It is yet another uneventful day in my life amidst the lockdown that does not seem to end and I am suddenly reminded of Venus traders. For those of you who’ve been in Pune, you might know that Venus is every stationery hoarder’s heavenly abode. The two-storeyed building hidden away in the lush green by-lanes of FC road or as some like to call it, FC college road. FC college road would literally mean Fergusson College College Road so I really do not understand the need for college after FC. Anyway, some things, you just learn to tolerate.
For most punekars, going to FC road or JM road also comes with the perpetual fear of getting your two-wheeler towed. It has happened to me twice- once while I parked my two-wheeler right outside the lane between Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks (apparently, my vehicle was outside the permitted confines of parking) and the second time, it was when I was so thrilled to go to Venus during one of my free periods that I parked my vehicle in the even lane on an odd day. In my defense, I was into paper-cutting back then and really needed those fancy tools to make stencils which are now pasted on my wall back in my college. I have no regrets whatsoever except for the fact that I could have been mindful but had I really been mindful, I would have one less towing story to tell today.
I spent a huge part of my day gallivanting in and around FC road. I rarely read Pune Times but this one time, just once, I was lucky to have come across Radhika Apte’s interview in the newspaper about her growing up in Pune’s Model Colony (again, very close to FC road). I love Model Colony and Model Colony Lake was a gem of a discovery I made that day, thanks to Radhika Apte. Soon enough, I started to go to the lake almost every day and my favorite part of the whole experience was feeding the ducks. I always carried some Parle-G biscuits with me so that I could feed a stray dog wherever I go and once, a line of ducks started to surround me while I was breaking the biscuits into little pieces for the dogs to eat inside the park’s premises. Now, I do not know if ducks are allowed to eat biscuits, but I was definitely prohibited from feeding the ducks. I fed them anyway. I had something extra to carry in my bag now- oats for the ducks along with biscuits for the dogs. I never carried lunch to junior college, so I did not mind the extra weight.
If there is something I remeber very fondly about Pune, it has to be this- decent weather that Pune promises, noon, too many trees, too many birds, model colony lake and feeding ducks alone. I also bunked classes sometimes, to feed ducks. Now that I think about it, I may have bunked classes to go read in the British Library or walk around FC road, grab the best vada pav from Chotu’s on JM road, to eat a Rajasthani or Gujarati thali from Panchavati (ah the aamras!), to meet friends at Goodluck for the best bun-maska and chai, to make the occasional visits for lunch to Subway on FC road or German Bakery on Law College Road and to study at Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks before exams. There was also this misal pav place near the signal that I love, ah yes- Sir Misal. (The things I would give up to go have a plate right about now!) Some of you may disagree with me here and think Katakirr is the best misal place but for me, its way too spicy so the award goes to Sir Misal. It does not matter to me whether someone calls it ‘FC road’ or ‘FC college road’, it will always hold a special place in my heart except for the unwarranted towing. Actually, scratch that, the towing too.
Literature, Poetry and Reading. 