Memoirs of an Iyer in "Oxford of the East"

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Originally uploaded by theiyer.

I was drowned in a deluge of nostalgia during my entire two-day stay at Pune ("Oxford of the East") last weekend. Why not, I was back in the city after a gap of 7 years. Reminiscing my Symbi MBA days in Pune in the Indian economy troubled times of 1997-99, I was wandering on the streets of Senapati Bapat Road and Shivaji Housing Society, trying to juxtapose the current topography with the past.

My frailing memory, which lets me down at the most needed times, was vividly recollecting the contours of the area where I used to reside and study as a young, out-of-college, middle class kid with dollar dreams.

Climbing up the ChaturShringhi Mandir (it was actually quite steep than I remembered), I was thankful to the almighty for what I am. The last time around I walked up that steep hill to salute the Mother, I was in the company of Thyagi and Varada. And i still have a photo of that defining moment of the three roomies on top of the hill during our last days at Pune.

This time around, I was staying in one of those posh apartments (in Baner Road) that have sprung up across the city, changing the city's skyline. And just a shouting distance away from that place was Sudaksh, a thick friend from Symbi days and one of the handful of my classmates residing in Pune. We were catching up on what had happened in the intervening seven years over dinner at "Arthur's Theme" in Koregaon Park (yes the very same area where Osho's Ashram is located). Koregaon was always an enigma to us - with a stream of vagabond foreigners lounging on the streets. We used to sit in front of the German Bakery to catch a glimpse of robe-clad foreigners in their own world.

Talking about food, I was able to gorge on Maharashtrian delicacies vada pao and batata vada. Bought some Bakarwadi for eating at back home.

Yeah, changes seem to be catching up with Pune. My institute has shifted to Hinjewadi (outside Pune) and the new batch of students in the Symbiosis campus seem really hep (rather anything would have been better than our batch). The new Pyramid megastore has just sprung up near my old residence. The roads seem to be clogged with burgeoning traffic and the student population seem to have gone down in proportion (after Manipal, Pune was always considered a student's haven).

Things keep changing and its time to move on. One thing is however clear, my dreams of setlling in Pune now loooks remote...the city just does not attract me anymore.

(The photograph above is the statue of RK Laxman's "The Common Man" in Symbiosis Vishwa Bhavan, SB Road, Pune)