Pictures: Kalyani Nagar, Pune, GoldAdLabs food mall and multiplex cinemas; huge traffic in the western suburb of Andheri in Mumbai, an approach road to the airport; Bishop's School in Kalyani Nagar; view of K'lyaninagar from across the river; my housing complex in KNagar.
In my last post, Sunday 31st August, I had said goodbye, would be away for around 3 months. I am back in Auckland in two months(!) time, arrived here yesterday, 2nd November, shaken and stressed after a very hectic trip to my former home, Pune and Mumbai!
My wife and I had planned to spend 3 months there, catch up with old home and roots, friends and the not so friendly..........and two months were more than one could take, and my pleadings with the wife had the right results; we were lucky to get air tickets from Malaysia Airlines changed, cutting short my trip by a month. (Now don't get me wrong, everybody loves home and more nostalgic for their old/past home, memories; I will miss the rich spicy food, but also ruefully reminded I had to load myself with digestive tablets to get the food down. I will miss the wonderful people who are good friends and hosts, nice times at homes, restaurants and clubs. But the dust and pollution, daily power cuts from 6 a. m., for some six hours, the same "hostile" neighbours who choose to play cricket in my vacant car garage, the long 12 days to get the new refrigerator replaced, endless trips to my electric power distributor, the MSEB, to register non use of power as I reside abroad......and the feeling of some intimidation at the pompous wealthy showing off their spanky(?) clothes, and adorned with huge pieces of imitation jewellery at even informal places as tambola gatherings!!!)
Flying out from Mumbai on the morning of 1st November, departure 12.05 a. m., a stopover in Kuala Lumpur and a flight to Auckland that arrived here at 12.55 p.m. on the 2nd. Good to be back!!!
Now, you will ask me, "how come you said there is likely to be no internet where you are going. No internet in India?" Let me explain. From my experience 4 years now, when I last visited my previous home, Pune, I knew it was pointless to expect any difference in this situation. My house in Pune is located in the western suburb of Kalyani Nagar; and the problem?
There was some unresolved telephone cable mix up; no amount of checking and turning things around could get my internet connection working. That was in 2005......the telephone and internet chaps had messed up cables leading to my wing of the housing complex where my apartment is located, hence blocked for internet. Several visits from the tele company linesmen and technicians, more polite requests, some shouting matches, and some filling up of greasy palms(!) had no positives...........to be fair to those blokes, I could see they could not find the problem.
With a massive boom of (building) construction, electrical, telephone and internet cables (and water lines) are laid in badly planned dug-ins , then dug out and relaid several times over.
Although I write this blog and other stuff, I am not a "computer geek" so I did not carry my laptop PC this time.
To understand the economic boom, one has to see it first hand and better, if the previous few years, in my case 2005, have been experienced first hand.
We, my wife and I, landed at Mumbai airport at 10 p. m. on 2nd Sept.
Immigration folks have some 20 odd counters, so immigration check took less than 10 minutes; the customs chaps are a little behind........several red channels and only 2 green, here long queues ........but the baggage Xray is quick, and no questions asked.
We had our rental chaffeur, a small man in plain plain clothes, waiting with a cardboard sign, my name written on. He stood with a motley crowd of chaffeurs and anxious family and friends looking at the arrivals as these swung out from the exit gate with the usual trolleys piled with baggage; here a couple of confused tourists were franctically gesturing at cops.
I was surprised by the Chevrolet "Tavera," a comfy but high, 5 seater van, airconditioned but somehow wobbly.....................more surprised and a trifle scared at the thick traffic, its around 11.30 near midnight(!)
Crawling through the traffic, with cars and trucks changing lanes recklessly, vehicles inches away from several collisions that somehow don't occur, we reached the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Here, it was awesome to see the 6 lane road to Pune, (3 lanes in each direction), some 160 kilometers, jammed for most of the way with heavy loaded trucks groaning with raised engines, and our heroic driver doing zigzags through these sluggish monsters. It was frightening and awesome all at once.......... one part of my dazed brain registered that the economic boom keeps this highway busy with trucks past midnight. (Economy boom, yes, but planning, no. Its an old story, the railways, a government monopoly from the days of the British raj, never want to run more freight trains, hence this huge thrust on road transit of most goods.)
This Expressway, leading to Pune, connects with the Bangalore Highway, before the approach road to Pune on the western outskirts; and further east, roads through Pune connect to Hyderabad, both Bangalore and Hyderabad are major software centers in southern India, and further south roads turning east and west connect to cities of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. (states of South India.) The trucks bear licence plates with MH (of Maharashtra), GJ (Gujarat-north of Mah. transiting goods to south India also through this road), and similarly-PN (Punjab) RJ (Rajasthan) etc etc, a virtual who's who of India's regions and states.
As usual, leaving the Expressway, some of the city roads, in Pune, were more craters than road, the driver proudly pointing out several new hotels that have sprung up in this business town. Pune, one time capital of the Mahratta Peshwa empire, then a British cantonment with squat bungalows in black or beige stone, then a pensioner's paradise and some mansions of the Mumbai rich who vacationed here, is now a huge business center...........cars, including the Merc., and scooters are made here, forging units, pharmaceuticals, heavy industries, and now software parks and outsourcing, telemarketing and call centres..................drivers 'transporting' young call centre staff all times of the day and night even have their own labour union!
I learn to appreciate the reckless driving my rental chap subjected us to, because we reached our home at 3 a. m. and I realised if he would have followed the good global driving norms we would have reached atleast 3 or 4 hours later, chugging behind those slow heavy laden trucks.
My home, an apartment, roughly 1500 square feet spread over the building's 4th and 5th levels, got it painted before we arrived, was, however, covered with dust, the furniture in particular, and the dust covers as well.......a thick coat of dust. That took almost the whole of the first day to dust and clean up.
In the hot sultry climate you cannot do all the housework, you need domestics; after several interviews and false promises of turning up for work, we got ourselves a domestic, Sunita, after a patient wait for a week. The old domestic, also Sunita, turns up, bursts into tears, declares she has to work for us and wont take no for an answer, is hired to come later each day to cover up for the other Sunita!
We had placed order for a new refrigerator and were not at all pleased, it had a dull grey exterior, it seemed a fashion in India to go for grey shades! By our second morning we realised it was not cooling, and several calls later ............"sorry, sir, this is the ................ department, you need to ring this .................. department." and " sorry, sir, who gave you this number? we don't deal with this kind of complaint.......please call up the ............. department," and "I am taking down your complaint, but you also need to contact the manufacturer's local service centre." We were then visited by technicians from the dealer and the brand's service centre.........several multiple visits later the piece was replaced 12 days from my first complaint..........in the meantime stocked meat, eggs, and frozen fish went into the rubbish bin and we had to make do with local take home. (The Japanese better have a good look at the after sales service in Pune!)
Kalyani Nagar, is a highly rated suburb on the eastern outskirts of Pune, with new housing complexes offering clubhouse, pools, jaccuzis, penthouses. Several new groceries and food malls, Spencers, Reliance Fresh, More, and Big Brother, shops by Levis and Pierre Cardin, and a shopping mall, GoldAd-Labs, which include multiplex cinema, several banks, this posh suburb still has the old narrow roads with new cars tearing down, their occupants flushed with new wealth, both poor pedestrians and the several stray dogs getting out of their hurtling path.
Most global car manufacturers, Toyota, Ford, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Skoda have a manufacturing base in India, and BMW, Audi are great favorites.
More in the next post.
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