..The Pune I love

It would be a cliche if I wrote that Pune as a city has changed a fair bit .Like every other place in the world Pune isn't immune to change though it has to be said the city is still retained its hilly charm.The trees probably have lessened to accommodate the multitude of malls springing out of every nook and cranny .Albeit one has to mention Pune has massive amounts of green to it with its ghats, quaint little parks and of course beautiful treetops.
Pune is a city which abounds in hills and forts but malls aren't far behind. Having been there a few months back the fact that malls have sprung up literally everywhere did not fail to surprise me especially if one has been going to Pune for the last twenty years.These malls cater to most sections of society.

As one flies into Pune the first thing that one sees are the ghats .The daunting sight of the ghats leaves one spellbound.The hilly scenery fills us with wonder and excitement.We get a view of nooks and crannies coloured in brown with pockets of green in it.Yeah when I think of Pune the ghats are what I envision first.Having said that one could leave the climbing to experienced mountaineers . A trip to Pune is incomplete without going hill climbing (read: the not so steep ones). Standing atop the hills we get a panoramic view of Pune.

Pune for me I suppose is a home away from home.If I was asked which city do I consider to be my hometown I'd choose Pune and Kolkata.Although I live in Kolkata Pune is never too far away .Perhaps the fact that I've spent most of my holidays there influences this thought process.Spending a insurmountable amount of Durga Pujas in Pune has done this perception no harm what so ever.

The city is also a historian's dream. Being a history student exploring forts such as Shaniwar Wada and other historical sites delighted me to no end. Any aspiring archaeologist can can look around to his or her hearts content as colleges such as Deccan college has a great collection of old ruins and fossils which are a few hundred years old.

Educational institutions like Fergusson College and Pune University are beautiful places to hang out because of the greenery one gets too see there.The grass is invariably lush and the constructions are graceful indeed .It makes for a nice get away. The Film and Television Institute of India is also a establishment of repute. The movies that I got to see there were simply out of the world .The documentaries screened would appeal to all parts of society as they were relevant.Perhaps this is why Pune is known as the Oxford of the East. Foodies would also have a good time here as the city awash with eating joints of all kinds. Indian, Continental ,Chinese you name it.

The truth be told even though one might live thousands of miles away one can't really get away from Pune as the city grows on you .

By
Indrajit - writer

Home Coming

It is a hot day in July…. We are packing our bags for our annual trip to India. You see the schools in the Gulf close for nearly two months during July and August. And that’s when we make our sojourn to India to visit our near and dear ones. My two boys are happy. They love being spoilt rotten by their grandparents, uncles and aunts. Enjoy spending time with their cousins. India is a fun place. They manage to indulge in a lot of activities that they wouldn’t have in the desert city of Dubai. Climb trees, chase squirrels, pluck vegetables from the kitchen garden, wander under the umbrella in pouring rain.

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 India is for a longer stay. My husband and I have decided that the boys will go to college in Pune, Maharashtra. A lot of our family and friends are surprised. Most Indians would gear their kids to be able to cope with further education in the West, either the U.K. or the U S of A.

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 Dubai was home. The younger one had turned two a couple of months after we had settled there. And now sixteen years later he was to leave these familiar surrounding that he grew up in. But that was something he had to do even if he were to go elsewhere for his education. For us as parents it really was one of those things that one ponders and ponders about, hoping very hard that the decision taken will prove to be the right one.

I laid it out as plain and simple and as gently as I could in front of my boys. So far India had been a holiday for them. They may have spent a lot of time here during their holidays, but never lived here as such. They had so far been visitors here and never integrated into the way of Life here. So far they always went back home, to Dubai. I wanted that to change. I wanted that the family and relatives mean more to them than familiar faces and that they truly bond with their cousins and other relatives and appreciate the close-knit ties we Indians share with our families. I wanted that they no longer be stranger to their country and know it for all its good and the bad. Logic being very simply that tomorrow even if they ever emigrate and settle in any other country, they would always be known as Indians. So it was necessary for them to know India !!!

By Shubha S Nafrey