Pune Diaries : 14th March 2009 ..... KP is truly awesome !

One thing is for sure with personal issues (yea imagine a dumbass like me can also crib about them!) I couldn't catch up with Pune diaries for over a month since early February. This trip was long due with me not able to meet over with the best people in my circle at our favourite destination-Pune. My excitement knew no bounds with me booking Shivneri tickets well in advance for the journey. In the early hours of a beautifully drizzled Saturday morning me got down at University Circle. Believe me, everytime me gets down there, me has a strange feeling...something people called nostalgia...me calls it eternal love for the city that taught me everything from work to betrayal to love to friendships....nw its a part of me. Anyways moving ahead the occassional rains in the months of Feb-Mar maketh the city absolutely scenic and me loved every part of it. It was time for some reunionisin with old time chums like Manbhawan and Sahil over the their lively assortments. And then came by the original gurus of love...Amol (Santbaba) and Rajeev (Lucky Dog!). Yea dude, not the greatest description but yea me has to admit it was quite a riot with Divya joining us in the cafeteria. One of the best times of my college life, was spent like most of us at the cafeteria, whinning over the missed marks..checking the latest chic on the block to discussing abt class room dynamics (read politics). And it was no different then as well, with us starting off from where we left previously. Well Amol had just started taking on his seniors at his workplace for a very serious offence: they gave him work! Rajeev had just returned from Bangalore after his training and was enjoying his stay at the place to be KP (whatta place to live in!). Divya well, someone had again fallen for her, we were discussin plans to evade him.

This time we decided to crash over at Rajeev's latest pad . There are very few places in India where we get to find Jaguars and BMW's more than autorickshaws and KP sure wins the race hands down. His flat made our day for sure, it sure is amazing to be cuddled up in the lap of luzury with your best pals to fool around. As the eve descended we headed for some much needed KP darshan (no prizes for guessing our real motives). The crowd of Pune has always been a mix with great diversity owing to the number of foreign students flocking to Pune for a better tomorrow. This is quite evident at every corner of this upmarket area with a considerable number of eateries customized to the tastebuds of the goras. Also there is a certain level of comfort that surrounds them in a place like Pune where a fair skinned bloke would not invite the usual stares suggesting: "Oh my God he seems to be a foreigner". Our evening walk ended with some desi fare rounding up our Saturday.

Sunday mornings have always been a lazy affair and with two similar fellas around we slept in great style till we realized we were getting late for the morning show of Gulal. Besides the fact that we bonded over some common disliking for some fellow comrades, we have always believed that there is no second to KK Menon when it comes to acting in Bollywood. Gulal turned out to be much beyond our expectations, in short a complete Paisa Vasool. The fact that like most Anurag Kashyap films(excepting the very well recieved No Smoking) even this one was blessed with great music added to amazingly well scripted flow of the movie, Gulal is quite a watch. Once done with our lunch at Gold Adlabs(which is a shade of any Adlabs for Mumbaikar) we returned back to his place. As the evening drew by, we all knew it was time to bid adieu with the hope of reuniting in the near future.

However my journey was far from complete with Amol and me having to return back to the city which never sleeps before our routine began. Inter-City Express is quite a landmark train for commuters between Mumbai and Pune since its the fastest in this route. Sometimes I find it quite enthralling to meet people who actually embark on this journey every day of their lives for their livelihood. Its quite something, take my word for it, if you have to commute for over 350 kms for work every day of the year.

Gotta leave now, Thane station is up in 2 mins.......