Pashan is Beautiful ! Serial One : A Tryst !

A Tryst with Pashan

It was 1999. I had come to Pune for 3 days to see my eldest daughter. She was studying MCA/MCS at Symbiosis. I traveled on Neeta Bus leaving Mumbai early morning. No doubt, the stretch along Lonawala was as enchanting as I have known it from other sources. Upon entry into Pune from Mumbai-Pune bypass highway, I was struck by the beauty of the area that sprang up from the assimilation of the natural landscape and artificial engineering. A 5 KM stretch was completely surrounded by 100M high mountain range, except excusing the gateway road to Pune University. I was so engrossed in sight seeing through the window that I did not notice the presence of an elderly gentleman standing near my seat, to get down from the bus. We looked at each other. He quipped with a sigh-“See! What they have done to this city. This place used to be the heaven of Pune. Now all around concrete jungle is mushrooming”. A white complexioned, grey hair, square faced man with a vibrating tone. I had heard this voice. I have seen this gentleman. Long after he got down, it struck to me that he could have been the famous character actor, Dr. Shri Ram Lagoo.

In the last 16 years, I visited Pune umpteenth times. My three children were getting educated and settled in Pune. This gave me opportunity to stay at several places for a good period of time. My first abode was off Law College Road near the Film Institute of Pune. In fact, that area pumped fascination for the city in me. After that, I stayed at Aundh. It was a place just like any other suburb of an environment friendly city. Viman Nagar had nothing additional to offer as it was being built on a desolate land near airport with all the latest state of the art technology. Dhanuri prior to Lohegaon had the same essence but with a vacant hilly land on the North side that provided me rich Oxygen in the morning.

Pashan is different. It is picturesque personified. It was as if, the God has arranged to fulfill my earnest desire to know this place and know well enough, get intoxicated and intoxicated well enough with the beauty and the effervescence of inhabitants of the place.

Now that, I am sad to say that I am leaving Pashan and would not be back here again, I owe this city and the place of Pashan my gratitude and thanksgiving. Oh! Pashan you are beautiful!

The year 2016 gave me an opportunity of having a 2 months stay at the heart of Pashan. The terrace of my 6^th.floor apartment faced west. It towered above the cross road of Pashan-Sus and Baner link road. I looked at the Google map. The West went up to Biodiversity Park Mountain. The East reached up to Chaturshringi temple and the University. A road also bifurcated to enter the Armament Colony on its way to Khadagvasla. The North revealed Baner. One kilometer South was the famous Pashan lake. Interestingly, one does not have to turn around to reach back to the starting point. All such outing could be completed in a circuitous way, clock and anti-clock wise. The location and the landscape around reminded me of the Kawadi flower that blossoms in the spring season in Maharashtra. The flowers has petals representing roads, veins on the petals being by-lanes and alleys. One would find encircling mountain ranges and temples all around.