Note: Amod writes about the place he has been living in for close to four years. Hope you enjoy this small snippet of his experience of being out and about in Koregaon Park.
How to tell if something belongs in a particular place? One only has to look for things that belong to them. If you walk around Koregaon Park, you will find it hard to tell who belongs in it as the things that belong to it are so varied.
After getting married, I moved to an apartment not far from my studio which is located in Koregaon Park. It was an undercurrent in the sea of conversations regarding our marriage that Nupur will be living in this area. Osho, the Bungalows of the super-rich like Adar Poonawala, Bajaj, RMD, DY Patil et al exude an aura of luxury.
This has led to the place housing many fancy bars and restaurants where people come to have a great time. A perception (probably real) has formed that Koregaon Park, or KP, is an expensive place to live.
I have seen young men and women dress up in the most uncomfortable-looking outfits, only to show up to this fancy area in a bid to claim that they belong. I sometimes look at them and think that they must be saving up from their salary for a couple of months to buy that outfit, and squander hefty cash in these fancy-looking places.
Places too seem to take up this strain of belonging, mimicking the very people they hope to host. Having lived here though, I know the reality of some of these places. The only perception that seems true about them is that they try really hard to belong. They look extremely fancy, are named some off-beat name, and attract weird people. The inevitability of these places closing down invites bets between my friends and me about how many days they’ll last. I explore these places often as I want to be careful with my bets.
I went to one such cafe with my wife, and the only thing good about that outing was that I got introduced to the music of Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes. A feeble attempt to finish some of the worst charred broccoli was noticed by the waiter and he was kind enough to offer a replacement dish. While we were waiting for the dish, the music system began playing a song, the drums of which caught my attention and how. I forgot about the charring the horrible broccoli had inflicted on my soul and I went up to ask the guys at the counter about the music that was playing. “Tidal Wave, by Tom Misch” one of them said as he looked at the phone screen. Here is the link for you to enjoy it -
Time for some self-reflection here, it is the same with my studio. Perception drives reality it seems. We get a lot of foreign clients just because KP attracts a lot of foreign tourists, especially the artist types.
You will often find Indians and foreigners walking around the area in maroon robes. These saintly figures are bhakts of the Osho. Maybe not bhakts. They probably come here to learn meditation. There are weird stories about the ashram itself. I have neither gone into them nor the ashram. The garden owned by the ashram is open to the public and there I have been. It is a good walk but a bad run. You will occasionally find young couples desperately hiding in the bush to sneak a make-out session. As they say, you will find what you are looking for.
Or is that so? Because there is also this guy whose presence in KP might as well be an accident. I have been living here for close to 4 years now. I find interesting characters every day. There is one guy who looks like he must be carrying at least 2 kg of Ganja with him for sale. Hair unkempt, weird and layered clothing, a finger that seems to have lost all the bones and muscles, and always smoking a cigarette. Turns out, he is an urban legend, not your next-door dealer. My colleague has talked to him. I was told that he speaks fluent English in a somewhat British accent. Legend says that he owned a great portfolio of real estate in the area but was honey-trapped, and everything was taken away from him. His family still lives somewhere overseas and they keep calling him home. He never returns. It is said that he can be found in lane no. 6, or in and around the German Bakery.
Even him you will find if you were looking for him, not sure if he found what he was looking for.
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