Exclusive and Inclusive

The recent trend in Pune is to own a really swanky apartment that has "amenities"- clubhouse, pool, gym, meditation centre, the works. I think it's a really cool idea for people who want a better lifestyle than what the general condition of the country provides us- as if you "swipe in" to a new country as soon as you get through your society's gate.

I just have one concern about this- if affluent guys like us choose this option, our government gets more blase about improving our standard of living inspite of us paying taxes through our nose. This sort of "growth" becomes exclusive as well- to guys who have access to the wealth that the new age economy has opened up for us.

Which is why I love what's happening with Pune's gardens. A thing of joy is the care and attention that's been paid to parks by our garden department- whether its the Pu. La. - Japanese garden, or the walking/cycling tracks that have sprung up, or the maintainence of old parks as well. This sort of thing includes all of us, doesnt it!

I especially like what they have done to the old canal between Prabhat and Bhandarkar road. This canal had a lot of old trees but also a lot of garbage dumped here and there. Now, its a full fledged garden- some sections are still work in progress, but you can have a lot of good walks/runs/cycling jaunts there.

They've kept the old trees; they've added new shrubs and grass. Perfect!