When it comes to Pune, I can’t forget P L Deshpande’s famous satire ‘Tumhala Kon Whaychay – Punekar Mumbaikar ki Nagpurkar’ (Who do you want to be – Puneite, Mumbaikar or Nagpurite). Even after a few decades, his words are so relevant. And this is exactly what I like about this city. This city can change from time to time but its people will always remain unchanged on the inside.
People of this city are dynamic! Now let me explain this! They believe that they are dynamic but they will not agree with the generalisation of this statement. They agree that they have their own identity however they will never be identical. They love this city and its ethos (this is a topic for another article), however they will not love its people unconditionally. They want better infrastructure but they don’t like seeing their city changing. They believe in rules and they also believe that everyone else should follow them. They believe that unbiased criticism is important, however it should be aligned to some (their own) logic. They accept that change is the only constant however constantly changing things are of no use. They believe in taking a stand and that anyone else doing this is probably going to ruin the city or its culture. And this list is full of dynamic paradoxes. Isn’t it unique? After so many ‘newcomers’ in the city, this paradoxical characteristic has remained unchanged. And frankly, I am happy to be a part of this dynamic movement of paradox. It makes the life of this city so unpredictable. And unpredictable is interesting.
I have seen so many people coming from other cities and becoming Puneites. I have also seen people who don’t want to belong to this ‘conservative and conventional’ thinking and in order to prove this, they go settle in comparatively newer and cosmopolitan suburbs of this city. They fool others and themselves by doing that and start the similar movement in that part of the world with their sophisticated approach. They start new trends by not following what is trending otherwise.
New Puneites believes in inventing their own #hastags. If we decide to be an ‘intellectual observer’, Pune can define its own social media rules. In fact why restrict ourselves to this ‘frivolous’ world of the internet? Puneites can define rules for the changing world. And dare you think we have a superiority complex. We are humble and modest people who are proud to be intellectual compared to the 95% of mediocrity in this world.
Considering above mentioned points, ‘I love Pune’ is too modest a statement that doesn’t do justice to my sense of pride for the city. It suits only cities that are full of transit crowds such as NY!
Disclaimer: This is not a work of fiction. It is based on my life and experiences of living in Pune and being a Puneite. All my views expressed here are laced with sarcasm, the one characteristic that is intrinsic to every Puneite reading this.
Rugwed Deshpande
Director Setu Advertising
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