Abhi To Bas Shuruat Hai!

Image used for representation only

 

2nd AnniversaryEvery now and then, dear reader (and if you are anything like me, much more often), it behooves us to pause, put one’s feet up and reflect on life as it has passed us by.

Where are we today, and how did we get here? Is this where we wanted to reach?

What went wrong along the way, and what went right? And in my case, increasingly so over the years: what the hell is going on?

And so, in this spirit of rumination and reflection, I bring you this column, and at an entirely opportune time: Pune365 completes two years today. And this is momentous news for a variety of reasons.

One, because all cities across the world, not just Pune, need more local, feet-on-the-street coverage of news that matters to us at the level of our community. There is a deluge of sources for news from across the world and the country, but there are very few sources, and even fewer online, that do this job across smaller agglomerations.

I know what happened in Texas yesterday, but tend to be foggy about the goings-on in Tathawde.

Two, while the need for these local sources has increased, their survivability is actually more problematic every year. More and more newspapers the world over keel over and collapse under the weight of trying to compete with kittens on YouTube.

More power to those that survive the great attention deficit wars. Doing so isn’t easy, but hey, somebody’s got to do it.

Three, and this is unique to Pune, we need (now, more than ever), a clear sensible voice asking us repeatedly if we have actually become smart. Personally, if you ask me, we have patently not. In fact, in many areas, most notably public transportation, we are worse today than we were, say, a decade ago.

But that is a longer story for another day – and it is precisely this story, and many others besides, that Pune365 has been showcasing for twenty-four months now.

And finally, and most importantly, because two years of Pune365 surviving and thriving has also resulted in I being able to supply you with crucial nuggets of information about critical areas of your life. While Pune365 does offer you news that matters and is relevant about the city you live in, it also is a platform for beer-bellied smartasses like me.

And who else, I ask you, would have forced you to think long and hard about peanuts in poha, eh?

But I kid (obviously), and I digress. This is about celebrating a plucky little website that celebrates a city I love beyond measure.

That this website is not hesitant about holding up a mirror to it, warts and flaws and all, is what I like best about it.

And it is my firm conviction that my city is much better for it. And will become even better in the future, too. Even, I proclaim in a spirit of giddy optimism, including the construction of the Pune Metro.

More power to you, Pune365, and congratulations on a job very well done. Onwards!

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#EditorsNote: Thank You Sir! We are most touched by this tribute and more so, since it comes from a die-hard Puneite who doesn’t hesitate to call a spade a spade. Gratitude. 

Ashish Kulkarni