LIVING IN PUNE - BIBWEWADI

I wrote this piece in summer about five months ago 

BIBWEWADI

VALUE FOR MONEY LIVING in PUNE

By

VIKRAM KARVE

I have just had a full glass of delicious refreshing invigorating sugar cane juice for five rupees. You don’t believe me? Okay, just head for Vrushali Rasvanti Gruha opposite Bibwewadi Village.

Well, Bibwewadi is very much a part of Pune City and no longer a village as are Aundh, Baner, Pashan, Sus, Kondhwa, Warje, Wakad and so many other erstwhile “villages” which were merged with Pune a few years ago.  

Talking of Wakad, where I live now, I was astonished the other day to read in the property supplement of a leading newspaper that the property rates of Wakad are the same as Bibwewadi.  

Of course, you will realise when you try to buy a house in Pune that these published property rates are to be taken with a pinch of salt. But just imagine comparing Bibwewadi, which in my opinion is, at present, probably the best place in Pune to live in, to Wakad, which has a zero quality of life.  

It’s all hype. From first hand experience I can tell you that the quality of living in Bibwewadi is much better than the much hyped localities like Aundh, Baner, Kondhwa, Pashan, Kalyaninagar which may have snob appeal and pseudo elite status. In contrast, here in Bibwewadi you can enjoy true Value-For-Money living. You can take my word for it for I have lived in Bibwewadi for more than 25 years. Yes, I have lived in Aundh too in recent years, and I can say for sure that as on today the quality of life and standard of value-for-money living in Bibwewadi is much better than Aundh.  

Today Bibwewadi has got everything you want for a decent life. You’ve got excellent malls, a multiplex, good hospitals, branches of all major banks, plenty of ATMs, all kinds of shops, automobile agencies and garages, all kinds of services you normally want, schools, colleges, a deemed university and professional educational institutions nearby, and most importantly, decent affordable restaurants and delicious street food. 

Connectivity is good, with both Pune Camp and most parts of Pune City easily accessible. You have wide good quality roads, the traffic is much better than most parts of Pune, there is plenty of parking space. You’ve got the BRTS route on Satara Road (NH4), the bus service is much better than most parts of Pune and you can get a rickshaw very easily (also I have never found a rickshaw driver unwilling to come to Bibwewadi whereas getting a rickshaw for Aundh, Baner, Wakad etc is a Herculean task and you are fleeced most of the time. If you want to go to Mumbai, just take the wide Satara Road and meet up with the Katraj Dehu Bypass on the Bangalore Mumbai National Highway 4 and then onto the Expressway. And if you love animals, the Zoo and Katraj snake park are just a stone’s throw away. 

The footpaths all over Bibwewadi are good, especially on the Bibwewadi Main Road (Swami Vivekananda Road) and the Bibwewadi Kondhwa Road and you can walk relatively easily compared to the rest of Pune as the encroachments are much less. After incorporation of the BRTS, the main Satara Road is a boon for walkers and cyclists, with dedicated tracks on both sides for pedestrians and cyclists. I can easily take my pet dog Sherry for a long walk right from City Pride to the Dhankavadi signal after which the tracks disappear.

Compared to most of Pune which is densely populated, Bibwewadi is comparatively less crowded comprising mostly bungalow and row house societies with just a few high rises. Here it is greener than the concrete jungles of Pune and the air is quite pure, especially early in the morning when you can enjoy your morning walk in spacious surroundings – the roads are clear, there are plenty of parks nearby, including the new one in Sahakarnagar, and, like I did earlier, you can always go up Taljai Hills into the verdant forest there. (Of course, the beautiful Bibwewadi hill with its Seminary where we used to go earlier is now covered with buildings). Another place in Pune I always liked was Salisbury Park which even today is green and relatively less crowded. 

Are you are thinking of buying a home in Pune (a home for your family to live in and not a house to rent out or for investment). Then remember one thing – ONE LOOK IS BETTER THAN A THOUSAND REPORTS. 

So don’t go by the hype and alluring advertisements and the seductive names of some of those new townships which may give you an impression that you are in some exotic foreign locale, an exclusive island in the pacific or the Caribbean, or a tourist destination high up in the hills or a beach resort – just go out there and see for yourself.  

One more thing – beware of the word “ANNEXE” frequently used in housing advertisements, the word annexe is just used to exploit the snob appeal of the so called high-falutin localities. For example, Aundh “Annexe” is nowhere near Aundh (places like Pimple Saudagar, Pimple Gurav, Pimple Nilakh and Navi Sangvi are touted as Aundh Annexe whereas they are across the river in PCMC and not PMC)  and I saw a complex in Thergaon being touted as Wakad Annexe. (It seems Wakad is also acquiring status value!).

Well, I don’t know what’s so great about the name Aundh. In the 1960s, when we were small, Aundh was associated with the famous Chest Hospital and TB. Of course there was a genuinely elite Aundh, a princely state somewhere in the interiors of Maharashtra, but this princely state of Aundh was not the overcrowded suffocating concrete jungle called Aundh that you see in Pune today.

Hey, I have digressed. This piece was supposed to be about Sugar Cane Juice. Let me tell you one thing – you get the best sugarcane juice in Pune – no doubt about it. I have had sugarcane juice all over, but nothing can beat the sheer quality and lovely heavenly taste of the sugarcane juice that you get all over Pune in Rasvanti Gruhas. You know the secret? Maybe it’s got to do with the quality of sugarcane, maybe it’s those generous pieces of tangy ginger and juicy lemon they add to the sugarcane while crushing out the juice that do the trick. My favourite raswanti gruha – well it is Murlidhar Rasvanti Gruha [Established 1947] near Shanipar in the heart of Pune.  

Well the “smart” youngsters of today may consider it infra dig to drink fresh sugarcane juice and prefer artificial bottled colas, but for me – I love fresh tangy refreshing sugarcane juice anytime. 

They say sugarcane juice is healthy, strengthens your organs like your brain, heart, stomach, kidneys, eyes and sex organs, has plenty of protein and iron, prevents sore throat, cold and flu, and is a panacea for many ills, but I don’t know all that – I just love a tall cool restorative glass of sugarcane juice on a hot dry afternoon to quench my thirst and beat the heat. 

Cheers.

VIKRAM KARVE 

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2011
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

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About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories, creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional research papers in journals and edited in-house journals for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for almost 14 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
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© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

   

 

Book Review A LOCAL HISTORY OF POONA AND ITS BATTLEFIELDS

Book Review

 

A LOCAL HISTORY OF POONA AND ITS BATTLEFIELDS

By

COLONEL L W SHAKESPEAR

 

[MACMILLAN AND CO. LONDON 1916]

 

Reviewed by Vikram Karve 

 

 

It was indeed my good fortune to chance upon this engrossing book on Pune (Poona), the city I was born and live in. 

I enjoyed reading this book. Let me tell you about it.

 

Dear Reader, before you read on, please bear in mind that this 1916 vintage book was written for “present-day residents” of Poona by Colonel L.W. Shakespear, who at that time, in 1916, was the AQMG 6^th Poona Division, and apparently an eminent military historian who also wrote “History of the 2^nd KEO Goorkhas (sic)” and “History of Upper Assam and the North-East Frontier”.

 

Things change, a lot of water has flown down the Mula and Mutha, the anglicized Poona is now known as Pune (its original Maharashtrian name) and if you want to truly enjoy this delightful book, close your eyes for a while and transport yourself ninety years back in time from the chaotic Pune of today to the Poona of 1916 in order to enable you to lucidly see in your mind’s eye its glorious heritage so vividly portrayed by the author.

 

Eschewing long-winded prologue, the author, a military man, succinctly states his objective right in the beginning on the first page: “It is not intended to go deep into dynastic matters, but only to touch on the locality’s earliest days, and then turn to more modern times; calling up items of interest which may make their sojourn here, and perhaps their outings, of greater value to present-day residents.”   

This is not a definitive work and the reader must keep in mind the author’s intent and point of view for a better understanding of this book.

 

Tracing the genesis of Poona, Shakespear concludes: “From about A.D. 230 to A.D. 500 no specific information is found concerning this locality; but there is reason to believe that … Poona was ruled by the Ratta clan, which… became sufficiently powerful as to be styled “Maharashtra”, or country of the greater Rattas, from whence the… name Maharatta. The next few pages sketch, in a perfunctory manner, the period till the advent of English troops in 1722 and building of the first Residency west of the Mutha river, at its confluence or Sangam with the Mula river, for Mr. Mostyn, the first British Resident. There is an illustration, of an old-time painting by Henry Salt, depicting the Mula-Mutha Sangam, the City, and Parbatti (Parvati) Hill in the background that gives a good idea of the extent of Pune city before the Bund was built across the river followed by a wooden bridge near the Sangam.

 

“This brings us to the period when Poona began to possess a personal interest for the English” the author writes and than takes the reader on a series of “rides” or “outings” to vividly describe important historical events against the backdrop of geographical topography. The narrative, interspersed with apt illustrations, is very interesting and even today it would be worthwhile to walk the “rides” and see the various landmarks of heritage value and historical importance like Ganeshkhind, Bhamburda Hills and Plain, Lakdi Pul Bridge, Parvati, Panchaleshwar, the Poona and Kirkee cantonments, Garpir, Ghorpuri, Wanowri, Yerawada, Katraj, Sarasbagh, Gultekdi, Hadapsar, Saswad, Chinchwad, Induri, Talegaon, Lonavla and Peths of Poona City. There is an interesting description of the underground water ducts and conduits from the springs and lakes at Kondhwa, Katraj and foothills of Sinhagarh to bring water to Rasta Peth and ensure pure water supply to the city.

 

The meticulous account, embellished with maps and sketches, of Poona and its Battlefields, and the battles that took place thereon, has been fluently narrated in easy readable storytelling style and this makes the book gripping and unputdownable once you start reading it. However, the reader must remember that this book is written by a British Army Officer in 1916 and depicts his version of events and point of view and the perspective of that period. 

 

The book describes the defining events in the evolution of the cantonment town of Poona, which was the precursor to the modern day Pune as we know it today. It is an entertaining and informative book, a unique and rare piece of writing about an important period of the history of Poona (Pune) and would be of interest to Punekars and students keen on learning about the heritage of Pune.

 

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2010

Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this book review.

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

Appetite for a Stroll

  

vikramkarve@sify.com