I’ve come to Hyderabad to learn more about microfinance, one of the best touted solutions to combat poverty. I could note from the airplane that this city lacks the shantytowns of Mumbai and the streets lack the beggars I met elsewhere in India. Hyderabad, like its cousin Bangalore, has been one of the winners in India’s IT & BPO boom, and the mansions on each street corner here at Cyberabad bear witness to this.

When in Hyderabad, do as the Hyderabadis do, so after dinner with a lovely stranger, I joined the city’s many yuppies and hit the nearest shopping centre (open late every night) for an unneeded dose of consumerism. I bought myself a new suit, which if I may say so myself looks rather spiffy on me.