Western disturbance

As the tiny Alliance Air plane creaked to a landing at Pune airport, I heaved a sigh of relief. During the two-hour journey from Delhi in ...

As the tiny Alliance Air plane creaked to a landing at Pune airport, I heaved a sigh of relief. During the two-hour journey from Delhi in what resembled a jampacked DTC bus, I had readied myself for take-off through the window. The way the old bird shuddered, I felt death was imminent. But I survived to see Pune.

Driving into the city from the toy-like airport, I was disappointed to see not clean, green Pune, but a crowded, dusty city with a chaotic whirl of traffic. Feeling totally let-down, I hunted almost desperately for greenery. My efforts were rewarded that night when we drove to the city8217;s preserve of the rich and famous 8212; leafy, secluded Koregaon Park. We ate a Chinese meal under the stars at a quaint, outdoor restaurant. No, the accompaniment to our candle-lit supper wasn8217;t Handel8217;s Water Music or Beethoven8217;s Fifth Symphony, but ghazals by Jagjit Singh. With tackily dressed foreigners forming most of the clientele, the music struck rather an incongruous note. But that is Pune 8212; a city of contrasts, of the beautiful and the ugly, of the hip and the conservative, each a perfect foil for the other.

What do you say about a city which has a decadent two-storeyed cloth and saree emporium called quot;Dulhanquot; in one corner and a two-storeyed pub and disco called T.D.S. in the other. No, the full form is not quot;tax deducted at sourcequot; but Ten, Downing Street. Tony Blair would blanch if he saw how his home had been misappropriated. And attacked by hordes of trendy youngsters.

But to return to Dulhan, which typifies the old conservative Pune that still survives. We walked in to hunt for the famous Pune checks, dutifully removing our shoes at the entrance and squatting on the floor. But equality of the sexes be damned, a salesman promptly produced a chair for our male friend. Shocked by this blatant discrimination, he insisted on descending to our level. Other males there were reclining on chairs with women at their feet. Every Indian male8217;s fantasy? The salesman told us proudly that they kept an exclusive stock of 20 chairs for quot;men.quot; We glared at him in outrage.

Even though I was rushed for time, I had another must-see on my list 8212; the much maligned Osho commune. One afternoon, we reached the office and persuaded a senior maroon-robed official to send us on a guided tour. When he heard I had come from Chandigarh, he promptly beckoned a young girl and urged her to give us a detailed tour because I was from quot;his villagequot;.

Entering the precincts, we were enveloped by a warm haze of peace and tranquillity. It was probably induced by the clumps of green plants and tall, arching bamboos joining in a canopy. Not to mention the exquisite Zen gardens dotted with plants, ponds and rocks, one of which was created on a stinking drain and garbage dump. Transformation indeed. If this was Heaven, we were prepared, nay eager, to renounce the world.

Again here too, the ultra-modern cafeteria and offices contrasted sharply with the pyramid roofed meditation rooms. Perfect East meets West synthesis. Although the overwhelming presence of foreigners accentuated the western ambience. We were not allowed to visit Osho8217;s marble samadhi because of our unsuitable attire. Devotees have to wear maroon robes and white slippers to gain entrance here. Otherwise, said our 16-year-old guide from sada Punjab-Patiala, quot;The sensitive vibrations there will be affected.quot; She did not mention what effect the power struggle within had on these vibrations.

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At the end of our tour, we were informed about the intricacies of admission to this exclusive club. Topping the list is an AIDS test. A hi-tech laser beam extracts a drop of blood in a painless second. The test, however, is valid only for three months. Given the intimate forms of therapy practised by Oshoites, this is crucial for keeping it, as our guide put it, quot;an AIDS free zonequot;.