Author: Archana

Once a Physiotherapist now a Wordsmith. Field Botanist. Bonsai. Proud Indian. Fauji Wife. Doting Mother and Mother-in-law. Devoted Grandmother. Reluctant Cook. Happiest on a road less travelled. 60s are the new 40s ;-)
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What is it about Pune…

Pune. A city where the old and new, high and low tech coexist peacefully…
“Pune tithe kay une”
Roughly translated it means: Pune does not lack anything….
Be it culture, science, nature, music, sports and so on…

The city has some unique features that set it apart from any other city in the world.
Note: in the world!
Yes, Pune has that special something that stealthily sinks its claws into unsuspecting individuals so that somehow they are irrevocably attached to it. Ask any head hunter and they will attest to this fact— getting a candidate from Pune to relocate to a better job in another town is next to impossible. Look around and you will find several non-Maharashtrians have made Pune their home.

So what is it that so attractive about Pune?

  • Weather? Maybe… A few decades ago homes did not have fans, old timers claim. Difficult to believe now as every house boasts of atleast one AC or other cooling devices.
  • Water? Yes that may be a reason as i am told that may cities depend solely on borewells. We have the luxury of sweet treated water supply but that too is fast becoming a rarity with vast mini city developments around Pune.
  • Electricity? Yet another potential reason that may attract people from rural parts as I am told they face extensive power cuts particularly in summer.
  • Roads? While the city is small enough to technically allow travelling from one end to the other in half an hour, practically this is not the case. small roads, congested lanes, erratic public transport are a huge deterrant. The roads prove that Pune can be a strong competitor for the title of the city with maximum two wheelers!

Some Pune peculiarities:

  • Old-time shops shut every afternoon for a siesta
  • Industrial and Electricity holiday on Thursdays
  • A row of rickshas at a ricksha stand but none ready to ferry you to your destination
  •  Rude-sounding sign posts (for miscellaneous instructions) that have become legendary. Check out this site: http://www.busybeescorp.com/puneripatya/thumbnails.asp
  • A surfeit of ‘exotic’ trees
  • Extravagant Ganesh visarjan processions that continue long after the official religious ‘immersion’ time has ended
  • The one and only Tulshibag, where enthusiastic shoppers from near and far stand cheek by jowl to buy stuff that is apparently available only there… No signs of a recession in these parts or in the adjacent Laxmi Road as well.
  • Bohri Alee, the one stop source for hardware purchases at rock bottom prices.

The list can be endless. Do you have any suggestions? Do write in or comment…

Till then,
Take care.
Archana

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Tiffin Tales

It has always been a mystery to me if a
school Tiffin box and its contents really inspired excitement in its target
consumer. From the hosts and expert cooks on TV cookery shows this certainly
seemed the case. This sent me back to my daily morning tussle to innovate and
put in something interesting (child’s requirement) and nutritious (my
requirement) in the box. 
When my daughter was still in preschool,
it was pretty smooth sailing. A sandwich/ fruits/ laddus or any other
savoury stuff made (home or ready-made) sufficed. Once into full time school I
had to give something more substantial especially for the lunch break.
Obviously this meant some variety of roti (Indian flat bread) and subjee
(vegetables) either separately or in a roll (to be called ‘frankie’ in a bid to
glamorise the preparation) or all mixed and rolled together as a stuffed
paratha (a form of Indian bread). The end product required the food to be
kept dry or risk feeding books in the bag. Obviously it would be testing any
child’s patience to expect him/her to eat dry roti/subjee six days of the week
for years together so little ‘extras’ were always demanded. On days when the
unfortunate bhindi (ladies finger) or karela (bitter gourd) found
their way into the plastic box they had to be countered with ‘extras’ that were
rated at the other end (high) of the scale like chips/ French fries/
chocolates/ cola in the water bottle etc. This of course had the rider that the
vegetable could not be repeated for a couple of months AND needed a peace
offering of a pizza for dinner. 

Tiffin content planning demanded
creativity and variety. At one point I had chalked out a weekly tiffin plan
with due inputs from my child of course. This was negotiation skills at its
best for both of us – usually she won for the extra category and me in main
foods category. You win some you lose some, that’s life. This continued all
through the school years. In a candid moment I was privy to confessions of the
fate of some tiffins at school. When truly hungry or when contents were
agreeable, there was only option namely – eat the stuff. Sharing was something
that took on different hues as when one had to get rid of something one did not
like or could not risk taking empty Tiffin home. Hell hath no fury like that of
a Mom confronted with an uneaten school Tiffin. I learnt that some kids quite
easily emptied the disliked/ uneaten foods into the dust bin else out of the
school bus window on their way back home, Mom would never know. Did somebody
say thinking out of the box? 
All this was obviously for foods coming
in at a low rank on the popularity scale. Topping the charts at the other end
of the scale, the ‘extras’ made the tiffin bearable and school worth going to
in some phases. However like all popular stars these too faced threats and from
the most unexpected sources…
One has heard of petty thefts at school-
a new pencil, eraser, handkerchief etc etc. But this incident took the cake,
almost literally…
A strange phenomenon occurred while my
child was in class four. As the school was some distance away I used to include
an additional small snack to cater to any food pangs during the return journey.
All was well for a few days but soon this food went ‘missing’ from the tiffin.
For the first couple of times I was excused as probably having forgotten but
when the tiffin lacked this vital ingredient day after day, things got serious.
Soon more kids were affected and action was called for. After verifying from
authorities (Moms) that food was indeed put into the tiffin, the kids concluded
that there existed a food thief among them. To add insult to injury, this
person ate up only the goodies in the tiffin leaving subjees for the
real recipients. No one would have complained if subjees had gone
missing…
Teachers were informed, the principal
brought into the loop but kids decided to take some action. The laddus were
doctored at home to have a core of chilli powder. Chocolates were removed from
wrappers and replaced with stones, papers or other similar stuff. They took
turns in ‘guarding’ the classrooms when kids went out for other activities. It
was not really clear what finally succeeded but one fine day all kids got their
full tiffins and the pain was over. Some said it was one of the kids, others
spoke of a monster and with kids’ overactive imagination there were new
culprits and causes daily. The academic session ended very soon and the entire
batch dispersed to new places and the matter ended there. 
Tiffins continued into college days as
well but now I had added help in the form of aluminium foils/ cling
films/absorbent tissues and zip lock bags, containers all in fancy ‘food grade
materials’. There were times when I had to make do with canna or banana leaves
to wrap food- they make an excellent wrap by the way. Even now the tussle of
what to put into it went on as before. The security of having Tiffin full of
tasty food is the most comforting thing for a child away at school/college and
worth Mom’s every effort. Every full Tiffin reflects maternal love and each
tiffin returning home has a tale of its own to tell.
Cheers!
Archana
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Shop and eat at Laxmi Road

Walking on Laxmi Road, Pune is an extremely trying affair. The place is terribly crowded at practically any time of the day (most shops here are open all day long unlike other true blue Puneri establishments that close for a siesta) and any time of the year. Moving from shop to shop, climbing up and down their rickety stairs and discussions about design/texture/colour (with your co-shopper) and price (with the shopkeeper) and (after transactions are successfully concluded,) lugging around your bags in the heat can test the resolve of even the most dedicated retail therapist!

So where does one go to restore the body as it were, the spirits having already being restored with the now lighter wallets?

Janaseva Bhojanalaya (Dughdha Mandir)  is an ideal spot to rest the limbs and restore much needed glucose to your systems. It is strategically located towards the Alka Talkies side of Laxmi Road, where the usual shopping haunts peter out… (I have not mentioned this place in one of my earlier posts about Laxmi Road.)

Its an old and small unpretentious hotel that has been revamped to some extent. Let me assure you that the menu remains faithful to its tradition, offering most Maharashtrian snacks (and few South Indian ones as well). The place is clean, the food is tasty, fully vegetarian and one cannot really complain about the prices.

Presently there are two sections in the hall. One is for Mithai and Namkeens for take aways. The other is the self-service dine in (you can get items from this menu packed as well) where one has to simply order and pay for whatever you want and relax your legs, back and arms as you wait at the tables. The billing machine is connected to the kitchen and your order is automatically transferred to and prepared by the chefs there. A tinkle announces your token number and then you can tuck in to your hearts content!

The menu is not very extensive but Sabudana Khichadi, Batata vada, Sabudana vada, Kharvas, Modak, Doodhi halwa, Misal pav, Thikhat Sanja, Kothimbir vadi are top favourites.

So the next time you are tired after shopping on Laxmi Road, head to Janaseva- you’ll enjoy it.
Cheers!
Archana

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What’s in a name?

Some years ago, I wrote another post with a similar title. Repeating it could mean:

  • lack of ideas on my part (wrong)
  • repeat post (wrong again)

OK lets not stretch this… Unlike the previous post where I wrote about MY name, this is about names of women. Rather, roads named after women…


Interested? I recently read this article on the BBC website which mentions that very few roads across cities in the world are named after women. Immediately I turned to my city and looked around trying to identify such roads here in Pune.





Horror of horrors Pune city too seemed to be bitten by the same bug as has bitten the ‘road naming’ authorities world over. I assumed that roads are named after people who have made important social, medical, scientific, cultural etc contributions to society or under political compulsions…. Logically this should include both men and women. Yet for every 8-10 roads named after men, I found only one road named after a woman.


I have found no reasons for this strangely skewed ratio.


From my limited search, here are the roads I located. Of course some of the names were only surnames so it could have been either that of a man or woman so we must give the benefit of a doubt…

  1. Kumidini Pednekar Road
  2. Kashibai Khilare Road
  3. Kamlabai Bhat Road
  4. Dr Banoo Coyaji Road
  5. Kalika Devi Marg
  6. Savitribai Phule Road
  7. I was unable to confirm if the famous Laxmi Road is named after Rani Laxmibai or the Goddess or any one else…

Can you spontaneously reel of names of 10 roads named after women in your city/town?


So what’s in a name? Nothing or everything, depending on your point of view.


Until my next post, do read names of roads you travel on. Thanks to our zealous corporators, most Pune roads now have big blue signboards.


And yes, if you find more such names in Pune, do write in. Please do not endanger yourself in trying to read such sign posts and always follow traffic rules.


I have not included names of “Chowk” (Squares”) but I guess they warrant inclusion as well. We must update that meagre list above…


Take care!
Archana


P.S: Adding to the above list:
8. Adarsha Mata Sonumai Joshi Path


P.S.S: Thanks to inputs from all my friends I am happy to add more names to our list. Please scroll down for the new additions.


9. Sarla Nivrutti More Path
10. Laxmibai Vishnu Sane Path
11. Shobha. H. Kolte Path
12. Rashtramata Jijamata Marg

Updating the list on 29 Dec 2014:
13. Iravati Karve Marg
14. Minatai Thakre Road
15. Kamlabai Bhat Road


Update on 02 May 2015:
16. Kai Vimlabai Shankarrao Pachange Path


Update on 07 Dec 2015
17. Swargiya Vijayatai Kenjale Path


Update on 22 Dec 2015
18. Kai. Shrimati Gayabai Shyamgiri Gosavi Path
19. Kai. Jaai Bapu Vairat Path
20. Nargis Dutt Road


Update on 22 Jan 2016
21. Kai Shalinitai Khunte Path


Update on 26 Mar 2016
22. Dr Annie Besant Road


Update on 23 Sep 2016
23. Kai Sau Ramrati Ranulal Rathi Path


Update on 12 Dec 2016
24. Late Smita Patil Road

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I’m back

Like the dialogue made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger “I’m back” to e-space!
Various commitments in and out of Pune followed by plain old laziness took me away but that is no excuse…
On my return, what do I find? Following local elections, Pune is engulfed in a water crisis as the high point of a day is hearing the growling engine of an approaching water tanker! Whatever the reasons for the sudden water cuts, its something we have to live with till the rains at least.

A drive around the city shows that spring has settled in despite huge temperature variations. The golden blaze of the Tabebuia can catch you off guard and take your breath away even as the Jacaranda casts a soothing bluish haze over the tree line and a blue carpet at your feet… New leaves on the Moha blush as the Casia grandis preens in its pink glory competing with the greenish white fragrant blooms of Shirish.

I can go on but its better to walk down the streets and look up at the trees and enjoy this lovely season.
They too seem to be saying “I’m back” despite the changing climate, tree cutting and so on...

Cheers!
Archana

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Something Special…

Our tenure at Bhuj was among the most memorable for me. Besides the wonderful people we met there, I was honoured to get an opportunity to work with the lovely children of Dhanvantri School. Founded and managed by the dynamic Dr Shantuben Patel this is a one stop halt that caters to all needs (education, therapy and counselling) of special children. I am richer from this experience and from everything I have learnt from Shantuben.

At the outset let me make it clear, that the school is forever filled with joy and laughter and optimism. This arises from the diminutive soft spoken power house called Shantuben!  The school was razed to the ground in the 2001 earthquake yet Shantuben and the teachers relentlessly worked on. Their efforts have resulted in a beautiful new complex that offers succour to special children from in and around Bhuj.

There are several large-hearted benefactors that help keep this noble venture going and the school recently got a wonderful new gift- a school bus. The gift was made all the more special as the one and only Big B, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan did the honours by presenting the bus keys to Shantuben.

Due to commitments, he was unable to visit the school, something the children were really looking forward to. When Shantuben reached the school, they reverently touched the keys as ‘He’ had handed them over. Such unquestioned, unadulterated adulation and adoration and respect has to be seen to be believed. We do hope that Mr Bachchan can visit and spend time with the students of Dhanvatari School in future.

Here are some images of the children and their new bus.

In case you happen to be visiting Kutch or Bhuj, do make it a point to visit this school. It’s not about what you can give the school or its children but the hope and optimism that you will can learn from them….
Good Luck!
Archana

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Shaken…

After a long time, I read this article that really disturbed me. The Dec 26, 2011- Jan 09, 2012 issue of the Outlook magazine has several articles that describe ‘food trails’ in different regions. I have read several such ‘food’ travel articles online and in magazines but none was as stark as this one.

The article is entitled ‘Sweat of Shiva’s Back’ by Amita Bhaviskar and describes the food and life of Bhilala adivasis. Perish any thought of a romantic account of life in the jungles. Far from it. Having said that, at no point does the article deteriorate into a ‘sob story’ of their difficulties. In a simple stark manner, the author describes their food habits that are totally dictated by the lives they lead.

Initially the botanist in me was struck by their use of the Mahua flowers and its oil and liquor made from it. Then as the words sank in, the magnitude of their situation hit me.

A friend of mine spent some time at Melghat and her account of the conditions there was of abject malnutrition, illiteracy…

Despite tall claims of our esteemed economists, industrialists and the government of being an economic superpower in-waiting, our politicians continue to focus on the caste system for their own gains, female infanticide is still rampant, girls are ‘married’ off to banana trees or earthen pots prior to marriage for some obscure ‘dosha‘ in their horoscope as their mothers and relatives look on approvingly…. (I have never heard of the same proceedure for a prospective groom, are their horoscopes universally excellent and free of doshas?). Does this mean its the darkest before dawn or is it all just a mirage? I don’t know…

Its true that ours is a vast country of diverse geographies and people. One size will not apply to all. The cities see a 24X7 rat race for more money, a bigger job designation, a bigger loan (to keep up with the Jonas’ in terms of creature comforts) and a slowly bigger list of diseases… Some migrate abroad in search of a ‘better’ life.

All this while folk from our villages fed up of lack of income and wanting a ‘better’ lifestyle come to the cities in search of the proverbial pot of gold…

We have lived in some pretty remote and disturbed areas, experienced the ups and downs of soldierly life. Combined with my work with disadvantaged kids I thought I had developed a thick skin… I was wrong…

Take care..
Archana

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Have we really evolved?

After my
daily tussle with completing home chores, the maid, telecallers and other
invisible forces, I zoomed out of the house to make it to work on time. As my
car idled in the choc-a-bloc traffic, my mind was in a spin. Though totally
unrelated to the IT industry, current developments at Satyam had disturbed me thoroughly. What was worse was
that it seemed only to be the tip of the iceberg of a widespread rot.
I
remembered a proverb: “Power tends to corrupt, and
absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men”.
The current incident is
certainly not the first but for whatever reason we simply shrug off and move
on. Some call it resilience or is it that we just don’t care? We are so
preoccupied with our own needs and wants that nobody wants to learn.
We go about
stoically as terror/scams/ Nature’s fury unfold in some distant place affecting
somebody else. Why bother, I am not affected… What it is that must drive such
attitude, such apathy?

We are
totally engrossed in reaching our own pot of gold at the end of the rainbow
come what may. Stopping for an accident victim or going that extra bit to save
the environment or even help in safety of our neighbourhoods seem to be a
hindrance and burden. Trust – that is the basic premise for any transaction
including business or social is fast becoming extinct.
Greed
(whether for tangible or intangible assets) fuels unethical / unlawful
behaviour and always leads to disastrous results. How much is enough? All said
and done irrespective of our earnings, one needs only six feet by three feet
space to sleep on and one can eat only about 250 gms of food at one time and
that too judiciously. Any more and it brings along uninvited guests like
diabetes, heart ailments.
Man claims
to be at the top of the evolutionary chain with his wrinkled grey matter and
mastery over baser instincts. Yet do we not display the same animalistic
characteristics that remain coated in a thin garb of so called urbanity? In the
perennial rat race we call a career, we search for a better position and better
pay packet but the winner still remains a rat. In his letter to
regulatory authorities, the outcast IT czar too likened his position to that
of, “riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten.”
So
complacent are we about our superiority that we go about plundering and
destroying nature. We pride in keeping our homes spick and span but dump all
refuse outside. Atrocities on and exploitation of women continue across all
economic strata and communities. Road rage, intolerance and disputes among
communities for trivial reasons often end up hurting everyone and the issue
remains just there- unresolved. If it ever existed that is….
A round of
horn blaring jolted me out of my reverie. My daydreaming had insulated me
partially from words being showered on me for delaying cars behind me. Hastily
I shifted to first and moved on, my mind a whirlpool of thoughts. Are we just
animals in urban jungles, some selfish uncaring creatures morphed from Homo-
sapiens? Have we evolved at all?
Think about it…
Have a good day!
Archana
This was first published on 17 Jan 2009 on 4indianwoman. That site is not available online anymore.
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Of Trees and Tree Hunters..

Recently I participated in an interesting event- A Tree Hunt organised by the Pune Muinicipal organisation along with some organisations and noted tree expert Shrikant Ingalhalikar. Rest assured this is not another post describing trees. Its about how people reacted to the trees around them.

Instead of wasting time, lets get straight to the point.  Most Tree Hunters were ladies of the baby boomer category. Hardly any men participated and I did not spot any youth- If some did take part, I have missed them.

Our task was to travel along a given route and identify and write down the trees we see on both sides of the road or those in people’s homes/gardens but visible from the road. Simple right?
Wrong!

We were given a list of common trees that would not be counted in the final tally! Now this complicated the situation as Buccha, Khaya, Gulmohor, etc were the most obvious ones and more populous. One could write number of each species thereby getting more points but that gave the event a tinge of being a Tree Census rather than a Tree Hunt. Any way. That is not the point.

Being a sunny winter day, there were many people grouped around trees on the roads. At one particular site, I just could not identify a particular tree and kept going round and round it trying to look for any flowers or fruit. The leaves were too high to be able to touch them so I had to make do with what I could see. A couple of youth had parked their bikes and were busy chatting. They just couldnt figure out what I was doing. One of them finally came and stood beside me and peeked into my papers. Now both of us were peering up at the tree.
“Do you know the name of this tree” I asked.
“No, I am trying to find out!”
Not much help there, so I turned to a shopkeeper with premises right under that tree.
“Do you know the name of this tree? Does it flower and what do they look like”
“I dont know,” he said, “I have never seen flowers in so many years!”

How could anyone ignore such majestic greenery growing above them? If this is the situation with mute living trees, then it explains people’s apathy to reacting to any accident or misdeeds around us….

A little ahead, a tree grew right along side a hutment. It had an interesting flaky grey bark and plenty of legumes hanging amid its leaves. Again this was a stranger to me. Inquires with people there yielded nothing. They did not know the name, if at all the tree flowered or bore fruit (yes, there are some trees in Pune that do not flower or fruit). The tree had grown such that it was almost stuck between two homes. A staircase went up to a home, right along the huge trunk but obviously people gave it as much attention as a stone lying on the wayside. A friend of mine later told me that it was a Phansi (Dalbergia lanceolaria var paniculata). I plan to go back and properly see the tree in April when it is supposed be flowering!!

Across the road was a huge tree with a massive trunk. By now I had no hesitation in asking people around about its name. I still hoped someone would give me an answer; not to ‘help’ my answer sheet but just to reinforce my faith that people paid attention to trees around them. I was not disappointed. Yeah!! There was some hope after all… The gentleman sitting under the tree pointed out a paper pinned high on the bark that listed various trees and this one’s identity was ticked off… Waval… His next question totally floored me:
“Are you going to cut this tree?”
It took me quite some time to explain that I was not any ‘tree authority’ and did not have any such nefarious intentions. I was only trying to identify the tree.

The people living there must obviously be proud of their tree and concerned about its survival. I do hope it is not axed down as part of any development plans.

Trees give us shade, oxygen, flowers and fruit besides being home to some other fauna or at times plants. Like us they are a part of Nature. They are necessary for our healthy existence. Plenty of trees have been cut down in our city for various reasons- some avoidable some not.
Its not too late. Wake up. Look around. Take care of your trees and they will take care of you…
Cheers!
Archana

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Music Festivals: Dos and Dont

Winter is a beautiful season in Pune. Besides lovely weather, excellent veggies (I refer to their quality not price!), sales and exhibition galore, there are usually several cultural programs as well. Despite several artists performing throughout the year, the period following Divali is particularly busy. Music festivals both small and big mean a virtual auditory feast for music lovers! And these are not simple three hour affairs, but are spread over a period of 3-5 days.

Since 2003 I have attended several such ‘utsav‘ because that is what they are – music festivals!  The audience obviously largely comprises die hard music lovers. However there is a small percentage of people who are present there simply to accompany their loved one who loves that particular music genre/artist or to
merely ‘log’ their presence at the event or youngsters (a rising number of them seen these days) who tag along with their ‘group’. Prestigious events like the Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen (the last name added from this year) attract Hindustani music aficionados from across the seven seas!


I like music. I enjoy music but for me it has to be in small doses in relative comfortable seating. A full music therapy dose comprising five hours daily for five days is not something that I can tolerate. After a while, the back and neck start complaining and the mind begins to drift as the eyelids droop …
I have now developed a strategy to make the experience more enjoyable.
Those in such a position will benefit from this post. 

  • First and foremost, scrutinise the program and identify the artist that you like. The trick is to arrive late or leave early so one can catch this performance.  
  • Watch the interactions between the supporting artists and other musicians on the stage. I firmly maintain that a live performance demands excellent team work and good leadership as they deftly share the limelight, let others lead and combine their efforts to have the audience eating out of their hands and asking for more—which is what the program is all about! 
  • Next up, carry a book or newspaper or better still, your iPad or Kindle. Dont we read and listen to music at home then why not here?? Do ensure your neighbours are not disturbed.
  • The by now ubiquitous smartphones are a good way to be physically present but mentally absent. There is lots you can do: for starters…update your twitter or facebook status, update your blog…
  • For the tech-averse- look around and watch expressions of people around you, admire sarees of other ladies in the audience (yes, some of them really do turn up in wonderful outfits, exotic bindis and earrings-whether its their normal way of dressing or customised for the event is something I wouldn’t know).
  • Explore the variety of food stalls outside- a must for foodie Punekars (one needs nourishment to appreciate music after all) or stalls selling music CDs etc. Usually one can find relatively uncommon recordings and artists at such stalls. Irrespective of your seating (the elite sofas or the down to earth ‘bharatiya baithak’ all stand in the queue and partake from similar plastic cups/paper plates. After their performance, some artists are often spotted checking out the fare on offer!
  • Scan the people thronging these stalls or the audience rows to identify any one whom you know. This is vital particularly for those who wish to be ‘seen’ at the right places.
  • Carry along a pillow/bolster (especially if your seating is in the ‘bharatiya baithak‘). they are very useful for a quick nap or to support that aching low back! 

As far as don’ts are concerned (ref title post): Those who cannot or will not tolerate music, should best stay away from such events.

We would welcome more innovative ideas. Till then, enjoy!
Archana
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