Prof. Amit Gupta, ISMR, June, 2024
Born and brought up in Delhi is always an attribute of my lifestyle. The food, the culture, the climate, the people and even the traffic & the AQI Ghosh! They all define a next-level definition of dil walo ki nagri ‘DILLI’.
The journey from the national capital to the cultural capital has brought lots of ups & down, form being grown in the environment where you will easily find people saying tu janata nai mera baap kaun hai in every niche and corner, to a very modest humble and culturally enriched Punekar showcasing the vibrant color of relationship by addressing O Mavshi, O Mama and O Kaka! The approach of framing everyone you meet into the bond of extended family is just the thing that makes Pune different.
Apart from being famous for its cultural heritage, PUNE also popularly known as an ‘Oxford of the East’, with the highest number of colleges and Universities than any other part in the country. The significance of education for the Punekar can be easily correlated with such a magnificent quote in Marathi
The quotes says ‘Getting the right teacher to give the right direction to life is as necessary as oxygen for the body to perform’. Such a beautiful use of metaphor can only be channelize by a Maratha Manus. The city still believes in faith of forgotten ethics of Gurukul system where the student-teacher relationship is like Guru–shisha tradition. The kind of respect, commitment, devotion and obedience of the student, offered towards their guru is incredibly appreciated with the guru’s selfless approach and dedication towards the student’s upliftment so that the student eventually masters the knowledge that the guru embodies, touched my heart deeply.
Delhi Is world famous for its street food being it the traditional street food of old Delhi to higher-end authentic multi-cuisine south Delhi’s food joints .Delhi food has no comparison no matter wherever you go, with this as a mindset I came to the city of spices and flavor. The wide variety of affordable, easily available yet delicious street food forced me to say bro SPDP at Vaishali! Bhā’ū mājhā vaḍā pāva kuṭhē āhē .Pune’s mouthwatering food range with various different flavors from sweet poran-poli to spicy missal pav, the audacity of the city can be felt that even the milkshake is named under mastani. Being a delhite I have no hassle in declaring pune a city of food and flavor.
Pune is also called ‘Queen of the Deccan’ more than 40 per cent of its area is under green cover. The city is surrounded by many popular hill station with a scenic beauty of Lonavala, mesmerizing view of Mahabaleshwar, peaceful site of Panchgini, rock solid trek of Baner hills and many more. The climate offered by the city is always pleasing with highly fresh and cool breeze flowing from the Western Ghats, Being closely located with so many iconic hill station the Punekar adopted a culture of stepping out on almost every weekend which helps in maintaining a healthy work life balance and regenerate the positive aura to boost their career significance. You will often hearing people keep saying Udya sakali tekdi?
No wonder the rich culture and glory of the city is time tested, from the earliest reference to the town as Punya-Vishaya. Vishaya means land and punya means holy karma it dignifiedly means a city with ‘sacred land’. By the 13th century, it had come to be known as Punawadi. During the Rashtrakuta dynasty, the city was referred to as Punnaka and Punyapur. It became “Poona“in the British regime in 1857 and was last changed to Pune in 1978.
The city is blessed and under the spiritual leadership of the most endearing deity ‘Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati’. The city tour is incomplete if you haven’t gone to the most loved and affectionate god among all the supreme personalities. For me I personally call him as ‘Gannu bhaiya’ .The story behind is simple yet emotionally important for me, since my childhood I always wanted to have an elder brother but being born in a family with two elder sisters, I never felt the regime of what a protégé feels under the patronage of an elder brother. Being curious and innocent I always ask my mother to have an elder brother (which now I know is practically impossible) so my mother introduce lord Ganesh as my elder brother, since the age of 5 for me he is my Gannu bhaiya who protects and guide me from time to time and always accompany me wherever I go, from my toughest examination to any city I visited for a vacation. He is even on my work desk in pune office also.
Before coming to pune various thoughts like how I would manage in the place with almost no knowledge of the language with nearly no one to be familiar with, complete on my own two feet with a basic culinary skills and with almost negligible bargaining power always forced me to reconsider my decision of coming to pune my heart beats fast while leaving my very own city my parents my friends kins and native behind. On my way to pune was doubting and reconsidering my decision but all my negative thoughts vanish when I joined my organization I found the people of pune very cooperative modest and homely being my colleague or even my landlord make my stay very comfortable and friendly. Within a span of few weeks I easily gelled around with the city spark and spirit.
In the end I would like to agree in full confidence what Punekar always highlights that Pune Tithe Kay Une. As it’s a city with full of culture & heritage, flavor & cuisine, Modesty and cordial approach with humanitarian grounds yet so down to earth makes pune a city of dreams. I am really looking forward to many more adventures the city will showcase to me.