Valentine's Day: a time of the year reserved only for our better halves, the special loved one, soul mates and family. More often than never, we leave this day aside to make all those lengthy preparations to come through, trying our best to make our special someone feel the love. But when do we stop, think and spend time with something that we’ve been with all these years? The place will be permanent, even though the people may change. The city that has made us what we are, and has been the center of all the opportunities that we seized without a second thought. The city with a deep rooted culture, yet cosmopolitan. Amchi Pune, the city with Ravivar Peth and Shaniwad wada, M.G Road and Koregaon Park... a place where you can celebrate Ganpati in Dagdusheth, and the Pune Wine Fest at Rohi Villa.
So why not celebrate the most romantic day of the year with your city? That’s precisely what I came across this year, at Phoenix MarketCity, and absolutely loved the initiative! A refreshing take on Valentine's day, it did changed my perspective this time around.
It only came to my notice after I saw #ILovePune on Twitter, which not only got me to look up the details of the contest, but also observe and participate. Each reply brought a smile on my face, lighting up my mood with every tweet. It was lovely to see so many people I don’t know, connect with me on our hometown (Social Media Junkie Alert, yeah!) I have spent a large chunk of my life travelling, but since the last 12 years, Pune has been my home. It has given me the people I value the most, and the education and profession I’ve always longed for..opportunities and life lessons, it's been a wonderful journey here in Pune. This is precisely why every tweet got me a little nostalgic about old times and growing up in this place. I’ve seen it change from a small town with the only shopping ‘mall’ being West Side in M.G Road, and the only multiplex being Inox back in 2001, to a city with multiple malls (Phoenix Marketcity being one of the biggest) and a gazillion multiplexes. I doubt the younger generation will be able to see such a magical and drastic change over a reasonably short period of time. I’ve watched this change, been a part of it, grown with it.
I decided to pamper myself this Valentines, and headed over to Phoenix for some shopping. On reaching, I saw a small crowd collected near this enormous flex board where people would come and write why they loved Pune. They were also sticking something that looked like coins ( on inquiring, I found out that they WERE coins) I loved the vada pav cartoons that some of them were making, and the bun-maska chai...there was a really cute cartoon of a dog holding up an umbrella for a cat... looking at the pictures got me nostalgic. And it doesn't stop here! The money collected after selling the coins is being donated (Yes, I was curious, cos it struck me as odd. Why would you collect money on Valentine's, right?) to an NGO- Ekansh (for physically disabled people) What a BRILLIANT initiative!
They even let people get pictures clicked where they’d get the polaroids within no time. Since I was alone, I couldn't really get myself to draw or take pictures (where are your friends when you need them? :P ) Jokes apart, I was pretty impressed by the innovation of this particular idea.
I would never have stopped to think about the love I have for my city on Valentine’s Day. I absolutely loved how beautifully Phoenix brought out this new way of looking at this precious romantic day, yet bringing out the essence of it. We never forget to dedicate time to make our loved ones feel better, but how often do we spare a few minutes to thank the city that has made us who we are?
Being from an Army background, I should be used to traveling every 2 years. But Pune does this to people...no one wants to leave Pune,we all get back here.One way or another.
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