Pune is a visitor’s nightmare.
Right
from when you set foot in the city, either at the airport or at the
railway station, there are auto-wallahs waiting to rip you off. (Unless,
of course, you happen to know the Marathi language, in which case they
always charge you the actual rates.) For anyone who is planning to visit
Pune and is unfamiliar with the sights and sounds of the city, please
note that the auto rickshaws here mainly serve the purpose of taxis.
Accordingly, you have to ‘reserve’ an auto rickshaw for your journey and
cannot split the expenses with fellow-travelers headed the same way (as
is the case here in Kolkata). Further, each auto rickshaw has a meter
installed on the iron grid that separates the passenger seat and the
driver’s, and it surprisingly records not the amount traveled but the
kilometers traveled. How to figure out what actually needs to be paid,
you wonder? Well, each auto-wallah has a fare chart – he is required by
law to have one – wherein the kilometers vis-à-vis the cost incurred are
mentioned quite clearly. Of course, the said auto-wallah may offer
incredulous excuses of how he tragically lost the fare-chart or simply
refuse to show it to you, in which case you just need to multiply the
reading on the meter by 8 and then add 2. For example, if at the end of
your journey you find the meter reading to be 6, then (6x8) + 2 = 50
Rupees is what you need to pay. It’s the same anywhere in the city.
Now, in case you’re wondering how it is that an auto-wallah may refuse to show you his fare chart and get away with it, the raison d’être is that you won’t find any policeman to report him to! In fact, you’ll be hard-pressed to find policemen anywhere in the city! Wonder what they’re up to!
Also, in the city of Pune,
the concept of privately-owned buses is nonexistent. All buses that
ferry people from place to place are painted yellow-and-red and are all
run by the city government. The buses are thus quite crowded and
difficult to travel in, and the auto-wallahs are left reeling in the
cash.
Cutting
to the chase, unless you own a car of some sort, or at least a
two-wheeler, traveling around the city is a downright pain-in-the-ass.
Not to mention really expensive. But one thing I really liked was
that the number of women – young and middle-aged – that I spotted
piloting two-wheelers in my three-day stay in Pune was far more than the
number I’ve spotted in all my years in Kolkata put together.
For
regular and frequent smokers like me, there is the added disadvantage
that shops selling cigarettes are not really a dime a dozen. Far from
it, actually. And for Kolkattans in general, or at least those of us who
love street-side food, the sad fact is that there aren’t any small
shacks selling finger-lickin’ food (at affordable prices) lining the
Pune roads; what can be found instead are large restaurants and other
such eateries that do serve good food but cost way too much.
‘To sum it up’, as I said in the Group Discussion where I barely spoke, the city of Pune
isn’t really a dream destination by any stretch of the imagination. I
had to visit because I had work to attend to. I wouldn’t advise anyone
else to drop in unless he/she absolutely has to. I’m back home now and I really don’t want to go back there.
(Or, maybe I will. If I manage to gain admission into a particular institute situated
atop
a hill. If I do gain admission there, perhaps the pleasurable company
of a particular member of the opposite sex will outweigh the displeasure
of living in Pune in the first place.)
p.s.
For people who do not know who it is that I talk about above, please
keep your noses (and your guess-work) out of my personal business. I am a
rather insignificant person, and surely you have better things to do.
Thank you.
