Ahhhh Pune !!! The place where I was born, spent 25 years of my life. The pune I remember was a place not like bombay crowded, polluted, (not without character though). The weather was great, rained when it should, got cold when it should’ve and the heat was bearable. People talk about Pune’s winters one of the best times to be in Pune, they mention the gulabi thandi, the people cosmopolitan ( camp, cantonment and further ), distinctly maharastrian ( deccan, kothrud and upwards ). A great place to retire.........if you retired 10 years ago that is. Fast foward to the present, the pune of today. Crowded, polluted, ugly, crappy weather. Yes unfortunately thats what pune’s turned into, the shy, beautiful, fun loving girl you knew and grew to love has turned into the neighbours wife, unpleasant to look at, confiscating your balls ( cricket that is ;-), and never allowing you to play around their house. The people... social apathy is the order of the day. No one cares anymore. Just stop at a red signal and you’ll see what I mean, its fashionable to run red lights, the traffic police does not give a damn. There are more vehicles on the roads than there is space. Traffic sense ha !!! Its a race on the roads. Pune used to have green spaces, trees were abundant, I remember waking up to the sound of birds chirping, where are those birds now ??? Massive deforestation, unplanned construction are the order of the day. You will not see a hill without some sort of construction in progress. Slums appear overnight, no one cares. In fact the next day you see the banner of some political party at the slum entrance like an authorative stamp of approval. Visit the famous parvati temple and you’ll see all of the above. People just don’t seem to care anymore or is it because of a lack of education, whats the point if kids do not grow up to learn to respect the environment or the space they live in. Oxford of the east what crap !!! With so many educated people around why is pune in the state it is right now. People come with ideas like building a ropeway near the parvati temple to look down upon what, the scenic slums !!!!! Pune is the most polluted city in Maharashtra today. It really is a pity, what was one of the most beautiful cities in the region is now one of the ugliest. Still its home and I never miss a chance to go back.