Pune: The Williamsburg of India

Tall thin guys wearing long scarfs, sweaters, skinny jeans with patches on the back pockets, cigarettes poised on their lips, hair long and perfectly disheveled. Girls stare and then disinterested, they turn away. What, am I back in NYC, hipsterville? No way, I'm in Pune! After spending a couple of days at a farm/meditation resort with some very kind folks about 40 km outside of the city, we decided to cut our time there short, and come into the Pune to stay with Praveen and Deepa, from hospitalityclub.

The farm/meditation resort was beautiful, on a lake, serene, and very warm, but it just wasn't right for us. We were staying in the top floor of a hospital run by a friend of our host. The view was beautiful for sunsets and hawks, and the neighborhood kids would come up to see us and try to speak English/teach us Marathi each day. They couldn't pronounce my name right, so they started calling me Saia, which actually means "shadow" in Marathi. To be honest, I kind of like the ring of it, and I think I might start going by Saia Phoenix (sweet name, eh?). We spent most of our time hanging out by the lake and having conversations with our host and his friends. We also had A LOT of photos taken of us by who we think was a hired photographer. Sometimes the hospitality is just a little too much though...

More on Pune soon... For now, check out new pictures up on old posts!