The Hindu Business Line : Pune: Complete settling solutions

Several Indian cities have seen major developments over the last couple of decades, and Pune qualifies for frontrunner rating. The peaceful getaway that harried and hurried Mumbaikars fled to for weekend breaks and sexagenarians chose as the destination of choice for post-retirement living has metamorphosed into a busy, mini-metropolis in the making.

The most visible evidence of the change is the average age of the person on the street. Thanks to the legions of 20-somethings that people the city’s innumerable institutions of higher learning, Pune is essentially a youthful city and a living testimony to the modern-day phenomenon of the “demographic advantage”.

When a large pool of qualified human resource is available for the asking, the end user – the industry – can hardly be far coming. Growth of industry and educational institutions has kept pace with each other, and the citizens’ inherent industriousness has brought the city its cutting edge reputation. However, if one factor were to be singled out as to why people gravitate here, it would be “lifestyle”.

Like Parmesh Seth, one Mumbaite-turned-Puneite, explains, “Mumbai offers both professional excellence and money. But where is the lifestyle? You make pots of money, but the tedious commute makes it impossible to do anything other than your job. Here, you can get a healthy mix of all three.

To put it simply, in Pune, you have a life after work.” Realistically speaking, the city offers “settling solutions for the whole family.” There are innumerable job opportunities for the breadwinner – male and female -- at every level of his/her working life. Women feel safe to move around the city freely. Educational opportunities from pre-primary to post-graduate management studies for children are aplenty, as are the options for extra-curricular activities. And most importantly, from the home-engineer’s perspective, domestic help is still available!

Rajan and Shilpa Marathe, both successful doctors, take time off every evening to go gymming with the children. Amita Singh makes it a point to go for her bi-weekly sessions of jazz dancing. The Sharma family takes off every last weekend in the month to go trekking in the Sahyadris.

The sports-inclined can choose from outdoor activities such as tennis, basketball and cricket amongst others, for casual-to-serious pursuit, and the city has a vibrant golf fraternity. The more cerebrally oriented can pick from chess and bridge both of which have a lusty following in the city.

Perhaps the most enticing of all Pune’s characteristics is the unique co-existence of the traditional and the modern.