Once upon a time there existed a peaceful neighbourhood in Pune called Aundh. Perhaps the almost magical somnolence was related to being far from the maddening crowd. Kids cycled to schools, adults sauntered along the kadappa-paved footpaths to shops and, true story, cows could spend afternoons patiently browsing at one corner of Parihar Chowk. The police workshop was a buzzing hive of activity during the day but the massive tree and creeper cover provided plenty of shade for sparrows, owls, squirrels, mongooses and cuckoos.
The city fathers, operating on the principle that all good things must come to an end, eventually turned their beady eyes towards this slumbering haven and dealt the coup de grace in a jolly roundabout maneuver popularly known as Hinjewadi Infotech Park. Cut to more recent times, where the same neighbourhood is now a chaotic hellhole choc-a-bloc with traffic, all of which seems to be headed to a plague spot called the Westend Mall. While assholes parade up and down the road sheepishly parking their bikes and cars in illegal ways, stuffing their pimple and cholesterol filled faces with a ghastly assortment of crap, longtime residents of Aundh suffer in silence.
Perhaps no blow has been more cruel than the joke called the Smart City Initiative, of which Aundh may be a dubious beneficiary. How else is one to explain:
There's no point in getting nostalgic but I am unashamed to declare that I miss the old Aundh. It was a better place and I am reminded of it every time I walk, or rather, resignedly hop, skip, jump and twist on the footpath along the workshop road.
Song for the moment: Chasing Pavements - Adele
The city fathers, operating on the principle that all good things must come to an end, eventually turned their beady eyes towards this slumbering haven and dealt the coup de grace in a jolly roundabout maneuver popularly known as Hinjewadi Infotech Park. Cut to more recent times, where the same neighbourhood is now a chaotic hellhole choc-a-bloc with traffic, all of which seems to be headed to a plague spot called the Westend Mall. While assholes parade up and down the road sheepishly parking their bikes and cars in illegal ways, stuffing their pimple and cholesterol filled faces with a ghastly assortment of crap, longtime residents of Aundh suffer in silence.
Perhaps no blow has been more cruel than the joke called the Smart City Initiative, of which Aundh may be a dubious beneficiary. How else is one to explain:
- The narrowing of roads on which cars and bikes have increased, wait for it, 50X FOLD
- The digging up of perfectly leveled kadappa footpaths on the workshop road and their replacement with concrete interlocking bricks which neither interlock nor level out
- The wonderfully timed running out of money to finish whatever the hell the motherfucking politicians were attempting on the Bremen Chowk road, leaving, I kid you not, half a footpath jutting out onto the road
- The turning of grass and bush covered police land on the workshop road into a quagmire of broken pipes, an abandoned Indica, packs of hostile stray dogs and mounds of rubbish (a legacy of the improvements being undertaken on other roads)
- The Westend & Reliance Malls AND DMart: Seriously... explain these turds and their location along ONE SINGLE-LANE road
- The illegal pottery and nursery flourishing on designated park land opposite Aundh Gym
- The illegal food stalls forming a triangle of evil along with McDonald's and Westend Mall
There's no point in getting nostalgic but I am unashamed to declare that I miss the old Aundh. It was a better place and I am reminded of it every time I walk, or rather, resignedly hop, skip, jump and twist on the footpath along the workshop road.
Song for the moment: Chasing Pavements - Adele
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