There is absolutely no need for second thoughts on it. Pune, where I now live.
I have done a fair bit of travelling around the world and have extensively travelled all over India. I have lived in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkatta, Delhi, Tirupur and a small village in Kerala. My late wife and I had set up ten different homes during our married life.
Whenever we lived in Bombay as it was then known and Mumbai as it is now, we used to pass through Pune on our way to her home town Hyderabad and had also visited for overnight stays on a number of occasions camping to attend weddings and other functions. I had camped in Pune on my own a number of times while on business and always enjoyed the stays. We had decided on Pune as our retirement town even then and when the opportunity came for employment here, we grabbed it and have not looked back.
We bought our home in Pune in 1990 and have stayed in the same place since then.
Why do I like Pune so much? To start with, its climate. Situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau it has copious rain fall during the four months of monsoon and hence has a green cover which brings down the summer temperatures quite a bit. Since we are on the foothills of the Western Ghats, we are blessed with cool monuntain breezes from the hills and cool ocean breezes from the West which too help in keeping the temperatures down. The winters are cool and delightful and not as cold as the North of India gets. In other words ideal. The Colonial British chose Pune as their Head Quarters for their Southern Command of the Indian Army which continues till to date for the Indian Army too.
Next, I have friends here and till a few years ago, family too. I can depend on them as they on me for help and company.
Next, there is no cuisine from anywhere in the world that can not be found in Pune. There are many restaurants that we are simply spoilt for choice. Apart from these, we also have thriving roadside food vendors operating from carts all over the city. There are bakeries that bake top quality bread, biscuits and cakes and Indian Sweetmeat shops that make an amazing variety of Indian sweets and savoury snacks.
Pune offers a wide variety of entertainment too. Western classical music, jazz, pop, rock name it we have orchestras and bands performing regularly. Indian classical and popular music during regular concerts and dance performances on many stages. We also have a vibrant theater culture of English and Marathi stage groups. AND very conveniently located cinema halls in all parts of the city that screen Marathi, Hindi and English films 24/7.
Pune hosts a number of festivals, religious and cultural which are among the country’s best.
Next, we have world class medical services available round the clock with hospitals and nursing homes located in all localities. We also can access home nursing care at very reasonable charges and of high quality.
I also have my own favourite barbers, masseur and pedicurists in Pune who are simply nonpareil. Other things that modern cities offer like shopping, transport, education etc are all available and of good quality.
And to top it all, I live with our dog Chutki, Â my daughter in love and son who are great company and comfort.
What other place can compete with my beloved Pune?
Shackman picked this week’s topic and so I will choose next week’s. Be sure to check Shackman’s take on this week’s topic.
Pune sounds like a great place to live. Like you I’ve done a fair bit of travelling and I am fairly happy living by the sea on the North coast of Kent. The only thing wrong with it is that it’s full of grumpy old farts like me .. 😉
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If I had to move again, I would choose Goa on our West coast. I love the sea and living on its shore would be my second choice. Pune used to be known as the Pensioners’ Paradise a decade and a half ago. The landscape has changed and you see many more of the younger lot than grumpy old farts.
http://punemirror.indiatimes.com/pune/pune-speaks/is-the-pensioners-paradise-tag-still-applicable-for-pune-given-the-massive-influx-of-students-techies-etc-/articleshow/57561307.cms
I am not at all surprised – I honestly think it sounds like as nice a place as there is. I treated the topic a bit more broadly but can honestly say the reasons you stated pretty much cover northern California as my favorite place – it is where I will return to if at all possible as I have grown very weary of the south and all that it embodies. I prefer to finish my drain circling journey back where my heart has always been. FYI, I grew up about 5 blocks from where Conrad lives and I attended the same high school as his kids.
I have a strong feeling that you, Conrad and I are fated to meet face to face sometime in the future. Whether it will be in California or in Pune does not matter as both will be side benefits for the main attraction of the meeting.
I know I’d love Pune, it sounds remarkably complete from every aspect of living there.
It’s quite something we each have found living where we are now, in our elder years, the best place to be. I love St. John’s – it has everything that I love, a temperate climate, good theatre and libraries, many diverse restaurants and the sea nearby along with a gorgeous lake that hosts rowers and regattas and wild life.
I’m overjoyed that Daughter chose to move here to a few years back.
A lot of similarities there, Ramana.
XO
WWW
Wisewebwoman recently posted..Elder Musings
I find that all my relatives and friends of around my age finding where they have put down roots to not want to change and more importantly, their direct families too have settled down there like ours have done. On the other hand, I know a lot of people, seniors like us with their children away overseas or in other cities who are, to say the least, very uncomfortable with their lives. I suspect that a lot depends on quite how we decide how to live our lives.
Sydney is definitely my favourite place. The setting is amazing, Sydney Harbour Bridge is spectacular, the climate is wonderful, and there are loads of fabulous beaches. The property prices are astronomical, but since I don’t live there, I needn’t worry about that.
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As you know, we love it here in the mountains of northern New Mexico. Great climate and views, close to downtown, and plenty of chances for Andy to work on his projects up in the mountains. That’s why we’ve stayed here over 43 years.
I have followed you on your blog posts and also have read up on NM and am not surprised that you love being there.
Not having been to Pune, my favorite place in the world to VISIT would be Paris, France. I spent some time there in the late 1970s, and was transfixed! Paris is (was?) breathtaking! Notice I said visit, because I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather live than in my own city of Victoria, Canada.
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I have been to Paris and would not like to go back to France. Unless you speak French, it is a difficult place to navigate.
how I would love Pune Rummy.
everything you’ve ever posted about it or sent to me of it makes me know that.
and I’ve looked it up and watched many videos of it on my own. it truly is wonderful. I am having to bloom where I’m planted and have to remind myself of that daily! it’s not a bad place actually. if you don’t count the constant drought and the tornadoes every year. they don’t value trees here and that hurts me. as to favorites that would no longer be healthy for me… the mountains! I love them. and also just as you said too Rummy I would love to be near the sea. though I love New England it would now be Shackman’s northern California coast for me as well.
tammy j recently posted..you’re not surprised
Tammy I lived in New England for a year – my favorite part was the Maine coast because it reminded me of the northern California coast. I shall keep playing the lottery to get myself back home where I belong LOL
shackman recently posted..What is your favoite place of all the places you have been? 2-on-1 #6
We have places similar to where you live here too. Do please look up Rajasthan.
I really don’t have a favourite – I often pine now to be elsewhere than where I’m currently domiciled – but I have to “stay put” due to circumstances…
I travelled in the 1960s before I even turned 21 – but those places will have changed dramatically, and I was never living in them other than London and 30mls or so N in the Herts area.
I think I would like to “dip in and out” of quite a number of places…most them smaller islands with warms seas around them…
I always thought I would end up basically where I was born, but although it’s one of the hottest (weather-wise) in the summer, it is also very cold in the winter. It’s a little rural town – mid-N Island and it’s basically in a basin…
You don’t have to have a favourite place. As long as you are happy with the way things have evolved for you, why worry about being somewhere else from where you are now?
my only true worry would be the landlord selling up…