Pune had it hard. Always! Forever! Most often, for no rhyme nor reason! During the Peshwa days, for instance, it was blamed for the Ghashiram Kotwal's and the horrible treatment of the spit-pot-n-broom variety, though never ever has anyone found any concrete proof thereof.
1960's onwards, that is, after the state of Maharashtra was formed, Pune has eternally been mocked for the "Sadashiv Peth" style of nasty meanness and cheeky arrogance.
The very many private universities mushroomed hereabouts circa 1990's, and Pune was known for 'selling' studies, for creating a 'market' of education.
Currently, it is getting known more as a center for drugs-n-drinks. It is almost as if it is"udta Pune", what with huge anti-drug raids, with videos of totally sozzled chicks in itsy-bitsy clothes, dancing dead drunk doing the rounds of the social media.
The extremely unfortunate recent accident has unluckily added to this negative image of Pune with a kinky and sleazy night life wherein minors get hard liquor to celebrate passing a qualifying exam, their 'doting' (in all senses of the term) fathers give them keys of high speed posh (yes, Porsche!) cars that hit I/T professionals painting the town red!
The image of Pune is now sullied thus. Hookah bars, drug trade, 'high' (yet again in all senses of the term) night life, and so on, and so on. Now, which metro city does not have these vicious vices? Even three-tier cities boast of such brash behaviour as the brand! But Pune bears the brunt.
Well, this is NOT my Pune, the pensioners' paradise, the h(e)aven of cyclists, nestled in the cocoon of seven hills, and canopied with a huge n wide green cover, with mild winters and drizzling Shrawan's. Pune sure had the elasticity of spirit to move on with the changing times. Countless khau gullies, Michelin star hotels, the recent most food styles, the city absorbed it all.
Yet there has always been about Pune a clean aura. Why, until recently, the Pune public would stand in queue to get in to the PMT buses, instead of attacking them as of now. In other words, in a very healthy way, this so-called Oxford of the East looked down upon cheap excesses of the wicked variety.
Surely, wild behaviour was never valorised. When the Jakkal-Sutar humiliation happened, the terror struck city was horrified. The murderers could not get a criminal lawyer to defend them, unlike the mowing monster who got bail in record time.
In other words, this cultural centre of Maharashtra was well-known for all the right reasons, be it the dramatics, be it the music, be it the Vasant Vyakhyan Mala, and so on. It was the centre of knowledge production, what with countless educational institutes of all varieties, the publication houses, the very many libraries and the personality development camps, and the likes.
Proud Puneites must rue the prejudiced degradation of the perceptions of Pune. The obvious reason is the influx in to Pune from everywhere. Be it students from everywhere in Maharashtra to the whole of India, the rich life style of the I/T professionals, yet again immigrating in to Pune From everywhere, have changed the face of Pune. The mask it now wears is hardly much to write home about!
Pratima@ Cities, too, have unique personalities of their own. Loss of character of a hometown, too, hurts, even when you were not born, though were brought up there. Cry, the beloved city!
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