Party time in Pune

~ 83 weeks to my 'Tees' (30th) ~

As the weekend approached, we were packed and uber excited about our upcoming India trip. We were headed to Pune on our first ever direct flight from Singapore to Prantiks hometown. Ayaan was eager to meet his paternal grandparents too. We've met outside of Pune, quite a number of times, be it Switzerland for Prantik's 35th or Singapore/Bintan for New Year's more recently- but our last Pune visit with Ayaan was actually 2 years ago, which also coincided with his first rice eating ceremony, 'Annaprashan'. 

We landed in Pune, around midnight and were picked by Prantik's parents and uncle

from the airport.

Day 1 was spent chilling at home - always good to kickstart the vacation with our legs up, book in hand. Being Women's Day, mom-in-law and I treated ourselves to some spa time and then shopping. We called it a day, at a much-acclaimed Bengali restaurant, relishing some Kosha Mangsho and Mutton Biryani, with the parents' cultural gang. Even though it was way past his bedtime, baby Ayaan really enjoyed the baby pomfret fry! 

Next day, we headed to the DagduSheth Ganapati temple first and passed by ShaniwarWada, now even more famous, after some scenes from Bajirao Mastani were shot there! We then met some family friends at the Residency Club and chatted over Indo-Chinese Lunch.

Sunday morning, we headed to Prantik's old school: St. Vincent's high school - while Prantik and his parents had a good nostalgic stroll around the campus, Ayaan was busy picking dried leaves and gawking at the hawks and other birds flying around the playground. Brunch was at Marzorin - famous since over two score years, for its sandwiches and cold coffee. 

The same evening - both Prantik and I were in for a surprise. The parents had kindly arranged a social gathering with a large group of family friends. Little did we know, that they had very thoughtfully planned out a felicitation and congratulatory ceremony to honour me passing the MRCEM exam and Prantik's deal-signing! They had even designed mementoes for the two of us - mine in fact featured a sepia picture of 'Anandi Gopal', India's first female doctor (we had in fact, seen a recent Marathi feature film based on her life) to continue to inspire me to keep materialising my professional aspirations and dreams. Both of us were rendered touched and speechless by their heart-warming gesture! We did speak respectively to thank them, and the rest of our family and friends who've supported us through this journey thus far; while Ayu had a ball running around the green lawns, chasing puppies at Kamal Baug (where our reception and Ayaan's Annaprashan had previously been hosted). We did catch up with our friends and some cousins too - it was indeed a lovely evening, under the moonlight - to be cherished for long.

Monday was our last day in Pune - so we did some more shopping and had delicious home-cooked Bengali lunch before the packing frenzy ensued. That evening, we dressed up in shades of green (wardrobe courtesy: yours truly) and headed to Chingaari restaurant (rated as the 2nd best restaurant in India) to treat the folks, in celebration of our milestones. We clicked many a photo, at the beautiful lobby of the Sheraton Grand, posing away to our hearts' content and enjoyed good family time, bonding over food, drinks and Ayaan's mischievous exploits. 

Soon enough, the clock struck 12, and we were headed to the airport, with our packed bags and minds too packed with lovely memories from a short yet really sweet trip to Pune. Until next time!