Being Pune 4 (Part 1)
I am born and grew up (a significant part of my life at least) in an area widely pin coded (I just made that up) as Pune 4. Pune 4 may be just a part of the city's pin code for some, but for me, and I believe several others (at the risk of sounding jejune) it signifies a way of being. So what does Pune 4 stand for, after all? At the outset, its lush (well, once upon a time) canopy of gulmohars, bouganvillas, rainbow trees, and a myriad other trees whose names I do not know. The green canopy is a cynosure for the eyes and conjures up a sense of homeWe share an unspoken camaraderie -- the trees and I. We greet each other as 'familiar strangers' do -- the kinds you see on your way to work in the bus or train. Pune has abysmally narrow 'gallee' 'bol' (lanes and bylanes) that are its virtual lifeline(s), anything wider than 10 feet (in the heart of the city) would probably be detrimental for 'effective commuting'. While Pune 4 boasts of shaded pavemen...