Pune updates: August 30th till date

Hey there...

Its been real long that i put something here, the reason being obvious: My deputation to Pune for a period of 2 months. It looks like I have become oblivious to the world outside Pune. I am nearing completion of my deputation term, and here I am penning down the rendezvous of my tenure here at Pune.

Initially before leaving for Pune it was a mixture of feelings for me, at one end i was going to be away from home and Sriman and at the other end i was gonna revisit my memory of the best times of my life that i spent here... I was gonna see all those places, that i could recollect... All the time spent at ISquareIT with friends, the movies (E-Square and Inox), the visits to Natural Icecream Parlour, My College, The company where i completed my internship, Burger King, the visits to the temple on the hillock of hinjewadi, the late night drives in across the IT park around my college, CCD visits, Our birthday parties..late night maggie... Midnite Christmas masses etc etc etc Gosh I had so many memories of this city. and I was going to be staying there for a month.

Pune... The city which always mesmerised me with its efficasy and grandeur makes me nostalgic. It is here that i spent 2 years of my post graduation days, and it is here that i got placed into CA, my dream company which also gave me my best pals... So many memories associated with this place.
Another biggest advantage i had was, my brother had just moved to Pune for a new job just a month back and I already knew it would be a homely environs for me... These were the thoughts that made my decision tilt in towards Pune work and i was at my usual self, calm and composed.

I left Goa on the 30th of August with Preeti. The plan was to catch a flight from Goa to Mumbai, meet my friend Dhiru at Mumbai and then take a cab to Pune. I was already running late and the web check in would not work on my GPRS and so was the Phone checkin not working. Dhiru to the rescue... thank God. He did the Web Checkin for us. We reached Mumbai at 5pm. Chatted with Dhiru at the Mumbai Airport and then we took a cab to Pune at around 7pm. Our Colleagues who had were also on deputation along with us had already reached Pune tht morning. We reached the company designated hotel at 11 in the night. There i had landed back to Pune and my stints with this City started.

Pune has changed a lot over the 3 years that i wasn't here. I was so surprised to look at Aundh... It has turned into a commercial center. Earlier it was just another village in Pune. So many shopping centers and eateries. Pune has always been an education hub and is always full of students everywhere. Looking at the groups, i could embed my group's faces into theirs... My college life was just passing in front of my eyes and i was yearning to be there again... with all my friends.

My Group here in Pune consisted of Me, Bharath, Preeti, Mahesh, Harsha, Sheetal and Nitin...The Goa Group. I have always noticed some kind of bonding that links people of same locations when they meet outside their location of comfort. And the same happened to us. We gelled so well with each other, that we din't feel we were working out of Goa. The familiar faces had now turned into pals. The coffee breaks, the visits to cafe's, the birthday treats, pulling each other's legs during lunch and cofee...

My work over here is very hectic with sometimes we staying late too, which was not a common phenomenon back in Goa. But thanks to our Goa group, working was also fun. In the meanwhile Sriman had paid me a visit after 15 days in Pune, kind of a change for me..Work interspersed with fun... and time seemed to just fly. We just didn't realise that a month had already passed by. and it was time for Harsha and Bharath to go back. Mine, Preeti's and Mahesh's stay had been extended for a month. The evening these 2 people were supposed to leave was a sad kindof... It meant that 2 members from the Goa group were going and we would just be another 5 of us. It meant less fun :(

Since 2nd October was a holiday, we planned our much awaited Goa trip. 2 days in Goa and we were totally replenished. Another 15 days was normal for us, Since it was Diwali time, it meant lots n lots of shopping. Sriman paid a visit again over the weekend before Diwali and it meant more shopping :) . Diwali visit to Goa was fun with so much festivities going on... The only regret was, i just reached Goa on the Diwali morning at about 7, missed out on the Narkasur Competitions. It also meant culmination of Nitin and Mahesh's deputation, so now it was only me, Preeti, and Sheetal. And the Goa Group was reduced only to the 2 of us, Me and Preeti, since Sheetal was now on a permanent transfer to Pune.

Its just another week more in Pune and we will be back to Goa. I can see the ecstasy on Preeti's face wen i mention the end of our deputation. Shez desperately waiting to go to Goa and continue with her normal lifestyle which has all turned topsy turvy. Frankly speaking, it does not make any difference to my lifestyle whether i am in Goa or Pune or Hyderabad... these 3 places are so very close to my heart. I just feel like myself wen i visit these places...

All my initial thoughts of visiting the places in Pune that i had once roamed about took a backseat. Somehow i couldn't come to terms about roaming alone on those streets which once i used to visit with my entire group of six. and believe me, I did not visit any of those places including my college, Its just that i can't make those memories resurface again, as it would mean a pain deep down somewhere... The pain of being in Pune without all those friends...

Pune will always remain an integral part of my life wherever i go... and i don't think so the city will be alien to me even if it changes its face so frequently...
Pune will always remain the old Pune for me, the place where i had spent the best 2 years of my life...