My Indian Adventure - Part 3 - Pune

     Pune is a large(ish) (and ever expanding) city about 3 hours drive from Bombay. The drive from Bombay was petrifying and stupefying. One thing I will say is, move over "Fast & Furious" and enter the BOMBAY driver. In India road lanes are just a guide, traffic lights are a mere suggestion and giving way is unheard of let alone merging and the horn is an necessity that must be used every 2 minutes. Never again will I complain about having to sit in peak hour traffic in the land of Q. Here we sit patiently for about 10 minutes or so in our respective lanes and wait till what ever it is clears up, no honking of horns, no trying to cut through three lanes, no turning down one way streets (the wrong way) and definitely and most positively no running red lights. Think of everything you know about road rules and safety then turn it upside down give it a good ole shake and there you have Bombay traffic. So the Bombay driver has to have quick instincts, reflexes, quick re-thinking of routes to take and ...oh hell just pure GUTS OF STEEL...AND its like peak hour traffic ALL the time.

     Finally reached Pune at about 3 am and thankfully (and here my faith is restored in what friendship truly is) My Lovely friend (Mr Z) had arranged for the night watchman (chowkidar) to hand me the keys to his place (where I was to stay for my Pune mini-trip). The next day was brilliant my travel companion and I...lets call my companion Captain America (corny but apt) risked our lives getting an auto-rickshaw to a hotel. I got to see the Pune that I loved and missed so dearly but the more I saw the more my heart sank at the dirt, dust and general pollution and lack of trees. But strangely enough through the heartbreak I experienced this surge of warmth...this was MY town I spent the BEST years of my teenage life here. Although I didn't recognise some of it I got the vibe. Captain America was surprised by the sights and a little blown away (but that's a natural reaction).

    That night we were supposed to meet up with a couple of my old school friends. Again I was a little sceptical of anyone turning up. It had after all been more than 14 years, would they bother? To say that I was edgy is an understatement, nonetheless I contacted one of my friends who had organised something and to my utter surprise he offered to come and pick up Captain America and me, I thought this was lovely but I was flabbergasted when I learnt that my friend (Mr N) was driving back from Bombay that day and was THEN going to come pick us up and THEN go to drinks (AND he insisted on fitting the bill). Now listen friends from Q  - THIS IS WHAT REAL FRIENDS DO. 

   Mr N picked us up and it was like we were kids again, no time had passed it was fantastic. I dont really know what I was so anxious about, we went to this cool little place called High Spirits in Pune and as I was walking in someone called out my name and lo and behold it was another childhood friend (Mrs M). She actually made the effort, when I got in I thought "Wow this is fantastic, two friends showed up. I thought Id be the only silly sausage here". To my utter surprise Mr C showed up a little later on (was NOT expecting that one) and then a couple more turned up as well. Words cannot describe how warm and lovely this simple gesture of people turning up made me feel.

     Returning to Pune did more than restore my faith in old friends, it refreshed my spirit. Yes I am of this stock, yes I am that calibre of person. No its not weird to go out of your way for friends, in fact that's how its SUPPOSED to be. I like that people (well my friends at least) in India are not caught up too much by status and still put someone (other than themselves) first occasionally. I actually found a place where I fit in perfectly. After that I couldn't care less about the pollution or the grime, I was in LOVE.

   

*** Now there is a special Mr Z that I haven't mentioned but played an important part in most of my movements in Bombay, Pune and Goa, but that's going to have to wait till part 4 as there is just too much to cover.