What do you do when you’re neck‑deep in work, your boss is always on your back and you’re seriously contemplating life choices? If you’re me, you’d go on an impromptu overnight trip to Pune — that’s what. In January of 2020, I, a person who has hardly ever taken any spontaneous, in‑the‑heat‑of‑the‑moment decisions, decided to go to Pune with a friend of 7 years.
As daughters of strict Keralite parents know (shoutout to this very niche group) getting permission to go on such a trip — and that too overnight — is next to a miracle. And as expected, papa nahi maane. But 25‑year‑old me had had it. (Yes 25. Don’t rub it in.) I was a grown ass woman earning my own money and I could go where I wanted. But what I faced was an impenetrable wall of indifference. So what do I do? Just take off knowing full well what awaits me will be bitter faces.
Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.
I thought to myself, “Hotel booking cancelled on the day of! Who does that? Why us?”
Bags on tow, we started our Pune sojourn on a train. This being my first family‑less trip, excitement levels were sky high. But little did I know what was in store for us. Turns out, as smooth as our train ride to Pune was, checking into a hotel was just as chaotic. The first hotel we booked cancelled last minute so there we sat at Pune station, scouring through Google for cheap stays.
I thought to myself, “Hotel booking cancelled on the day of! Who does that? Why us?” In half‑panic mode we scrambled to find something and finally landed on a cheap hostel. Time was of the essence; our tour guide would meet us in a few hours. We hurry to the hostel and the sight sure was something. For starters, there were cats and dogs everywhere and if you know me, that’s all you need to get me onboard (usually).
They were setting themselves up (it was quite early in the day) and we waited in the common area covered in graffiti. Surrounded by meows and panting sounds I noticed obvious evidence of a bonfire, scattered cigarette butts and alcohol bottles. A bored receptionist also gave us a mini‑tour of the place. For some reason, the ambience didn’t exactly inspire confidence in two introverted, hardly‑ever‑vacationing women. The stoned‑looking receptionist wasn’t much solace either.
So we left “stoned haven” to find something more “our vibe,” if you will.
Exploring in the heat is tiring work!
Turned out, finding “our vibe” would have to wait. Our tour guide had arrived. Dumping our bags in the car we set out to Shaniwar Wada — a quaint Maratha fort popular in Pune. In the sweltering January heat we explored the fort. Its main gate was enormous. Long metal spikes jutted out of it, giving it a menacing look. Inside however, was anything but menacing. We climbed up stone stairs and were awestruck by intricately carved pillars.
We walked over tall stone walls and under dark tunnels and admired the lotus‑shaped fountain. Exploring in the heat is tiring work! It made us want to stop and refuel. And what better way to do that than indulge in some Pune special misal pav? I’m not crazy about misal pav. I wasn’t expecting anything extraordinary. But man, this misal pav blew me away. Not sure if it was the heat or the hunger but this place had the best misal pav I had ever tasted — hands down.
Too bad I only remember how heavenly it tasted and not where we had it. Sorry, guys.
Day two’s schedule was packed. We planned to hit top Pune hotspots. To do that, we had to get our hands on a two‑wheeler. We turned to the internet again. Combing through haystacks, we finally found ‘Scoutwheels’ but we had to go about half an hour out of our way to get there. Our limited options and shallow purses forced us to take it. Finding the place was such a task. We went around in circles and finally found ourselves in a run down garage in the middle of who knows where.
Google Maps takes you to really weird places sometimes. Before we knew it, we were surrounded by men glaring at us. They were obviously not used to visitors. We awkwardly asked for a scooter on rent. They didn’t seem to know what they were doing. I doubt they even knew that they rented out two‑wheelers. One of them got on the phone and followed instructions to ready a Honda Dio for us. It looked like it had seen better days, so they hosed it down.
I sat on the now dripping wet scooter and for some reason it was very heavy for me to lift. But oh well, you got to make do with what you’ve got, right? Armed with the beat‑up helmet they gave us, we set off.
Now with a scooty to speed things along, we zoomed across town. First stop, Aga Khan Palace, a beautifully‑maintained museum and historical site. I learned that day that Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes were buried here. The museum was filled with his memorabilia as well — his spinning wheel, desk and bed among them. Aga Khan was a great place to be — serene, beautiful and crowd‑less. It ticked all my boxes.
We then made lunch time a fancy affair. Scooting down Pune streets we chanced upon Arthur’s Theme, a cozy European diner and treated ourselves to some pasta and wine.
Our next stop — Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park — was the real treat. The crazy animal lover in me went nuts. Seeing animals confined in enclosures always made me uneasy, but these had relatively larger enclosures and looked healthy which gave me some comfort. I gaped at the enormous barn owls and the lions basking in the sun. I shamelessly stared in awe at the swift‑gaited leopard and regal Bengal Tigers perched on rocks. Spotted deer were roaming about in herds. I was completely mesmerized.
I had never seen such large numbers before. It was glorious. Bored of walking, we hopped on cycles they were renting out. Rolling along the paved paths under canopies of tall trees felt amazing. It is one of the best things I remember from the zoo visit.
After our little safari, we went on to visit Pune Okayama Friendship Garden. It was getting late, but if I didn’t drop by there, my anime/Japan‑obsessed self would never have forgiven me. To our dismay, the garden did not look as impressive at night. But nevertheless it was fun to see it in all its Japanese‑inspired glory. Enjoy these blurry pictures I took in the dark!
…looks can be deceiving.
If you think after that night walk in the park our day would end, you’d be wrong. We’d booked tickets for a stand‑up show! Piling on to the scooty we reached Austin40 Café House. But on getting there, we were asked to wait outside. Apparently the café wasn’t the venue. Eventually a boy (could have been a man? Looked more like a boy) meekly ushered us and about 10–12 others into a cozy room beside the café. Five rows of chairs lay there, facing a slightly elevated platform.
The boy climbed on stage and adjusted the mic. Before I realized what was happening, the most boisterous and peppy voice filled the room. No one was expecting the timid‑looking guy to host the show and warm up the crowd like he did. But like they say, looks can be deceiving. He cracked jokes left, right and center. He spoke to each and every audience member throughout the show, asking us what we did for a living, where we were from and the likes, while also pulling our legs.
The comedians’ bits were great too; about 8 to 10 of them left us in splits. One of them was not even a professional comedian and joked about how he’d just gotten off work to do his set. All of them were not very well‑known, nevertheless they were brilliant. At the end, I was left with my mouth hurting but my heart happy.
After that eventful night, we returned to the hotel exhausted. We still had our stomachs to fill, but no energy to go restaurant‑hunting. So we headed next door to the hotel’s restaurant (sadly they didn’t offer room service). It was quite late and we were starving so we barged in to find a dimly lit place, semi‑filled with middle‑aged men sipping on what looked like Old Monk. All eyes were on us right away and we knew we stuck out like sore thumbs. But we’d already entered.
Turning back meant maximum awkwardness. So we bee‑lined for a secluded table and sat on sunken, stained sofas. Picking up the menus we found meaty finger food jumping at us through the pages. But we ordered the most appetizing‑looking dish at the time — french fries. I felt a cold was coming on and ordered a coffee to heat up too. The coffee turned out to be surprisingly good.
Awkward as it was in the shady restaurant with the men getting drunk and watching item numbers on the TV, we still had a good meal and returned to our room content.
Our train ride back home was utter chaos. It was so completely packed that we were forced to travel in the luggage section. Sitting awkwardly on a ledge ideally made for luggage and surrounded by huge bags of vegetables, we made our way back. With memories — both awesome and not so awesome — still fresh in my mind, I was back at work next day. Refreshed after the short break I felt good about resuming. My parents too, had not made a big deal out of the trip.
As I checked in with my boss, she pointed out “There’s something different about you. I can’t really tell what.” In my head I thought of course there’s something different, I haven’t had to worry about work for 3 days straight. I feel great. But I knew what she meant. “Oh yeah, I think it’s because my dark circles reduced, from the break I got” I answered chuckling. “Get those dark circles back, they’re an accessory,” she said in what I deduced was a half‑joking, half‑serious tone.
Hinting at how I shouldn’t slack off. I laughed dryly as I left her cabin. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was one of the triggers that led me to leave the company. Looking back, I realize this sojourn revealed I should be looking for greener pastures. But at the time, all I cared about was reminiscing and wanting to go back to Pune to explore more. Taking this break was a great decision. It turned out to be refreshing and revelatory in more ways than one!