I have been living in Pune city for more than twenty years now. Because of work or other reasons, I have also lived in many other cities like(from North to South) Delhi(Noida), Jalgaon, Nagpur, Mumbai, Bangalore, Singapore, Sydney, Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. So I am in a good position to understand and appreciate the pros and cons of life in various top cities in the entire APAC region. It ranks at the top of my list after weighing all the advantages and disadvantages of all the factors that one generally considers while selecting a city for settling down.
Pune city is a really unique city – in the sense that it has indeed a unique combination of various aspects – educational, historical, religious, cultural, administrative/political, sports, arts, theatre(drama/plays), and recently it has become an IT hub too! It is quite rare to find so many qualities in a single city. Plus, it has a good standard of living too, and is a reasonably peaceful and safe city! It is also now emerging as a metro city.
Pune has always been the educational hub of South Asia since many centuries. It boasts of some of the best engineering, medical, commerce and arts colleges in the country(including film institute). Students from all parts from India as well as children of NRIs come to Pune for getting higher education. It also has excellent schools and junior colleges in all categories. So it has a very conducive environment for a very high quality education. No wonder it is called the ‘Oxford of the East’. I feel blessed to have had the good fortune of completing my HSSC as well as engineering in such a fabulous ambiance.
Apart from education, it has also become a major IT hub of India in the last couple of decades. Most of the top software companies have their presence here, not in hundreds, but in tens of thousands of employees! This demonstrates how much talent this city is able to attract. It is a strong testimony to the fact that people from all over India find Pune to be suitable and attractive as their preferred city for settling down.
And there are many good reasons for this.
Climate of Pune is also better than most other cities of India. It has a nice, equable and pleasant climate throughout the year. In summer also, there is no need of coolers/ACs. A good cross ventilation and ceiling fans are more than sufficient to guard against the summer heat. Till late 1980s, Pune city was, in fact, considered almost like a hill station.
Till today, it has always had the reputation of having a cool, relaxed, laidback lifestyle! No major traffic issues, no major noise pollution or air pollution issues. These days the roads in Pune are also becoming world-class. Even internal lanes are getting concretized with properly constructed footpaths etc. Wow, who would have thought of this ten years ago?
Public transport has also dramatically improved in the last five years. Even from a small and relatively new locality like Bavdhan, you get lots of PMPML buses to various parts of the city at a good frequency. Even there is a direct bus to Hinjewadi now! Of course it is well connected to other cities like Mumbai, Nasik, Shirdi, Indore, Bangalore, Hyderabad and many other cities by private and public transport buses at a very good frequency. By air and rail also it is well-connected to various cities of India.
Historically, Pune has been the capital of the mighty Maratha empire for around hundred years or so. At its peak, the great Maratha empire covered almost the whole India from Tanjore in the south to beyond Delhi in the north! So effectively Pune was almost like the capital of India for almost a century! Think about that . It is a bit sad and surprising that Pune - the city which was instrumental in creation and reestablishment of Marathi/Hindu samrajya and the city which saved India from becoming like today’s Pakistan/Bangladesh/Afghanistan, was not made even the capital of Maharashtra(and not even the second capital of Maharashtra) let alone the capital of India … think about that.
It is no wonder that Pune has very strong cultural roots, and is in fact is known as the cultural capital of Maharashtra. Inspite of Pune being a very modern and cosmopolitan city, Puneites have always preserved and nurtured their culture and traditions very well – from the Ganapati festival in Aug-sept, to Sawai Gandharva festival in Dec, or the theatres/stage plays year round. Pune people generally have a very good taste and appreciation of Hindustani classical music, which is why the Indian classical artists love to perform here; because here they get the audience which is well and truly able to comprehend and appreciate them. Pune people know the exact moments to give applause in a live concert, like a seasoned connoisseur. I have attended many Sawai Gandharva festivals, and other concerts, and I have also learnt quite a bit of classical music; so I personally know that this is true. I am myself a big fan of theatre/stage plays and feel fortunate that I live in a city that offers such a vibrant and active theatre scene, not only in Marathi but also in many other languages these days.
In general, Pune people are very intelligent and knowledgeable. They are also on an average more educated and civilized than many other cities. The percentage of upper middle class is also more in Pune, with a relatively very small proportion of slum or ghetto-like areas. If one considers the top 10-15 cities in India(or world for that matter), the Pune city will rank first in the aspect of average ‘satvik’ness. Pune has always been known for its education and intelligence – some of the best thinkers and educationists have thrived in this city – Lokmanya Tilak, Agarkar, Karve etc.
Pune is also significant from religious/spiritual point of view. All the Ashtavinayaks are located around Pune within a radius of 60 kms or so. If we join all these Ashtavinayaks to form an octagon, and find its centroid, it will be located somewhere in or near the Pune city only. Apart from that many other places like Shirdi, Bhimashankar, Ghrushneshwar, Ganagapur, Pandharpur, Nrusinhawadi, Tuljapur, Akkalkot, Alandi, Dehu are all located within 1-5 hours from Pune. Most forts of Chhatrapati Shivaji are also located in Pune or nearby districts.