PUNE 1 Heartbeat of MaharashtraBy Sherna GandhyPensioner’s paradise? Oxford of the East? The cultural capital of Maharashtra? Old-time Punekars were happy enough to have the city thus described. But the new breed of professionals and the large population of college students from all over the country and abroad would prefer a more hip label — Cybercity maybe, or Shopper’s Paradise. In just 10 years, the sleepy town of old bungalows and flower-filled gardens, graciously decaying wadas and stone houses has metamorphosed into a bustling business centre with malls, multiplexes, pubs and a restaurant on every corner.
Yet, peeking through between the spanking new glass and concrete is still the erstwhile capital of the Peshwas, and of the Bombay Presidency. In the heart of Pune, the narrow streets with the elevated otlas (platforms) typical of the peths can still be chanced upon. The city grew as a series of peths, or what we may today call wards. Many peths were caste-based, some profession-based. An official was given permission to develop a peth starting with a road and some houses and shops, then a bazaar and other amenities were added, mostly in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The three cantonments — Pune, Khadki and Dehu — are still largely enclaves of wide roads, bungalows right out of the Raj and pools of greenery. The famous city bakeries do brisk business without help from the smart business graduates and are still family concerns.