<p>A couple of months ago, my wife and I went over to Pune. Though we now live in Bangalore, we had earlier lived in Pune, when it was Poona, for over 18 years.<br /><br /></p>.<p> So this was a sort of homecoming for us, and we were looking forward to reviving old friendships and visiting old haunts.<br /><br />As we drove into Pune, the first thing that hit us was the roads: they were broad and had an even surface! Being used to roads in namma Bengaluru, we thought this was just one or two roads in Pune, but we were pleasantly surprised to see that most of the roads in Pune were very good. The Punekars do not know what they are missing, driving along roads where you have to watch the road and avoid potholes. Suddenly the two wheeler in front of you swerves to avoid a pot hole in front of him, and you jam your brakes, what excitement! They miss all that.<br /><br />Coming to pavements in Pune, they are evenly paved and ‘walkable.’ They miss all the exercise that we get in namma Bengaluru, jumping and stepping across missing stones in the pavement. Free exercise for all. Sellers of vegetables, tender coconuts, second-hand books and other nick-nacks and snacks of different varieties in Pune are unaware that they can take over the pavement for displaying their ware, but we in Bengaluru tolerate these ‘friendly’ hawkers on footpaths, and get on to the road at a risk to our own lives, with vehicles whizzing past at real speed. <br /><br />Parking is another issue. Punekars are not aware that they can park their two wheelers across the pavements! They still park their two wheelers in properly designated sites! In namma Bengaluru, the pedestrian, poor man, has to walk around all these obstacles and most often has to get on to the road, again at risk to life and limb.<br /><br />Places of worship are another pavement presence. In namma Bengaluru the pedestrian does not have to exert and go all the way to large places of worship, he can worship and pay his respects (and donate some money), right there on the pavement! Punekars do not enjoy this modern age facility.<br /><br />Honking by motorists is another thing that we missed in Pune! In namma Bengaluru, if you are at a red light and the light then turns green, the person behind you and the one behind him and the one behind him and so on, all start honking in 2 to 3 seconds! This then forces you to honk, so the guy in front of you, makes a move! Punekars miss all this musical interlude and have to deal with mostly silent roads, except for noise from an occasional visitor (probably from namma Bengaluru, new to Pune).<br /><br />All this gives an idea of what fun the Punekars are missing. It is high time they too got into the namma Bengaluru pattern, and got to enjoy life!</p>
<p>A couple of months ago, my wife and I went over to Pune. Though we now live in Bangalore, we had earlier lived in Pune, when it was Poona, for over 18 years.<br /><br /></p>.<p> So this was a sort of homecoming for us, and we were looking forward to reviving old friendships and visiting old haunts.<br /><br />As we drove into Pune, the first thing that hit us was the roads: they were broad and had an even surface! Being used to roads in namma Bengaluru, we thought this was just one or two roads in Pune, but we were pleasantly surprised to see that most of the roads in Pune were very good. The Punekars do not know what they are missing, driving along roads where you have to watch the road and avoid potholes. Suddenly the two wheeler in front of you swerves to avoid a pot hole in front of him, and you jam your brakes, what excitement! They miss all that.<br /><br />Coming to pavements in Pune, they are evenly paved and ‘walkable.’ They miss all the exercise that we get in namma Bengaluru, jumping and stepping across missing stones in the pavement. Free exercise for all. Sellers of vegetables, tender coconuts, second-hand books and other nick-nacks and snacks of different varieties in Pune are unaware that they can take over the pavement for displaying their ware, but we in Bengaluru tolerate these ‘friendly’ hawkers on footpaths, and get on to the road at a risk to our own lives, with vehicles whizzing past at real speed. <br /><br />Parking is another issue. Punekars are not aware that they can park their two wheelers across the pavements! They still park their two wheelers in properly designated sites! In namma Bengaluru, the pedestrian, poor man, has to walk around all these obstacles and most often has to get on to the road, again at risk to life and limb.<br /><br />Places of worship are another pavement presence. In namma Bengaluru the pedestrian does not have to exert and go all the way to large places of worship, he can worship and pay his respects (and donate some money), right there on the pavement! Punekars do not enjoy this modern age facility.<br /><br />Honking by motorists is another thing that we missed in Pune! In namma Bengaluru, if you are at a red light and the light then turns green, the person behind you and the one behind him and the one behind him and so on, all start honking in 2 to 3 seconds! This then forces you to honk, so the guy in front of you, makes a move! Punekars miss all this musical interlude and have to deal with mostly silent roads, except for noise from an occasional visitor (probably from namma Bengaluru, new to Pune).<br /><br />All this gives an idea of what fun the Punekars are missing. It is high time they too got into the namma Bengaluru pattern, and got to enjoy life!</p>
