Goodbye to Pune

The big news that I've delayed posting about is that I'm leaving Pune. I've quit my job and have just vacated my apartment. The official story is that I ran out of things to blog about in Pune. So I quit my job. Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. (Well not really, but the real story isn't exactly interesting, so forget it.) That's the reason why most of my recent posts have been about events in Hyderabad. I will continue to post to the same blog about the next city I go to work in.

Meanwhile, goodbye dirty city. I wish I could have seen you 30 years ago, when you must have been really beautiful.

Goodbye coconut water vendor. You always knew exactly what type of coconuts I liked.
Goodbye Andhra guy who ran a restaurant here. You were fun to talk to, and your food had great bang for buck, but it wasn't that good.
Goodbye the other restaurant here. You were way too expensive.
And goodbye third restaurant, closest to my house. You were a great ultracheap alternative for food.
Goodbye barber. You gave the best scalp massage a homophobe could ever appreciate.
Goodbye chaat shop kid. You made as good a chaat as I ate in Pune, and sorry but that's not really a compliment.
Goodbye apartment. I really wish we could have grown old together, but it wasn't meant to be.
Goodbye landlord. You were as honest as a businessman could be expected to be and a nicer human being. I hope my next landlord is atleast as good as you.
Goodbye colleagues. In a short time I'm glad I got close enough that when I came to the office to see a few of you, every one else atleast dropped by to say "Hi" and as a result caused me to stay at the office a couple more hours than I had planned to. You're all smart people and I was glad to have worked with you, but you're all better friends and I am happier to have made your acquaintance.