My Trip To Pune

Finally it is Saturday, and on this Saturday, I don't have much to do, at least till evening. Time to rest, relax, and catch up on my writing.

On my first extended trip to India, I made lots of friends, and renewed them and made more when many engineers from here visited Nashua for several months. Vijay was one of the first engineers that joined the group that I was trying to get established in India. Hemashree, his wife, also worked for my company in a different group, but I got to know her mainly in Nashua. We went to the airport to get Vijay and others, and later both my wife and I saw them socially on several occasions. Ashlesha is another good friend whom I have mentioned before in earlier entries in this blog. It was she who "taught me how to cross the street" on my first trip here, for example.

In any case, all three of these friends have since left HP and moved to Pune in order to be closer to family (for Vijay and Shree) and to be with her new husband (Ashlesha). So I had not seen any of them for a couple years, although we have exchanged mail, Facebook comments, etc. They kept inviting me to visit, and this trip to India, I was able to arrange it. I was to fly to Pune from Bangalore early Saturday morning, visit Saturday and some of Sunday, and then return on Sunday evening.

My flight was at something like 6AM. It was a domestic flight, the airport drive is about and hour, so in consultation with the hotel staff, I decided to leave for the airport around 3:30AM. Ha! There is no traffic (almost unheard of), there were no lines at security, I had only my backpack for luggage. I was sitting in the gate lounge at 4:30AM! Amazing. Luckily there was a store to sell coffee, and I had reading material, so the time went quickly. I was flying on Kingfisher Airlines (see some previous blog entry...the Kingfisher brand is mainly beer, but the story goes that they bought an airline because you are not allowed to advertise beer. They use the identical name and logo, so they get the brand name out.) The plane was a 1-class A300 and I had somehow managed to get the front for window seat (1A)! It was a great seat...quite a lot of legroom, and a window. Not much to see though...it was pretty hazy. In any case, right on time we landed at Pune Airport.

Pune Airport is quite a place. First, there is a lot of military aviation there, so we taxied by a lot of fighter jets. Second, like Bangalore, Pune is growing fast and they are having to upgrade a small airport. Here the rennovations are only partly done. The plane parked on one end of the terminal, but it is the end which is not rennovated. Looked like we had landed in a deserted shopping center parking lot! But they got us out on stairs and then we had to walk on the tarmac the length of the terminal to the end that had been rennovated. Inside, it nice and new-looking. I had nothing to do...no immigration or customs, not baggage pickup, so I just walked right through to the outside, and there were Vijay and Shree waving to me! It was so nice to see them. We pretty much started up talking right where we had left off with no awkwardness. It was great! They drove me to a hotel which they had booked for me, (yes they have their own car and at least Vijay drives himself) and let me settle in for a while. They returned in a few hours in a larger car with a driver, and then we went to pick up Ashlesha and her husband Roopak. R. is also a nice guy (as I would expect) and all 5 of us got along famously.

They had planned some places to go with me...the first day was in the country outside Pune; the second day in the city. We went to a fort called Jadhav Ghad. It was up in the hills to one side of the city, and indeed out in the country. It was a fort originally built by the local Princely State (way before independence; I assume before the British too) which has been restored and made into a tourist attraction, including a restaurant. We entered by going up an enormous stone stairway (both width, and height of stairs...probably hard to charge an army up them!) As we walked in, we were greeted in the traditional manner by a liveried guard playing a long horn, and someone else rolling a big drum. We walked around inside for a while...there are beautiful pools, and gardens as well as wonderful views of the countryside from up high. I'll post some pictures. After a while, we sat down to an enjoyable meal, although I week later, I have to say that I don't remember what we had. I should have photographed it.

An aside: Everyone in the party was, of course, probably 30 years or so younger than I am. Everyone was so "careful of me" that I was very touched. For example Shree had a towel that she lent me to cover my head and neck in the sun. Everyone kept asking if I was ok (with stairs, with everything). I take it as very thoughtful, just as when Rishi led me by the hand through the crowds at the cricket match a couple years ago (see earlier in blog). It feels nice to be cared for sometimes.

Our next stop was a farm. It was actually a working farm, but they had made it into tourist attraction of sorts. I think there was another tourist there, but I'm actually a little surprised. It was hard to reach, even for our driver...the roads were narrow and rutted. At one point, there was a large piece of digging equipment blocking 3/4 of the road. Negotiation ensued, with Roopak going off to scout another route and our driver and construction crew in extensive conversations. Eventually, the digger moved to reduce its profile in the road, and the car was J-U-S-T able to squeeeze past. Roopak joined up on the other side having found no other drivable route. Anyway, the name of this farm means Peacock Farm (or at least Peacock was in the translation). Ashlesha said that the area reminded her of the area where she grew up. The biggest attraction in this place is in fact the peacocks. There are lots of them wild, but food is put out at certain times and there is a seating area where you can watch them come and eat. I say peacocks; there were peahens as well, but naturally the peacocks with their gaudy tails are the attraction. We spent some time in a nice cool area under a big tree...it was so very quiet and I could hear birds calling. Ashesha could ID peacocks/hens from the calls, but there were others which I was never able to see well. Wish I had had some binoculars. We then went back to the peacock showing area (they don't come until the afternoon starts cooling off). They made quite a show walking around, although I guess this is not the season when the cocks are showing off for the hens because none of them did big displays.

About then, some of the staff came to ask (I guess in Maharashtran via my friends) if we wanted to ride in a bullock cart. Apparently this was one of the perqs of admittance. At first I said, no I did not care that much. But apparently the bullock was all hitched and they were unhappy, so I said fine. It turns out to have been fun, and quite a picture too. The guy took us down the road a bit and then back. Now imagine this wooden cart big enough 4+ people as well as a driver and pulled by two enormous bullocks. (Don't know my working animal species...would we call them oxen? Some kind of large ruminant anyway). The wheels are wood, no suspension, and we are driving out on this incredibly bumpy road. I was well inside the cart so it was not a problem, but Vijay and Roopak were sitting on the end and I think they might have gotten bounced off (or nearly so) a couple times. We drove down the road a ways, and then turned around. Obviously the wheels turn separately, because the animals just walked around and the cart turned in place. It was pretty funny. We stopped outside the gate to the farm and everyone hopped off. I guess the driver was a little unhappy because he was supposed to take us inside. Oh well...misunderstandings are easy. Don't get hung up on expectations and outcomes (my mantra when travelling).

After the farm, they had planned to go to dinner but we had eaten so well at lunch that no one was hungry. So we settled for some ice cream (fresh coconut...yum...much different than pre-packaged that we get in the US) and back to my hotel.

Next morning, I was invited to brunch at Vijay and Shree's apartment with Shree and Ashlesha cooking. That was a lot of fun. We had fried onion, corriander and chickpea balls (flattened; sort of little sausage patty size), Sabudana (which Shree says is made with tapioca...it's not sweet like tapioca pudding, but you could clearly tell that same texture of little starchy balls of tapioca), Poha (beaten rice) and finally Shira (which is a sweet mixture made of semolina flour). We filled ourselves up again, and again decided not to eat much the rest of the day :-)

So here is an interesting similarity: Both Vijay/Hemashree and Roopak/Ashlesha are moving to places that are being built. Now you Americans reading this know what this would mean to us. Ok, they are in an apartment and they are building a house to move into. No, but it took me a while to translate terms. In effect, at least Vijay and Shree are living in an apartment which is a condo that the owner is renting to them (although the owner is actually absentee (did they say in the states?) and his father manages the rental business. And what they are doing is buying a condo in a complex that is under construction. I asked what was the advantage (knowing full well what it is in the US). Turns out that all the reasoning still holds. There are tax advantage to owning your own place for one thing. For another they view real estate as a good investment. (Sound familiar?) Well, it has been a good investment in the US for all my adult years (until recently). I hope it will be for them as well. It's probably a good bet with the speed at which Pune is growing.
We went to a museum which was created by a single guy who went out and collected all kind of stuff. It was pretty interesting...musical instruments, household items, art of various kinds. There were a few things that were very old, and some 19th century.

And my favorite: We went to a British-era palace-type place where Gandhi was held by the British under house arrest for a couple of years during the early 40s. Also with him were his wife, his long-time friend and secretary, and another guy (a physician?). Anyway, the friend/secretary died of a heart attack within a week of being placed here, and Gandhi's wife also died during the imprisonment time. Their remains are both on the grounds as are Gandhi's. I admire Gandhi so much! He seems so...balanced. When his friend and secretary died, he wanted to accompany the body to the funeral pyre and do what would be required of such a good friend, but the British would not let him out. He said "I do not want to make a political issue of the death of my friend." Eventually a quiet compromise was reached, and the funeral, the pyre and the burial were held on the grounds of the palace. I was also thinking about how incredibly difficult it is to be non-violent to the extent that MG was. I admire him more for being able to live his principles than specifically for the fact that his work led to the independence of India and Pakistan. (And believe me, I'm not blind to the fact that he was unable to keep Pakistan and India united, and that that separation has led to the deaths of thousands on both side both at independence and since. That seems to be a common theme when a colony (or other entity) which was united by force is given independence). Anyway, I was thinking of Gandhi and his life of simplicity and non-violence when I visited his tomb. I was overcome by tears...not just sorrow at his ironically violent death (before I was born!), but pride that humanity can produce such a person.

The final stop before going to the airport was at Vijay's office. It is in a convenient location, there is an air conditioned conference room where we could stay and send out for some snacks, a PC for me to checkin to my flight from, and a game room. We watched cricket for a bit, played foosball for a bit, snacked for a bit, and mainly just gabbed. It was fun...nice to see his office too!
And finally it was time to say our goodbyes. I really appreciate my friends giving up their weekend to show me around. It was really a lot of fun for me!

The airport was about 5 minutes away from the office, and it took all of 10 minutes to get through security and to the gate lounge. I could get used to this...just like the good old days. Actually not like the good old days exactly...you still strip all the metal out of your pockets, send you bag through x-ray, walk through a metal detector, and then you stand up on a little platform and a security guard frisks you. I have to say this did not bother me, but I can't imagine what people who object to the idea of a device that can see stuff hidden under your clothes would say. I think the gadget is less intrusive.

Anyway, when the time came to board, everything was pretty much in reverse from arriving. They let you out on the apron and you walk to the plane. This time there were other planes around and forklifts, baggage carts, etc all driving around. Like crossing the road in Banaglore (not really that bad). And then they had both front and rear doors open. I went to the front door and they directed me to the back. Right under the wing...I'd never been so close to an in-service jet engine in my life! I don't think it was running, but there is an APU (auxiliary power unit...a turbine that provides power to the plane when the engines are not on) nearby. What a noise! The flight was smooth, and again with no baggage and a domestic flight exiting was easy. There was a taxi driver waiting for me and back to the hotel.

That's it for now. I spent the week mostly working, so there is not much to say about it. More later when this weekend is over.