Tonight, We Are Young

I’ve been feeling a little crowded lately, and my claustrophobia-driven instincts scream ‘run!’ pretty much most of the time. Of course, I don’t quite have the luxury of acting on them, although, in my head, I’m already far, far away.

I go about my day, running on autopilot, tending to each task monotonously, religiously, but every once in a while, in my mind, I shrug responsibility off my shoulders, like the leaden cloak it has suddenly become, and seek refuge in a time when I have felt completely unfettered...

Tonight, I am young. I am without the responsibilities that every new role, every new relationship, inevitably forges. I lounge easily with friends in a speeding car in the black of night, enjoying the wind in my hair, feeling freer than I ever will, again. There is laughter, there is careless banter, there is friendship. We drive through an unending, unlit, desolate road...white headlights racing before us, the radio spinning out ‘The Living Daylights’ at insane decibels. We are high on youth...unafraid of tomorrow, unmindful of consequences, and blissfully content in the moment.

The moment passes; I am back to now, making mental notes as I stir the tea on the stove. I need to pick up eggs for breakfast tomorrow, write out Maths practice sheets for the kid, get the laundry done, complete an article the client had demanded yesterday, and oh, wait, no sugar to be added to this tea, for the diabetic elders. My cellphone rings then, and I smile when I see the familiar name. I pick up the phone, knowing he will be the first to speak, as always...

I hear the familiar voice of an old friend, and draw strength from the friendship, and from the million remembrances of youthful, unencumbered days that his phone call evokes. And just like that, my heart feels lighter, and responsibilities don't seem that daunting anymore. I become, once more, the person I used to be...the girl in that car, who had not a care in the world, and the world at her feet, talking animatedly to the boy steering the car that night, so many eons ago.

Tonight, we are 19, again. And life is still brimming, with possibilities.

Shaniwar Wada

Shaniwar Wada is one of those typically touristy, must-see places in Pune. It was the first historic landmark that a friend had brought me to see when I visited Pune for the first time, as a teenager. I’ll admit I had found it somewhat boring then. But last weekend, I revisited the place, as part of the population of Pune that simply loves its city and everything that reflects its heritage and glory. 

Shaniwar Wada was the palatial residence of the Peshwas, the Prime Ministers to the Maratha kings. The foundation for the original structure had been laid by Peshwa Bajirao I in 1730. A statue of Bajirao I stands proudly in front of this monument today. 

The successors of Bajirao I added other elements to the residence, including fortification walls, bastions, gates, fountains, reservoirs and the like, giving a fort-like feel to it.

A raging fire gutted the buildings within the Wada in 1828, and what remain today, are the foundations and ruins of those buildings, and the fortification walls bearing bastions and gates surrounding the complex.

The Dilli Darwaja is the main gate of Shaniwar Wada. Massive, and standing about 20 ft tall, it bears a grid of steel spikes fitted to prevent elephants from charging the gates.  

Inside the gates, high, painted walls and an old cannon gave us a glimpse into a bygone era. 

We climbed up the steep and narrow stairway to a pillared hall with an adjoining balcony on the first floor, above the gate.

This is the view from the balcony overlooking the Dilli Darwaja…

…and from the hall, this is the view of the garden within the walls of Shaniwar Wada.

We walked around the entire complex following an elevated stone pathway that had passages and steps leading to ground level at frequent intervals.

Check it out! I’m perched on one of them! 

It took us about an hour and a half to walk around, stop for pictures and to read the plaques bearing information about Shaniwar Wada in the 19^th century. It had been a dull, rainy day, and not the best for great pictures, but it left us with some good memories and a renewed pride in the history of this land.