Then I went away to Dubai. Another city with a character all its own. A perfect amalgam of the old world that quaintly co-existed with the enthusiastic fervour of the new and the modern. Then just as it had carried us off to this interesting city of Dubai , kismet turned us around to point us homewards. Since Bombay no longer was 'home' after the passing on of my father, we decided to look to Pune for familial comfort. A lot of our relatives lived in Pune . That and the greenery beckoned to us to make it home.
So one rainy day in July of 2000 , two boys and dog in tow , we hauled ourselves up five flights of stairs along with our rather heavy baggage to our home . No electricity . So no lifts Our very first orientation with the whimsical electricity supply in Pune that invariably got washed out with the slightest hint of rain !!!
Of the next few years I spent time ....getting telephone lines ..then making sure they were working. Getting all my required appliances in place ..then making sure we had the electricity to run them !! If the phone lines were working and the electrical supply uninterrupted ..then I spent time getting corrections to the astronomical bills that were high enough to have given enough talk time and electricity to a small time industry !! During this time I met all sorts of people ..some rude ..some helpful..some concerned ..others nonchalantly carrying on with indifference to rules. Like any other city .
Life has now eased a bit . Quite a bit. The boys are both now strapping young men. Both into their maiden year at being employees ! I now wake up to a black and white wagtail pecking noisily at my window every single morning. Mornings are spent quite often over a leisurely cup of coffee while mildly wondering what different avian species might I be treated to today. Will it be a kingfisher? Or a frog heron ? Or a Bharadwaj? Will that noisy raucous gang of parrots make an appearance today ? Camera and binoculars always handy, the morning sun and the dusk always offer much for the bird watcher.
With an inverter in place , the dark clouds no longer threatened. They along with the rain bring along with them brilliant flashes of a poetical streak that make me wax lyrical as I hear the cool raindrops sizzle on the parched soil of the garden. I hear the old timers creakily commiserate about the non existent winters. To me the gentle sun of a December morning in Pune is comfortingly warm. No shivers and chattering teeth for me. I spend morning looking for good art exhibitions to visit…enthralling music concerts to attend ...an occasional play to watch. . I look on with amusement at the antics of the dahi handi brigade at Gokul Ashtami. With fatalistic resignation I face the music at Ganesh Chaturthi. My maternal instincts are touched when I watch little ones enthusiastically participate in the various cultural presentations made during that time.
By Shubha S Nafrey
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As a history student, I’ve read about how we have evolved. However, all those analytical history lessons have also taught me that we as a race have a tendency to arrive at a full circle – we repeat our mistakes. However, I wouldn’t want this to be a future where everything is just so perfect already, that we start to stagnate and lose our survival skills. Instead, there should be many more possibilities, for further evolvement – to move from one great achievement to another; achievements that stand as witnesses to the great capacity of the human spirit to be pioneers.
These new citizens will contribute to the creative capacity of the world, and become the future artists and scientists, creating a wonderful balance between the skyscrapers and the tropical forests, and a world which is capable of forever evolving.
Grandma’s log hut was not only well ventilated but also covered from all sides by a thick canopy of leaves. Though I never measured the temperature inside the log hut, I knew it was much cooler because I never sweated there. The log hut fell into the hands of the children after grandma crossed 80 and could not climb up the tree. Over a dozen children would occupy the hut in the summer. They would play all kinds of board games – ludo, chess, carom.
I pity at the city children who cannot enjoy the luxury of playing on a treetop. They do play board games, and of course, video games, in the confines of the air-conditioned comforts of their apartment. But I can say for sure they would never get the thrill which we enjoyed in our childhood in my grandma’s log hut.
You can argue, “Your grandma could build the log hut on tree top because she lived in a village. How can you create a similar environment in a city?”
True.
However, I have also seen some city dwellings, which make optimum use of the nature by letting in free flow of wind and sunrays. Classic examples of such buildings are those built by the British in the ‘Civil Lines’ or ‘Cantonment’ areas. These ‘Colonial’ bungalows had high ceilings, large windows and were surrounded by leafy trees.
Again, you may like to argue, “Where is the space to build such huge bungalows?”
True.
However, I must point out here that the latest trend in fast growing cities is to live away from the downtown crowded commercial centre and build houses on land on which crops were cultivated by farmers. Much effort goes into landscaping and growing a green cover on these plots before even laying the foundation of the bungalow.
Past few years, my favorite summer sojourn is my village where my father has built a cluster of eco-friendly houses for a residential institute of which he is the director. The entire campus meets its energy needs from solar power and biogas. For some inexplicable reasons the rice, daal and sabji cooked in the solar cooker tastes yummier than that cooked on a gas stove and pressure cooker.
The use of solar power for heating water is very popular in Cyprus, the island nation in the Mediterranean. There are solar panels atop almost all the houses in Cyprus.
With so much of sun available round the year, I wonder why we in India are not harnessing solar energy to meet our daily needs?
Nachiketa Desai - Journalist, humour and short story writer
When I wanted to buy my own place in a country partially alien to me, I thought back to about two decades back. Having spent only a small part of my early childhood here, I did not know what to expect of the old motherland. But ever since my mind was made up about getting back here, even if it meant a series of unavoidable upheavals, there was little on my mind other than getting a place to call home.
Two years later – one more hot day in July…and we are packing our bags. But this time the mood is a little different. There is a sense of anticipation in the air. Our trip to
But here, despite having already traveled some distance west, we were actually turning around and heading back home – and to Pune !
It was a big decision for all concerned. For the boys
By Shubha S Nafrey
