Chill Maar!!

Like many other couples I started my married life in Pune with lots of expectations. Many expectations were met up to the mark and few left were sorted out with care and understanding. Every time we had a fight, my husband took me to the ice cream parlor nearby.That parlor became my favorite because of its superb flavors. This parlor is a part of local ice-cream parlor chain named Shreeji .The specialty of this place is that one can get flavors like paan , black current, coffee mocha, orange, gulkand, fig, pistachio ,leechi   etc. All these flavors are very different and every time I liked dipping into a new one to satiate me.

Another place which is worth mentioning for all sitaphal (custard apple) lover is a place across raja ram bridge near sinhgad road. Here a person sits with a small hand cart from evening 6 to 11. The specialty of this place is custard apple ice cream and shakes. Every day there will be a long line to buy these smoothies. Best thing about having these shake and ice cream is anyone can enjoy custard apple in off season too.

I would suggest all puneri husband to let their wives hog on these beautiful flavors and keep them cool.

Dam Maro Dam

Whenever I have craving for roasted corns, only one name flashes in my mind and that is Khadakwasla. I have visited this place for several times since the time I came to Pune. Although my first visit takes the best place in my memory.

It was in the month of Feb , to be precise on the valentine’s day and it was  during my courtship period. I could still feel a pinkish winter chill in Pune. We rode through the hilly sinhgad road which was covered by different forms of vegetation. On the dam site many people have come for sightseeing and not surprisingly many were blushing young couples. Even I was blushing a lot as it was my first outing with my ‘would be’ husband.

We sat under a banyan tree on the road side of the dam. The view was spectacular and amazing. A great combination of blue and green could be seen. Blue was the color of the water reflecting the clear blue sky and green was the color of the hills that were seen on the far end of the dam.  We ordered two roasted corns to a smiling maushi. She handed us two flaked corns with salt-pepper sprinkled on it. The corns were juicy and the roasted smell was adding an earthy charcoal flavor to it. We finished eating the corns with nugget of information like khadawasla is the major water source for the people of pune. During summer people come over here to check the level of water and calculate how long pune people can have water supply before the rain arrives. Also, if we go ahead on the same road we will reach the famous Sinhgad fort.

We finished eating and headed towards the National Defense Academy road. After travelling for few minutes we stopped at a road side tapri. The tapri was being owned by a couple having a beautiful daughter who was sitting there and doing her homework. Good to find that girl child getting encouragement to study. We had piping hot cup of tea with my first wada pav with fried green chilies. The wada pav had strong flavours of garlic and garam masalas and the fried chilies were adding strong hot taste to it. The whole combo was great to taste but I had tears in my eyes as I cannot tolerate hot spices for long.

We headed back to our place with a plan to visit the sinhgad fort on our next visit.

Other End Of The Tunnel

I went on this amazing ride with my husband starting from Sinhgad road, on the Pune-Bangalore highway(NH4), towards Katraj tunnel. It was drizzling a bit as it was early August and rain had just arrived in Pune.  NH4 connects Pune-Bangalore-Chennai and is a part of Golden Quadrangle project.

We reached the highway and it was like any other highway wide, clean and with loads of heavy vehicles crossing you every now and then. Katraj bypass gave the spectacular view of all the criss-croad roads,going right beneath you. We moved ahead towards the tunnel and suddenly the rain became heavier. We couldn’t find anything like roof to protect us from the rain so we rode ahead. On the both side of this highway there are huge rock structure . These must be the part of the hills which were cut through to make the road. I can easily imagine the huge effort went into this road construction.

We entered the tunnel and my husband  as always passed another anecdote stating that this tunnel appears in the ad of a drilling machine which says it drills through anything. I listened to him and tried recollecting the ad but I was more happy to feel safe from the rain. The tunnel seemed very long to me for a while and felt like shouting and hear the echo as most passerby were doing. I restrained myself and enjoyed other noises holding my breath to see the light at the other end. It soon arrived and I felt that the chill of rain coming my way again. To my amazement it was sunny on the other side although a very soft one with clouds all around. This was really a very different view for me rain on one side and sun on the other side of the tunnel.

We had tea and pakodas in a tapri with which a warm cozy feeling gushed into me. We headed back towards the tunnel and to our home. This time rain on the other side was much lighter and we headed back as fast as possible.