Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: STAY INSIDE STAY COOL - LIVING IN PUNE.
LIVING IN WAKAD Part 1 – Stay Inside Stay Cool
By
VIKRAM KARVE
STAY INSIDE STAY COOL
Stay Inside Stay Cool. That is the best thing to do if you live in Wakad, or for that matter, if you live in anywhere in Pune.
Just stay inside your home, for if you do decide to venture out it is highly possible that you will lose your cool.
To start with there is the crazy Pune traffic, and with most of the roads dug up for the never-ending repair, the chaos is even crazier. That is why I say: The best way to travel in Pune is to go nowhere!
As far as I am concerned, the best thing about this place is my apartment – it is a “no-neighbours” apartment.
On a lighter note, yes, there are no neighbours at present since most of the owners seem to be long-term investors waiting for appreciation of their property and have kept their flats securely locked in the hope that the value of real estate in Pune will shoot up. Then, there are a few short-term investors who have bought flats to rent them out to young IT Pros and balance their EMIs and one never knows whether they will ever stay in these lovely apartments: exemplifying the adage – Fools Build Houses and Wise Men live in them. Well, I am not a real estate investor. I have bought the house to live in it, so I seem to be one of the exceptional few who is enjoying staying in my own brand new house.
Luckily, this place is not in the middle of a concrete jungle and you do not feel boxed-in by huge buildings surrounding you like in most places in Pune, and in the proliferating townships on the other side of the road in Wakad. Here you have a much better view than your neighbour’s balcony.
There is plenty of natural light, plenty of fresh air, a breathtaking view of the Mula River and its verdant surroundings, and a “feel good” vibe, which fills me with cheer and makes me happy to stay at home. I must say that the architect who designed these apartments in Rohan Tarang has done a real good job. One gets a feeling of roominess, brightness and liveliness here as this is not one of those ubiquitous cramped matchbox design flats, proliferating all over Pune, where one feels claustrophobic and uncomfortable the moment one enters.
I like my home. First impressions are good and as far as the other aspects like quality of construction, amenities, maintenance services and promises kept are concerned, well, it is early days yet and I will tell you in times to come.
Where is Wakad?
If you drive along the road from Aundh to the Rajiv Gandhi InfoTech Park at Hinjewadi in Pune, the moment you notice a large number of hoardings advertising various apartment townships in the concrete jungle, which you can see to your right, you know you are nearing Wakad. Well I am quite fortunate since Rohan Tarang is not in this overcrowded concrete jungle but is the solitary housing complex to the left side of the Aundh-Hinjewadi Road adjoining the Wakad village on the banks of the Mula River.
One of these billboards features a sexy skimpily clad model frolicking in a cool blue swimming pool with an iced cocktail in her hand and has the catchy slogan: Stay Inside Stay Cool. (I wonder whether the gorgeous beauty is really going to spend the rest of her life staying cool sipping cocktails and having fun in the swimming pool of that luxurious township or any of the others in the vicinity most of them bearing fancy enticing names reminding one of exotic destinations). Most of the advertisements for these so-called integrated townships exhort you to stay inside and claim that with all the amenities provided inside it is best to stay inside and there is no need to go outside.
Well I am not going to spend the rest of my life inside the walls of a ghetto immersed in a swimming pool or working out in the gym or brooding inside my house – no Stay Inside Stay Cool or Stay Inside Stay Enthralled for me.
So I am going to go out, walk all over the place, drive around, explore, and tell you all about living in Wakad. By the way, I am quite fortunate that Rohan Tarang is not located inside the overcrowded concrete jungle coming up in Wakad, but is the solitary housing complex towards the southern side of the Aundh-Hinjewadi Road adjoining the serene Wakad village on the banks of the placid Mula River which affords quite a picturesque view from my balcony, especially at sunset. But then, everything has its pros and cons.
Bye for now – Stay Inside Stay Cool and don’t forget to read my ramblings on Living in Wakad right here in this blog of mine.
VIKRAM KARVE
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VIKRAM KARVE educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale, and Bishop's School Pune, is an Electronics and Communications Engineer by profession, a Human Resource Manager and Trainer by occupation, a Teacher by vocation, a Creative Writer by inclination and a Foodie by passion. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles in magazines and journals for many years before the advent of blogging. He has written a foodie book Appetite For A Stroll and a book of fiction short stories which is being published soon and is busy writing his first novel. Vikram lives in Pune with his family and pet Doberman girl Sherry, with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.
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