गोष्टी क्रमांक एक- पाण्याच्या बाहेर मासा

We arrived at Pune, on the evening of 29th of July 2019, a rainy Tuesday. The first impression that Pune gave to me was that of a gloomy place. This, coupled with my feeling of homesickness, made me feel terrible. Above that, my phone had stopped working (I guess some of the rainwater had gone into the charging point). I was a fish out of water. In a more literal sense, since I, who did competitive swimming and played water polo, could not do it anymore. Hence, I set out to explore the city in search of a swimming pool. But where do I begin? I soon remembered that my seniors and friends had told me about the Balevadi stadium, where they had played the water polo nationals. I searched for this, and to my surprise, I came to know that this place was literally on the same road that IISER's Baner gate was located on. So, I hopped out, in search of a swimming pool, and took a rickshaw. Me being a chatterbox was finding it hard to communicate for the first time since my conversational Hindi was terrible. In Marathi, except for the word Phakta (which means only), I knew nothing else. Like a blessing from heaven, my mother called me, and I spoke some Kannada. To my surprise, the driver turned back and said, "niv Kannada matadoura" (Do you speak Kannada), and then, the journey went smooth as ice. I went to the stadium, even talked to the instructors there, but realized that it would not work for me, to commute to Balevadi. There I stood, astonished, at the majestic statue of Shivaji Maharaj. I guess this trip gave me that motivation to learn Marathi, something that I will elaborate in गोष्टी क्रमांक दोन. Anyways, the search for a swimming pool did not end here. My father told me that it would be convenient for me if I traveled in public transport and thought, why not give it a try. I फिरवलाed all through the north-western part of the city by bus, trying to find an ideal swimming pool. I did travel to another 2 swimming pools before deciding to go with "स्व आमदार शिवाजी राव भोंसले जलतरण तलाव व जीम"(took me some time to remember it myself). I would go there twice a week. Sometimes, it would be closed, and I would roam around the nearby areas, and this is how I got to know Manapa, Deccan, Bal Gandharva, F C Road, COEP, etc. These commutes made me feel close to this city, "the oxford of the east," which would be my dwelling till 2024.
Anyways, to understand the city, I realized that I would have to understand the language.
Hence begins…


गोष्टी क्रमांक दोन - तुम्ही बाळेवाडी जाणार का

The story of me learning Marathi probably begins with the above sentence, will you go to Balevadi?. The rest of my knowledge comes from a mixture, a misaL Pav if you may call it. As I elaborated before, I used to travel by bus. The first things that I learned were from my Parama Gurus, the bus conductors of the Pune Municipal Corporation. Who also, by coincidence, would work in the buses going to the Pune Municipal Corporation (Manapa, as they call it). I learned some Marathi, trying to comprehend what they were saying and noticing stuff written in Marathi around me. पुढे सरक meant "move front," महिला साठी meaning "for women," "एक पाउल स्वच्छता कडे," which meant "one step towards cleanliness". In this context, I would really appreciate the roadsides of Ganeshkhind road, where I could experience the transition of पुण्यनगरी to पूनावाडी to पून to पुणे through the beautiful wall-art. At the same time, I was able to appreciate the contribution of social reformer Savitri Bai Phule to freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak to the recent participation of Homi Bhabha and others. In fact, the Shimla office on Ganeshkhind road even inspired me to make a group presentation on etymology. Anyway, the story kind of diverted here, from my original story of learning Marathi, so let us get back to it. My Puneri experience would not be complete without talking about the Abhyasika, where I teach (now virtually, though). The kids whom I taught became my teachers of Marathi, someone, I would not be ashamed to speak wrong Marathi with. I guess, at one point, I even started using the language for non-academic communication! My friends still recount the days, where I used to go to every Marathi batchmate I knew and go "Kay Zala?". I guess those days have now transitioned to me trying to write Marathi articles with no grammar sense in them! I still have a long way to go, and I know that there are so many people and places out there offering help in this aspect.
So Prathith, did you understand the city?
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गोष्टी क्रमांक तीन- प्रतित नाही, प्रत्या

I would notice that my Marathi speaking friends would call their male friends, not with their full names but with the first two syllables followed by a य. I think that this is a unique culture in Pune and in Maharashtra in general. The address of Are (for males) and Aga for females is another thing that I noticed and use while addressing my Marathi speaking friends. I once used Aga for a male friend of mine and realized my mistake later! The local culture is hugely encouraging to the fine arts, which I realized after seeing the large crowd at the first-ever SPICMACAY concert that I attended. I had the privilege to notice the popularity of Drama in Pune, having stumbled across Bal Gandharva Theatre by accident. I had originally gone there, intending to see the swimming pool. (Theatre fans, please do not come after me, I really thought there was just a swimming pool named after Bal Gandharva!). Thikkat, I feel, is the taste that is most Puneri. This was taught to me by the Vada Pav I ate in Lakshmi road, where I had to buy sweets from the nearby shop to keep my tongue alive! Another thing, you want to hop into a bus, wave your hands as much as you can, you cannot expect the driver to stop at each bus stop! I have had the experience of waiting for about half an hour till someone told me this. Anyways, I would say that from being a पाण्याच्या बाहेर मासा, I transitioned into being a पुण्याचा मासा and the credit goes to this charming city itself! And with this, I come to an end to an end of my पहिला पुणेरी अनुभव.

पुन्हा भेटु!