What’s it like to live in Pune?

December 24, 2007 

We’ve lived in Pune for over two years now; not decided to make it our home, at least not yet. I don’t love it; I don’t hate it. There’s something about the place that I can’t quite point my finger to that makes me oscillate between this love-hate thing.

Indian cities that way are quite different from the American ones, never been to Europe so I don’t know if they are stereotypical like their American counterparts. Every Indian town and city is diverse from the rest - in its culture, its people, language, cuisine, tolerance level for people from other states, festivals, real estate, mannerisms and communities. Every city will not have a Reliance Fresh or Spencer’s, though that’s changing now.

I was town-bred for the most part of my childhood. The first metro I lived in was Bangalore and that became my benchmark for a city lifestyle. The move to Pune was difficult; assimilation of the local culture tougher than expected. It took us a while to understand people are not yelling at you when they open their mouths; that’s the normal way of talking here and they are polite all the same.

Given a choice to move back to Bangalore, I would have said “yes” without thinking a year back. Now, I realise why it’s so much fun to live in Pune. Life is a celebration here and that’s one of the reasons I love it. From Dahi Handi for Krishna Jayanthi to the Ganesh Mandals during Ganesh Chaturthi to Pandals for Durga Pooja, it’s fun all the way. I can’t remember once when we played Holi in Bangalore. Here, I can’t keep track of the no. of people turning out for Holi for Diwali. It’s not “I”; it’s “We” here.

You’ll know you are in Pune when —-

- you see young women cruising on motorcycles
- poha for breakfast
- every dish is garnished with kothimber and pyaaj gets replaced soon with kandha in your vocab
- hooded young girls and women (with their face covered in scarves even while walking on the road)
- 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. power cuts on Thursday
- when the shops pull down their shutters between 1 p.m. and 4:3 0 p.m. for the customary nap
- celebration is not individualistic; it is for the community
- when the Rain Gods don’t pay heed to your prayers even after 48 hours, it is time to stay indoors than be stuck on flooded roads
- the roads have gone larger, wider and more flyovers have appeared but the traffic has got worse
- there is a chat shop in the corner of every street, so much so that some streets are named Bhel Chowk.
- there are more students than any other city in India

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Comments

2 Responses to “What’s it like to live in Pune?”

  1. Prashant on February 5th, 2008 10:21 am

    I am originally from Mumbai & now settled in Pune. On spot observation about Pune. Kuddos. Dunno if you have been to the numerous locations around Pune on weekends, lots to see around Pune too.

  2. Indrajeet on April 21st, 2011 1:24 am

    Hello,
    We live in US and are thinking of moving back to India. Bangalore and Pune are two cities we have been considering. I have been to Bangalore and honestly speaking, I feel city has lost its charm except being IT headquarter of India. So unless you are looking for a good IT job in India, I feel there is no reason for a non local Bangalorian to live in Bangalore. I have not been to Pune but heard so-so stories about Pune. So I started looking on Web about feedback from people who have lived in both Pune and Bangalore. I have almost read all articles you have written about Pune and Bangalore. Thanks for sharing this.

    I was interested to know how does it feel 3-4 years after you have moved to Bangalore. Do you still miss Pune? How is life in Bangalore? It would be great if you could share some thoughts on living in Bangalore now.

    Regards,
    -Indrajeet

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