… the beautiful red-gold sunrise peeping over the edge of Shivajinagar; the only three weeks probably when i woke up with the sun.

… the fantastic pizzas one used to get on a small stall on Laxmi Road, abundantly sprinkled with crumbly cheese and hot off the oven.

… the total pampering done by the house-keeper at my company’s Shivaji nagar guesthouse for the three weeks i was there. Hot breakfast and full, maharashtrian dinners. And anything else, whenever i wanted it, delivered with a shy smile.

… the rush to leave office on Fridays, before the boss could search for me and the subsequent fight to get into a crowded bus headed for Mumbai.

… the planning of those weekend afternoons when i couldn’t be in Mumbai; fleeing the house at times of the expected power cut and spending those three hours in an air-conditioned cinema theatre. Have watched such random movies during those times.

… Watching Marathi serials (a no-way-i’d-watch-that situation at home) with the PG Aunty, and laughing with her at the stupidity shown.

… the ultimate relief felt when all the pleading and meeting HR people and asking the boss for a release worked and i was left free to go back to my dear Mumbai.

I left Pune almost two years ago, and inspite of the fact that i hated it while i was there, now, with fondness i remember.