to sit and watch the city go by. Slow, cheap and delicious.
Tiffin centres:
These are quick, no-frills places where real Hyderabad breakfast happens - like idli, vada, dosa and pesarattu (a green gram dosa). Tiffin is the local word for breakfast, and you can usually order and eat standing at a counter. Fast, cheap and delicious.
Haleem:
During Ramzan, the city goes crazy for haleem, a slow-cooked meat and wheat stew. If you're here at that time, don't miss it.
Meals:
A traditional Telugu meal comes with rice, pappu (dal), curries, pickles, curd and big servings of ghee/nayyi (clarified butter), and servers will keep coming around to refill everything until you tell them to stop. It's usually unlimited, so pace yourself. Telugu food is famously spicy, so say kāram takkuva if you'd like it milder.
Eating with your hands:
It's completely normal here, and honestly the best way to eat a lot of the food - be it a Telugu meal or a Hyderabadi biryani. The correct etiquette is to only use your right hand.
For the sweet tooth:
Try double ka meetha and qubani ka meetha, two Hyderabadi desserts you won't find in most other cities.
Telugu you'll need at the dining table:
- Oka chāy ivvanḍi - One chai, please
- Kāvāli / Vaddu - I want / I don't want
- Inkoncham chutney ivvanḍi - More chutney, please
- Koncham - A little
- Chālu - Enough
- Kāram takkuva - Less spicy
- Parcel chēyanḍi - Please pack it to go
- Bill ivvanḍi - The bill, please
Shopping and Markets in Hyderabad
Malls and supermarkets have fixed prices, and these days most of your groceries will probably show up on an app within the hour. But to see the real Hyderabad, head to the markets.
- Laad Bazaar near Charminar for bangles and a real Old City feel
- Begum Bazaar for wholesale shopping
- Sultan Bazaar for clothes, fabrics and jewellery
- Mozamjahi Market for fruit, dry fruit and sweets
- Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills for big brands, boutiques, malls and more upscale shopping
Haggling is expected in markets and small shops, and it's meant to be friendly. Ask the price, smile, offer a bit less and meet somewhere in the middle. Just go easy at the small vegetable carts, where prices are already low.
Worth taking home: Hyderabad pearls, Pochampally ikat sarees, bidriware and a box of Osmania or fruit biscuits.
Telugu for shopping and bargaining:
- Enta? - How much?
- Final price enta? - What's your final price?
- Chālā ekkuva - That's too much
- Koncham tagginchanḍi - Please reduce it a little
- Idi kāvāli - I want this one
- Vaddu, dhanyavādālu - No thanks
A quick "Enta?" instead of "How much?" often gets you a better price than any amount of bargaining in English.
Want more words like these? Our free list of the 500 most common Telugu words comes with audio, so you can hear exactly how each word is said.
Working in Hyderabad: Office Culture and Jargon
The good news for you: Hyderabad offices run on English. The fun part is that it's Indian English, which comes with a few phrases you might not have heard before.
Indian English Phrases You'll Hear at Work
- Do the needful - Please take care of it
- Prepone - Move a meeting earlier (the opposite of postpone)
- Revert - Reply
- Out of station - Out of town
- Kindly adjust - Please manage with this
- I'll be there in five minutes - I've just left (probably)
- Timepass - Something you do to kill time
- Cousin brother / Cousin sister - A male or female cousin
Hyderabadi Lingo You'll Hear Around Town
Hyderabad also has its own flavour of Urdu (called Dakkhini), with lot of Telugu influence. Once you start noticing these, you'll hear them everywhere:
- Hau - Yes
- Nakko - No / I don't want it
- Kaiku? - Why?
- Miya - A friendly way to address someone, like dude or mate
Office Etiquette
- Names. First names are normal in most tech offices. Sir and Ma'am are common for seniors, clients and older colleagues, and you may be called Sir or Ma'am yourself by subordinates, security staff and other support staff. In Telugu workplaces you'll also often hear gāru added after a name, like "Ramesh-gāru" or "James-gāru", as a mark of respect.
- The polite "no". "I'll try", "Let me see" or "It should be possible" can sometimes mean no. A friendly follow-up question usually gets you the real answer.
- The head wobble. That gentle side-to-side tilt is used to say something along the lines of "Okay" or "I'm listening", or depending on the context, "Sure, I'll do it". I bet you'll be doing it yourself within a month!
- Meeting times. Expect a bit of flexibility. Traffic is the city's universal excuse, and to be fair, it's usually true.
- Coffee breaks and team lunches. This is where friendships are made, so say yes as often as you can.
- Birthdays and festivals. In many Indian offices, the birthday person brings the treats. Around Diwali, expect boxes of sweets on every desk.
Tenglish You'll Hear Around the Office
Listen closely and you'll start catching some Telugu mixed into office chat too. Locals call this mix Tenglish.
- Anna - Brother, boss
- Māma - Dude (between friends)
- Bāgundi - Good, nice
- Mass - Awesome
- Jaldi - Quickly (borrowed from Hindi, very common in Hyderabad)
- Koncham adjust chēyanḍi - Please make a little room / manage a little
- Bhōjanam ayindā? - Have you eaten?
Neighbours, Homes and Household Help
Shoes off:
Take your shoes off before entering someone's home, and always before entering a temple. If you see a pile of shoes at the door, that's your cue.
Anna, Akka, Uncle and Aunty:
People here rarely call strangers by their names. Anna (brother) and Akka (sister) work for anyone around your age, from the security guard to the shopkeeper. Older neighbours are usually Uncle and Aunty, even if you've never met them before.
Visiting someone's home:
You'll almost always be offered chai, coffee or a snack. It's polite to accept something, even if it's just a little. And if you say no once, don't be surprised when they ask again. That's just how hospitality works here.
"Bhōjanam ayindā?"
Your neighbours, especially older ones, may ask whether you've eaten, at any time of day. It isn't a lunch check. It's just a warm way of saying hello. A cheerful "Ayindi" (I have) or "Ayindi, mīdi?" (I have, and you?) is all you need.
Household help:
If you hire a cook, cleaner or driver, there's a good chance they speak Telugu, and not much English. This is where a few words of Telugu make the biggest difference to your day-to-day life.
Telugu to speak to your house help / maid:
- Ranḍi - Please come in
- Koncham wait chēyanḍi - Please wait a moment
- Idi clean chēyanḍi - Please clean this
- Rēpu ranḍi - Please come tomorrow
- Rēpu jaldi ranḍi - Please come early tomorrow
- Rēpu rāvaddanḍi - Please don't come tomorrow
- Bhōjanam ayindā? - Have you eaten? (a friendly hello)
- Chālā bāgundi - It's very good (your cook will love hearing this)
Festivals and Local Culture in Hyderabad
There's a festival around almost every corner of the calendar here. A few you'll definitely run into:
- Sankranti (January). The biggest harvest festival, spread over three days - Bhogi, Sankranti and Kanuma. Expect kite flying, colourful muggulu (rangoli) outside homes and lots of sweets.
- Ugadi (March or April). The Telugu New Year. Families make ugādi pachchaḍi, a mix of six tastes - sweet, sour, bitter, salty, spicy and tangy - a small reminder that life has all of them.
- Bonalu (July or August). Hyderabad's very own festival, honouring Goddess Mahankali. Women carry decorated pots of food offerings to the temples, with drums, dancing and processions. It's the state festival of Telangana.
- Ganesh Chaturthi, or Vinayaka Chavithi (August or September). Ganesha, also called Ganapati and Vinayaka, is the elephant god in Hindu culture. Ganesha idols pop up on almost every street, and Hyderabad is famous for its giant Khairatabad Ganesh and the immersion processions to Hussain Sagar lake.
- Bathukamma (September or October). Telangana's colourful floral festival, when women stack seasonal flowers into a tall dome, and sing and dance around it over nine days.
- Dasara (September or October). The festival of good over evil, celebrated around the same time as Bathukamma.
- Deepavali (October or November). Lamps, sweets and plenty of fireworks. Your colleagues will make sure you don't go home without a box of sweets.
- Ramzan (date changes every year). The Old City around Charminar comes alive at night during Ramzan, with iftar stalls, late night food and the city's famous haleem. It's a wonderful time to visit if you love food.
- Telangana Formation Day (2 June). The day Telangana became a state, in 2014. Expect flag hoisting and celebrations across the city, and it's the perfect day to try out your Telugu.
Want to greet people on a festival day? Just say the festival's name followed by shubhākānkshalu - best wishes. "Ugādi shubhākānkshalu!"
Hyderabad Etiquette: Quick Checklist
- Take your shoes off at homes and temples
- Use your right hand to eat, and to give or take things
- Dress modestly when visiting temples and mosques
- Say yes to a cup of chai when it's offered
- Try a few words of Telugu, even if you get them wrong
- Don't be surprised if people ask about your job, your family or whether you're married. It's just friendly curiosity
Do You Need Telugu to Live in Hyderabad?
Hyderabad is an easy city to settle into with English, so you can survive life here without knowing much Telugu. But that's just "survival", and picking up some Telugu makes life here not just more convenient, but a lot more interesting too.
Telugu is the language of the city's auto stands, tiffin centres, markets and festivals, and of the families who have called Hyderabad and the towns around it home for generations. With a bit of Telugu, you'll get the local jokes, the best food tips and real chats with your neighbours. You'll taste the city's real local flavour, instead of only seeing it through English. And people here absolutely love it when you try.
If you want to progress from phrases and words to having real conversations in Telugu, a bit of structure makes a big difference. Start with Bhashafy's Complete Telugu Course for Beginners and see how far a little consistency can take you.
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Welcome to Hyderabad. Or as we say here - Hyderabad ki svāgatam!
Dhanyavādālu!
