My first Puneri Saturday

I stayed back! Hahaha!! I can’t believe I did it but I did. My first Saturday in Pune :) And to tell you the truth, I am liking it. What prompted me to do it? Folks are in Calcutta and I hate staying alone at home in Bombay. I don’t mind it here in Pune. I am used to it. But not so, as far as home is concerned. Even if I don’t interact with them much when I am home, their presence matters. And its just not home without them. So I decided to stay back instead and enjoy my weekend.

A lot happened :) I wanted to go and check out Koregaon Park where the fabled Osho Ashram exists. Took a bus to Pune Station from Kothrud. Saw Shaniwar Wada enroute. which I need to check out later on. Its basically a fort. Koregaon Park was a 20 – 30 minute walk from the station. I wanted to walk it out, so that I could figure out the place better. I had an approximate map of the place. Really helped me a lot. The place is rectangular in shape, with the north main road and the south main road as the 2 longer sides of the rectangle. There are numerous lanes connecting these 2 roads. I managed to walk up to lane 7. Didn’t have the energy to walk any further. I actually wanted to reach the East Main road, just cause I wanted to see the HardRock Cafe. Just in case I decide to go there someday :) I have walked so much today that my legs are literally killing me!

What really fascinated me about KP, is the greenery. I could easily make out that there were filthy rich people living there. I fell in love with the old bungalows with sprawling gardens. But a lot of these have been now sold to builders who will obviously maximize construction and turn the green Pune into a gray concrete Pune. There were a few plots which had old houses but were obviously not maintained, the lawns were overgrown, shabby gates, eroding nameplates, witness to changing fortunes and would soon be concretized. Lot of Parsi nameplates :) It reminded me of the places I lived as a child, the greenery and the open spaces. I was actually happy that thanks to these rich guys we have some greenery left. If I think about it, we are really not leaving much for our kids, except a few concrete blocks to call home.

The Osho ashram is on Lane 1. One needs to register to get in and see. The tour is no longer offered due to security reasons. Registration will cost Indians 1300 bucks. There is a garden which is open to public from 6-9 am and 3-6pm. That’s on Lane 2. The garden is beautifully landscaped with streams, bridges, rock sculptures, benches, bamboo groves and a lot of trees and shrubs. Lots of flowers too. A good place to take your girl to. :)

Came back home around 5 and decided to go and watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was funny how many problems we faced to get to the theatre. First we ran out of petrol. Had to walk a kilometre to reach the petrol pump. We were then caught by cops for apparently jumping signal. That was so not true! But Apoorv very skilfully got us out of it. :) He made up a story based on a true story and the cop bought it. The movie was good. People might call it a bit slow but that is how the book was. And I really liked it the way they have adapted it. Finally! After the catastrophe that the Half Blood Prince was, this was a pleasant change. I think Potter fans will be happy with this one. Lets see how the second part turns out to be. Hermoine has grown up so bloody beautifully :D

Got back home at 11:00. A very successful day, I must say! Looking forward to tomorrow.