Pune - My Lost Paradise - Camp

In Fifties, my one of the most favourite destination was the Camp Area. Then it had that lingering charm of British Cantonment. The shops on the Main Street were very tidy and decked up, as compared to their local cousins in the down town area, to receive and lure the customers strolling on the footpaths, frequently glancing at the wares displayed in the show cases. I used to reserve my complete evening, sometime, for window shopping, followed by some hearty snacks at a Irani Restaurant and finally signing it off with a movie at West End. Now they have remained in my reminiscence as intoxicating hours, with that old over-powering scent.
Irani restaurants, wherever they were situated, had a signature of their own. They all had white marble topped tables, mostly hexagonal, with smoothened and polished edges. The chairs were high backed, delicate, with round bottom and glossy black polish. Every where, the furniture was so look alike that it looked as if it was produced by only one firm. The layout of all these Irani joints was always uniformly same and to top it all, at all restaurants similar looking owners, planted themselves at a high desk, at the entrance, on the right, commanding a good view of the customers’ tables. They used to shout out the supply orders, which invariably included their specialty of “Pav-Maska”. Their crispy mutton samosas as well as Keema or Bheja fry were preferences of many a food connoisseur. No statement on an irani restaurant will be complete without a special reference to their tea. It had a unique taste, to which, I was hooked on to. The cups were large and the quantity was copious. Even today, when I spot an irani restaurant and get a cup of tea, there, that unmistakable flavor lingers. This brand establishment can only be compared to Dosas of Shettys, from South Canara. Amongst all Irani restaurants then existing in the Camp area, Café Naaz was my most favourite. I still cherish those wonderful hours spent over there. Occasionally, I dream of those spotlessly clean Irani eateries, where a portly and kind owner shouts an order for my tea, ”Chhokra, apne saab ke liye pav maska aur malai lagake chai lao, jaldi”
The final destination of visit to Camp used to be “West End”. Those days it was in its original shape and looks, where I have seen many a Hollywood movies. Those were all time classics, which I still remember vividly. The cinema hall was a single storied structure, with a huge pebbled open space outside. In one corner, there was a typical western style open coffee bar, which used to serve tasty snacks along with coffee, during interval time. Being in open area, surrounded by huge trees, it was indeed a pleasure to sip a steaming cup of coffee, during interval in cool summer evenings, in those bygone days. Neither that cool comfort of sitting amidst trees nor that charming ambience of unpolluted era of Fifties will now ever return in that cemented spot, where once that charming “West End” stood. Another added ‘bonus’ attraction in visiting the West End was those pretty and beautiful young damsels who used to flock over there in their Sunday best. Compared to the city girls, they were miles ahead in fashion, who used to dress and do their hair styles, taking tips from the Hollywood actresses. I do not see their ilk, nowadays, when I visit the Camp area. God alone knows as to where those stunning beauties have vanished and I strongly feel that the present young generation has certainly lost a great inspiring sight!
Though Cantonment Board has certainly done better to preserve the heritage and old ambience of the Camp area, as compared to the Pune Municipal Corporation in the area under their jurisdiction, yet the time has taken its toll. West End is gone and so are many Parsi and Bohra mansions. Old lodge, opposite West End, where once British Officers stayed, now in ruins, is presently sheltering ghosts and stray animals. It still reveals its grand structural proportions, through its mute and broken tall walls. However, the redeeming feature of this passing current of Time is that old “Capitol” Cinema Theatre, now “Victory”, still stands proudly opposite Kayani Bakery, steeped in historical glory, showing latest movies to cine-lovers. It is here that Freedom Revolutionary Mr. Anant Kanhere had exploded a bomb that had shaken the British power in London.
One still comes across some old classic Parsi dwellings, with decorative protruding balconies with colonial signature, during the round-up of the camp area. Grand palatial bungalow, of an old IES officer, still stands in its pristine glory, with rare African Boab and other exotic trees, as silent witness to the grandeur of that was the landmark of that wonderful bygone era. Old charm still lingers on, making its palpitations felt to the visitors, who go there in search of the past glory. I only wish, this ‘Feeling’ remains alive forever!
Sharad Pitre.
16 April 2009