A love affair with Pune

 Strolling through these streets today, I started reminiscing about the time when I first arrived here. A clueless, under-confident, insecure, heartbroken 17-year-old who decided on a whim to move out of home. All I knew then, was that I did not like who I was, and this is the city that was going to transform me. This city was going to be where I was reborn, metamorphose into the best version of me.

I was the weird girl who entered the first day of college with an orange shirt and a purple belt. I struggled with striking conversations, fitting in, and making friends. I didn’t know who to share a desk with, what to do during free lectures or who to have lunch with. I could see that people around me were different, smarter, and definitely more confident. I failed to understand how some people seamlessly fit into groups, laughing, and joking away as if they’d known each other forever.

But every day, I woke up with a newfound determination to make this my home. My eyes sparkled every time I walked through the gates of college. I used to walk for miles imagining how beautiful life could be here. I think there is something special in the air of Pune, I think it makes you freer, and rids you of your inhibitions. I had a pocket full of dreams, and I knew this is the city where I would make them come true.

Through ice cream dates, washroom chats, college events and watercooler conversations, slowly and steadily I started finding my people. I saw how everyone was lost in their own way, and how we were all so different, yet alike. Late nights in college, drunk nights in high spirits and high nights in the hostel found me my comfort circle. We were in a constant state of discovery – of new hobbies, new cafes, new friends, new scenic spots, new music.

I fell in love- with myself, the people around me and with my life. The corner bar which we called home, the college tapri which we ran to after every lecture, the mess where we were always complaining about, and so much more. The balconies and terraces of every Viman Nagar house that behold the most beautiful sunsets. The beautiful skies and the hiding stars. The never-ending drives and not-so-pretty lakes. The overload of food to trying every new type of alcohol. To drunk nights and hungover days.  From the first experience of setting up my new room to learning how to roll a joint. There was abundance everywhere- of love, of smiles, of drama and of opportunities.

This was the place where I realized my passion for HR, this is where I decided to give up everything and move to France, this is where I found a wonderful boy to fall in love with, the place I decided to do an MBA. This place has seen almost all versions of me – the nerd who supplied notes to her entire batch, the freak who went to the gym twice a day, the cool girl who partied one night before exams, the stalker who had all the gossip, the traveler who was always planning her next trip, the broken hearted who did not get a job in her dream company. Here is when I truly recognized my ambition, my love for travel and my desire to be a lifelong learner.

It’s been 7 years since then, and I look back with awe to the 17-year-old Saasha, who showed such immense courage, belief and optimism and made a home out of a city she had never been to. I can hope she would be proud of me today.