People and Parrots

People and Parrots We are here in Pune, India, for my Fulbright Fellowship after a 2-year COVID delay. The Air India flight was as good as a 13-hour flight can be. The transfer in Delhi was a bit stressful as we didn’t know we had to go through Immigration and then come back in through security to board our flight to Pune. Once we arrived at the Pune airport, the hotel driver was right there waiting for us and we made the Ramee Grand Hotel our home for the week. The hotel was quiet and well equipped, but the best parts were the staff and the food. The exemplary staff met our every need, including having the driver take us to an office to get some money changed when we didn’t have success just showing up to a bank. The hotel is a short walk - maybe a kilometer (as it seems everything is just about a kilometer away, even if it isn’t!) from the college. Fergusson College Road (FC Road) is teeming with people, shops, auto-rickshaws, bicycles, cars, cabs, and more people. As in any big city, there were beggars—like NYC there are extremes in India, the poor and the rich cohabit the city. One unique experience was a short, older, Indian woman dressed in a simple saree holding a plate with flowers and colors (maybe for Holi), who walked beside me and then swiped her thumb upward on my forehead…whether in a blessing or a plea for me to purchase something, I’ll never know.

We were encouraged and blessed by the warm welcome we received at Fergusson College. A few days after our initial visit I met with students who expressed an interest in my two classes—Creative Writing and Research Methodology (something for the right brain and the left brain!). Then on Wednesday, we moved into our cottage for the duration in a lovely area of Pune, Aundh. The garden, replete with all kinds of birds I hope to soon identify, was the big selling point for me. The green parrot above was one of dozens, I’m not exaggerating, who live in the trees surrounding the Ramee Grand Hotel. When dusk falls, the parrots come out and fly around from treetop to treetop—an amazing sight. I won’t bore you with the numerous forms, FRRO, SIM card, and other technicalities we had to take care of this first week. All in all, it was a good start to our adventure in India. Stay tuned!