Chp 792. Adios Pune

This will be my last blog update from Pune as I have to pack up my computer after this for the Movers & Packers to pick up. My first blog post after moving to Pune was this – "Of Pune and Blog friends" and man, just reading through it again brings back so many memories! (Daniel and Zodin, you have to read this and see how small your kids were back then)

I have written 235 blog posts since then, in a course of 5 years, and many of them will remind me of the magical moments I had in this great city. To be honest, as my friend Rami never fails to remind me, I did hate this city when I first arrived, but it slowly started growing on me, and by the end of my first year, I was already in love with this damn place.

My house :'(

Of course some of my Mizo friends say I love Pune only because I live in Koregaon Park. Well, living in KP, that too alone with no flatmates to split the rent and bills with may be expensive, but it has a lot of perks. Here are my top 10 reasons on why I love living in KP so much.

#1. First of all, I have complete privacy. I can watch TV shows naked or cook naked whenever I want because I live alone (though my dinner guests often complain about that so I started wearing at least an underwear when they come over :P ).

#2. Everything from the top restaurants and bars to nightclubs and spas are just walking distance away from my home.

#3. I can get everything home-delivered, from groceries and cigarettes to alcohol and even ready-made cocktails!

#4. No electricity blackouts or water shortages, like ever, along with seamless broadband service and mobile 4G data. Uber and Ola also arrive in less than 2 mins any time of the day.

#5. We also get soft water, unlike most of my friends' places across Pune where the water is hard. You know what hard water does to your hair and skin right?

#6. The crowd moving around my apartment are always awesome, cool and classy, even the beggars wear Gucci and stuff :P

#7. It takes just 10 minutes for me to walk to office and back home.

#8. No Temples, Mosques, Churches or other places of worship nearby, so there are no bhajan or azaan sound you can hear throughout the day. I know some of you may think that is not a politically correct thing to say, but I'm just being honest here. My apologies if you are offended.

#9. Have I not mentioned about the number of awesome eatery joints and roadside snack vendors below and around my apartment? It's not just the number of different eateries, they also keep changing! I have seen at least 20-30 different joints setting up and being replaced with a new joint during these past 5 years itself. And I am only talking about the shops below my apartment.

#10. "This is KP, mannn!" :D

I mean, living in KP is like living in paradise, and that's what some of my friends in Pune assume I am doing, living the Mizohican dream.

But actually, it is not always happy happy for me. I have never told anyone this, so I'm just going to mention it here in my last post for the first time -> Living in KP can get very lonely for a person like me.

I have a lot of awesome Mizo friends here in KP. They all live like 5-10 minutes walking distance from my place. But the thing is, except for a few students, around 95% of Mizos living in KP work in the Service industry. They're all here working their asses off at various hotels, day spas, shops, parlours, restaurants, pubs etc. And so, the two days that I am free from office - Saturday and Sunday, are the two busiest days for them instead. Hence there's nobody to hang out with in KP during the weekends, and so I would just stay at home alone, watching yet another TV series marathon. I even started hating the weekends because of this.

Yeah, like I said, loneliness can be deafening.

Of course I have a lot of other wonderful friends outside KP too, but then again, there's the distance, and another thing is, most of my age-group friends in Pune are all married, with many of them having kids and stuff. You understand what I'm saying. We still chill out together and have lots of fun, but you can never chill out like bachelors again because of so many commitments. But nevertheless, I will miss each and every one of them.

There are so many things I would like to mention in this last post, but I think I have already said most of them in my past blog updates. The shortest goodbyes are the sweetest.

And so, as I close yet another chapter of my life, I thank all my friends here in Pune who have made me enjoy living here so much. Thank you all for so many wonderful memories. I will miss all of you dearly, and hope that one day, our paths will cross again. I wish you all the very best, take care everyone. God bless you all.

Mizoram, here I come home, with my entire life's belongings. I've been staying outside the state since class 3, so be good to me Mizoram, be nice and gentle to me.

Signing off for the last time from Pune, Mizohican out.

Chp 791. One Last Ride to Lonavala

The first time I went to Tiger Point / Lion Point at Lonavala was two years ago when dear Esther dragged me out of my house and tried to make me see the finer side of Pune instead of just staying at home the whole day watching TV shows [Read: A Trip to Lion's Point].

Since then, I have been there many times again, mostly as fifth wheel or seventh wheel with friends, and usually drunk :D

Recently, my dear friend Sanga who had also retired from the Corporate Life earlier this year and went back to Mizoram for good, recently came down to Pune again, and we had our one last ride to Lonavala.

On the day that we were supposed to leave, we all woke up early at our respective houses. We went in two cars. Gary, Sanga, Christina and Tuli in one car, and Pazhiio, John and me in the other car.

We were all so pumped up that after Pazhiio and John picked me up from Koregaon Park and drove for around 30 minutes, we ended up back at Koregaon Park again! :D Yeah, I knew something was wrong when we passed Khadki Martyr Cemetery because it wasn't on the way, lolz.

So eventually we all switched on our GPS, took a U-turn and found the right route, lolz. Great fun. Picked up the good stuff on the way and we did the customary pose.

Ahhh finally the Expressway.

We took a brief pit-stop after the Toll gate.

McDees. Enough to keep our engines running.

And with that, we were off on our way again.

Finally, reached Tiger Point.

Cute wild monkeys everywhere, eating anything the tourists were feeding them.

Tuli and Christina having fun.

Lewlz. Some people never grow up.

After that, we decided to take our drive further to explore some of the other places around Tiger Point.

We found a perfect spot.

My awesome OnePlus 6 camera :)

After loitering around for some time, we decided to even go further.

Beautiful. Soon we reached Aamby Valley premises.

The entrance to the much exclusive Aamby Valley City.

For those of you who don't know, Aamby Valley is a private gated community for the uber rich folks in Maharashtra. So random tourists like us cannot just enter the place. They even have their own private airfield and hangars for all the private jets landing there.

For a private community boasting of billionaires and millionaires, it sure is funny to see nobody fixing the broken sign on top of the building :P

On our way back.

View from the car in front of us.

View of the car in front of us :P

We found another virgin spot on our way back. The place had a breathtaking view.

Off to take more pics.

Pazhiio in action. Now that is dedication when it comes to taking a pic! :D

We looked like we were about to drop our meanest album and this was the album cover :D

Christina posing.

Tuli also wanted to take pics at the same place :D Ah, the struggle you go through just to have a high like count on your Instagram update. :P

Pazhiio resting from all the yoga pose photography :D

Again, my awesome OnePlus 6 photography :P

We stopped by a pottery barn on the way back home and Sanga bought a couple of stuff to take back to Mizoram.

Sunset over Pawana dam.

And finally on our way back on the Expressway.

Such a fun time indeed, and is truly memorable to me as this was our last ride there together. I will miss all this a lot, and will always remember these awesome places once I head back home.