Our flight to Pune was delayed on the runway for an hour and a half due to severe weather in Pune. The monsoon has started! The flight itself was smooth and without incident. At the Pune airport the cab driver managed to fit us and all of our bags into a tiny car. I would never have thought it was possible. We got to the hotel to face a delay waiting outside for about 20 minutes as we were actually booked the their other hotel that was just around the corner and it took awhile to sort it out. Once done all was well and we quickly cleaned up a bit and went to the hotel restaurant was a wonderful surprise. It is called Little Italy and had both excellent food and wine. The price was high for India but still reasonable, particularly once the quality of the food and service was factored in. There is something so nice about being able to relax with good clean food and a nice bottle of Australian Shiraz.
After dinner we easily feel to sleep in a very cool room to wake up rather cold! It took awhile for the ac to catch up but it certainly did. I’m sure this is the last time either of us will be cold for weeks.
Our driver was on time and did an excellent job navigating through the crowded streets of Pune to get us on the relatively new divided four lane highway out of the city. We had mostly smooth sailing until a few miles outside of Ahmednagar. The highway had narrowed to two lanes for about 20 miles and then traffic was tied up for miles as two trucks had collided and one had overturned off the opposite side of the road. It did not appear that anyone had been significantly injured so we carried on. Our driver had weaved his way in and out of the congestion, at times safely in the on-coming lane and at others on the shoulder, to get us through the congestion as quickly as possible. This part of the journey has changed so much since my first trip here in ’84. That time the whole length of the trip was along a jarring cobblestone like surface that was usually a lane and a half wide so when there was on-coming traffic you had to slow to a crawl with half of the car on the shoulder. In addition they we rebuilding all of the small bridges over every stream and culvert so when you came to each one you would leave the road and drive down into and across the stream bed. What once took me well over four hours was now a little over two and not exhausting.
The growth of industry along the way is amazing and the addition of about forty wind turbines on the major ridge just before you come to Ahmednagar is in strange juxtaposition to the various roadside gypsy tents with camels outside them, cowherds directing their charges along the road and shepherds watching their flocks.
After a short stop to pick up flowers to place on Baba’s tomb we arrived at Lower Meherabad to register in a room where once many years ago a slept for several weeks. With the addition of the new Meher Pilgrim Retreat (MPR), the old Meher Pilgrim Center (MPC) has become mostly administrative and a place for some western volunteers to stay. Who knows, they may send me down there after Dee returns home. The MPC was a wonderful place to stay from its opening in 1980, but it was no longer adequate for the number of visitors that now come and it had become very noisy due to its proximity to the main road. The MPR is so far away from the road that you cannot hear the traffic at all.
We did mange to get time to have a brief stop at the tomb prior to going to the MPR to get lunch, check in and settle into our separate single rooms for unpacking and a nap. After my nap I met with Karen, Dr. Anne’s nurse assistant and she showed me the MPR health clinic and told me that normal hours are only from 9:30 to 10:30 but I am the only MD here so I am always on call. Since it is only an hour we shifted it so that at times if I wish I can get the bus into town or Meherazad which leaves at 9:30. We had a relaxed afternoon with a little guitar playing, evening prayers and a visit to our old friend’s home before diner and early bed.
