Pooh-neigh...

The city where I belong. I can go on singing praises about my birthplace and the place where I grew up and spent the most magical days of my life…pondering over which I stumbled across this forum on facebook claiming that “You know you are from Pune when…”, however, I don’t agree to all that was written, so I didn’t join the forum, but I picked up a few lines here and there, which I thought were most apt to describe my quirky city. I know for a fact that Pune cannot be a bed of roses, but nonetheless, it’s one of the best this world has to offer. *(P.S. Im currently a resident of Mumbai, so the last line just applies.)
So here goes… and I’m trying not to be biased.
Places:
1. Koregaon Park and M. G. are still the coolest areas for you to hang out in.
2. You've spent hours at SGS Magnum Mall, Pune Central and Nucleus.
3. At some point in time you’ve always wanted to live in Kalyani nagar, Koregaon park or Salisbury park
4. You love the expressway! You say, 'The Expressway is truly a boon. Mumbai and Pune are now close, that Mumbai is almost a suburb of Pune’.
5. The default thought in everyone's mind on a holiday is "lets go to Khadakwasla/ Sihnhagad/Panseth/ our farmhouse"
6. Pimpri, Chinchwad, Pashan and Nigdi are far.
7. You have spent numerous weekends in Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar.
8. You keep spotting the famous eunuch of MG road & East Street every time you go there.
Lingo:
9. You know what “ikde”, “thamba”,” kutey” and “mala” mean.
10. When you are not studying, you are doing "VELAGIRI" or "LUKHAGIRI".
11. you refer to change as "Chillar", ditching as "Kalti" and trouble as "Jhol"
12. Every time you speak Hindi in front of a Delhitite they have the WTF expression on their face
13. You refer to cops as Mamu and bus conductors and old men as Kaka.
14. Every time you look at a cop you mentally check how much cash you have on you.
15. When u call cops kaka, they let u go if you show off your marathi speaking skills.
16. When you associate the following words to...
· Wada Pav - JJ Garden’s.
· Mithai – Karachi/ Mulchand.
· Public Transport – Rickshaw
· Extended public transport - Six Seater Rickshaw
· Poor public transport - P.M.T. bus.
· Thursday - Power Cut!
Lifestyle:
17. You speak intelligently.
18. You own/ed a two-wheeler, especially an activa or a deo (women), a hero-honda or a splendour (men)
19. Every 3-4 months u look at your road and wonder.. " why the hell are these guys digging up the road again. Thus at one point of time, some area or the other is always under repairs…roads/flyover/bridge.
20. Always keep an eye on the rickshaw meter to assure it is correct.
21. Where most girls on bikes/ scooters will have a scarf around their face looking like "daku mangal singh or Phoolan devi"
22. You see gals in ABCD jeans sticking to their boyfriends like parasites on bikes....abcd jeans = agga bai chaddi distey jeans!!!
23. You wear/have worn Osho Chappals. Ahh. . .the comfort.
24. Jogging laps around race course is your idea of a healthy life.
Opinions:

25. You are laid back but have lots of tolerance & patience dealing with & accepting Oshoites, foreign college students & other foreigners.
26. You can recognize a "mumbaikar" from his dress & behaviour.
27. You've said or thought "those Bombayites have ruined the peace of Pune"
28. Nobody gets their air, oil & water checked while filling petrol in their cars except the visiting mumbaikars.
29. You don't need to have the seat belt clasped while driving your car.
30. You can drive in the night with no or dim street lights on & full head lights on of cars & trucks approaching you from the opposite side....something a mumbaikar can never get used to.
31. You know someone who works at a Call Center / BPO/ IT Park
Weather:
32. You have had experienced amazing weather in evenings.
33. You wish for the crazy rain to stop during monsoon .
34. It rains in one part of town that you are in.. and by the time you get to where you’re headed that place is absolutely dry .. and you are soaking wet!!
35. You are unable to decide whether potholes are in roads or VICE VERSA.
36. You are sick and tired of the pollution.
37. You wonder what will happen to the city if there are still more cars on the road.(i think traffic will cum to a stand still in a few years).
Road Sense:
38. Traffic Rules are as follows:
· Motorists change lanes arbitrarily
· Vehicles on your right/left change lanes without warning
· Motorists run the red light
· Motorists take their time to move on green light
· Everyone honks like crazy cause everyone's driving like an idiot
39. When you see the light turn orange from green; instead of slowing down u speed up to catch the signal.
40. When u never cross the road at a zebra crossing.
41. When u can always find a car that has a dent or scratch on it.
Food:
42. You’ve waited patiently for a table at Blue Nile to have your biryani.
43. You've eaten Bun Maska at an Irani café.
44. Sat at a table in vaishali with people peering over your head waiting for you to finish eating
45. No matter where you ate Pav Bhaji you still crave for the one from Shiv Sagar on JM Road
46. Your potato wafers had to come from Budhrani on MG Road
47. When the best burgers and Shawarma rolls were always from Burger King or Hite bar
48. You swear by the sizzlers at Zamus or The place
49. Kathi rolls had to come from Kapila or Olympia
50. Bhelpuri, SDBP, etc. is always Murli Uncle, the Victory theatre guy, Kalyan Bhel and Jai Shankar(Camp) too are equally good.
51. You buy biscuits for ur relatives from kayani bakery, camp when they are in pune
52. No matter which part of the world you are if you see a packet of bhakarwadi by Chitale Bandhu at a supermarket you still pick it up with a smile
53. You are amazed at how Kalyani nagar has changed
54. Different cuisine restaurants keep opening & closing at koregaon park & kalyani nagar.
55. You've tried unsucessfully finishing two jumbo chicken burgers at Burger King.

And finally,You curse the city every day of your lives when living there, but if u ever move out you talk of Pune as the beginning and end of civilisation.