I had been putting off saying anything about my time in Pune, farewell and all those compelling but clichéd topics that plague every college going student's psyche right around the inevitable going away for good moments. Something happened today though, something surprising and unnerving and frankly a little heartbreaking- that also became a great incident to sum up and put in a whole my experiences of life in Pune. I am the less than even a little- street smart girl who goes all guns blazing, enthusiastically into places and experiences which don't always make for the most perfect AFTER stories. However Pune coming here, studying here were all good solid decisions which I’ve not regretted for even a second- all the jumping into things that has happened here has only made for fond memories, for safekeeping and to cherish forever.
“People are just nice here”, a cousin (who’s lived in Delhi much of her young adult life- a key detail not to be overlooked) and who had recently graduated from an institute in the city told me before my first year of law school but being the cynical, take no one and nothing at face value person that I am, I attributed her unbelievable level of love for the city to the usual collegiate withdrawal symptoms and farewell blues. I realized an year into classes here- she was totally speaking from the heart. It’s been said of Germans that behind their gruff and distinctly not pleasing to the ears speaking style, they are actually quite friendly. I feel Mahrashtrians are afflicted by a similar contradiction (correct me if I’m wrong and I’m willing to be criticized for this definitely no expert comment)- they have a crude and almost confrontational style of speaking, from auto drivers, the college kakas to the one good broker (brokers as a breed are blood sucking rodents and pretty much suck anywhere in the country- make that anywhere in the world- not that I know about the world but i bet I'm right) to finally the subject of my note- my gruff sounding, frowny faced, aged landlord who uptil now I thought hated me with a vengeance and stereotyped me as one of those girls from the north who are up to no good. How little I knew and how little we all do really, when making our snap judgments which are more often than not based on very little evidence and broad generalizations. I’ve never really gotten to know this man and never really had to interact with except for the few and far in between times he has come to check up on the bathroom plumbing, to take away his old furniture from the spare room, accompanied I’d like to add here with his sweet faced bespectacled wife who reminds me of my own maternal grandmother and helped each time in thawing my frosty assessment of her husband. Today I felt like I knew him or a version of him- understood what he is/was all about (I do NOT bullshit) He came to the flat today- two hours back to be precise, unannounced which does not happen ever- hes nothing if not decorous in his behavior and always informs atleast an entire day in advance and at a reasonable hour- hell always call early evening or morning-(an aside- maybe it’s a generational thing- my broker whos perhaps a 6 years older than me always drops unannounced, rings the bell till even the bell is frustrated never leaves his shoes at the door- isn’t that a mahrastrian thing too?- and calls anytime between 10- 1 for completely pointless reasons.) But I digress. He rang the bell, was escorted inside by my flatamate, made his way to my room, knocked on my door and when I opened- this is what he said- with tears or water or something visibly glistening in his eyes- beta come whenever u want, back here and stay,rent key bina stay and mil key jaana ok, be happy, nothing is more important than that- being happy. (An aside- maybe I’m a sucker and I am….kind of but I feel myself tearing up even while writing this.)
Ive made some friends in pune ,lost some friends and messed up some relationships royally. I’ve also hardened myself in the process while also resigning myself to the fact that things always happen for a reason and its literally NO BIG DEAL. My aged landlord who walks with a crutch and a frown on his face is no friend of mine but this last day before I leave the city for good is bizzarely enough the person responsible for bringing out all the nostalgic memories id been bottling up and honestly burying for a while. He made me realize quite acutely that the urban lifestyle is best suited to unexpected friendships-like the completely random way in which I met my first friend in pune who later became a bitching buddy while we dealt with and handled the same broker for 2 years, discussed how we missed smalltown life and do u know anyone whos looking for a roommate discussions. Nothing connects two people more than a common enemy, commonality of experiences and adversity. Or the first pg mate who won me over with her adorable sindhi-ness and the only person who has a nickname for me- one I actually like or the other equally memorable pg mate who was a rock for one eventful year of pg life and who bonded with me over a shared dislike of our uncommonly, unlikable landlady. Not to mention the numerous other college friends- all of whom were befriended in completely random ( I apologize for the over use of this totally apt word) ways- over sharing of tng worries, in a random French class unrelated to college curriculum etc.
Finally, if I had to, HAD to chalk out the most important life lesson from the many learnt while living "alone" in this city I would say I learnt how incredibly mysterious life is- how unpredictable, how things just magically happen without any warning- friendships have a way of just fading into oblivion, new friends just unexpectedly enter your life-maybe they were meant to (ignore the sappiness if you're not similarly inclined). Through it all, there’s the charm of never knowing how you're going to end up and who will make it to the end with u. like my landlord- god bless him- said the goal really is just to be happy.
(P.S. Maybe I'll come back and take him up on his offer- an offer for an unlikely friendship perhaps- we can ALL use all the help we can get to get thru life right? Right?!)
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