Pune, my city of joy

I have an affinity for certain cities of our country and if I were to be woken up at the middle of the night and asked to choose three of my favourite cities, it would be Pune, Mysore and Bangalore, strictly in that order, with Pune winning hands down over the others, as the one closest to my heart! I’ve always felt that feeling of elation as I enter the city limits and can identify every prominent feature of the place.
My first view of the city was on 13 Jan 1973, when I’d arrived at the Poona(it used to be called so, then) railway station, by the Dadar Express, as a rookie to join the first term at the NDA. I fell in love with the city at first sight and that affair continued during my cadet’s days- for three years on the trot and an additional six months, on my return, to do a second sixth term on being grounded in the Air Force- followed, sadly, by a short stint of one year, as a Divisional Officer at the NDA Wing at Ghorpuri. The experiences, while being there in my different capacities, are rich with a whole lot of wonderful memories that remain etched in my memory so vividly, even to this date and I’ve also had the privilege of securing friendships from those days, that have withstood the test of time.
Though today’s Pune has grown with the times, extending itself in all directions, there are certain places that have retained their old world charm and one gets this impression that time has stood still, since my days of old, when one were to visit those places even today. The Monjini’s Cake shop on the Main street which was a favourite haunt, followed by the fledgling ‘Pune Coffee House’(now, a huge monolith though!) vigorously marketed amongst the cadets by an exuberant Flt Lt Suresh Kalmadi, the exclusivity of the luscious ‘Bund Garden’, the numerous cinemas(Rahul and Natraj, if I remember correctly, to name just a couple) at vantage points and the bustling ‘Deccan Gymkhana’ are places that immediately come to mind, in an instant recall. The RSI Institute and the AFMC became regular haunts later, during my days in the staff of the Academy, for obvious reasons! How unashamedly sentimental can one get? The whiff of Pune’s air livens me up, always!!
And thanks to the presence of my friends like the Banerjees, the Joshis, the Burbys and now, the Venugopals, a visit to Pune is like homecoming when batteries are charged and morale is boosted. And when I take leave, it’s always with a promise to return at the next available opportunity, in the not too distant future!!!