But Hyderabad isn't exactly Singapore when it comes to women. I first did a double-take when I found two burqa- clad women whizzing past on a two-wheeler. One was driving, the other riding pillion. No helmets here or anywhere else in Hyderabad. I had barely got over the burqa'd women on a scooter, when two more women, also in burqas, flashed by in a Maruti. They negotiated Hyderabad's heavy traffic without blinking. At the Char Minar women walked confidently through heavy crowds - no eve-teasing here. But the male passers-by could not stop gaping at a young Delhi woman wielding a heavy camera, assisted by another wisp of a girl who was producing the programme. So novel a sight was this all-woman TV team that local newspapers front-paged their photographs. But there were quite a few local girls covering the film festival for the print media with equal zest. And that is where we find the real charm of Hyderabad, a perfect blend of the old and the new.