Some interesting ways to annoy Punekars

1. Tell them that shaniwarwada is a boring site and doesn’t deserve to be in list of heritage sites. Tell them no city that calls itself the 'cultural capital' of a state treats its monuments this bad.

2. Tell them traffic in Bangalore is worse than traffic in Pune, no need to be proud that 'once you drive in Pune, then you can drive anywhere in world'.

3. Tell them that Kalmadi belonged to Pune and Puneri people still support him because he organized Pune festival (which is an overrated thing anyway).

4. Tell them that Puneri Marathi is not the purest one, point out some 'non-pure' words from their speaking, such as 'mhanla' instead of 'mhanala'.

5. Tell them their so called amrut-tulya tea shops suck at making even a drinkable tea.

6. Tell them that Hyderabad and Bangalore are ahead in terms of quality of work and salary for IT organizations. Tell them that Microsoft and Google both are based in Hyderabad and Bangalore but not in Pune.

7. Tell them education in Pune is overrated and most of the colleges, barring few prestigious ones, are at best average.

8. Point out at the BRTS lane and start laughing hysterically.

9. Tell them that Pune Railway station is worst managed station you have seen.

10. Ask them how many terminuses does Pune station have, and then slowly start counting the terminuses in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai and watch expressions on their face.

11. Ask them the distance between Mumbai and Pune, and then start wondering aloud why there is difference of day and night in its work culture and attitude to outsiders despite being so close to Mumbai.

12. If you are talking to a young Punekar, then tell them you have seen more hot girls at Dadar station than entire Pune city.

13. Ask them why was there vehement opposition against helmet rule from Punekars when it was proposed by the state govt.

14. Tell them Hyderabad has local train network and Bangalore has metro. Say nothing about Pune, and watch their face :-).

15. Ask them if they know the concept of a ring road, and why Pune doesn’t have it yet.

16. Ask them what happened to the Air Conditioned buses that PMPML had started few years back.

17. Tell them that wada pao at any street vendors outside any local station in Mumbai is better than the one you get in Joshi wadewale.

18. If at first a Punekar doesn't get annoyed, then repeat the list from start to end a few times till he/she gets really annoyed.

19. Tell them that Mumbai has Bombay high court, Nagpur has a high court bench, and even Aurangabad has a high court bench, but Pune doesn't.

20. Start discussing the performance of Pune Warriors India team in the IPL.

21. Ask them when is the Pune Metro starting.

22. Ask them what does the name Rising Pune Supergiants (Pune team in IPL) exactly mean.

23. After that tell him/her you were just kidding and you love the place :-)

Quora Answer: Which countries watch Bollywood movies besides India?

There is one rather unexpected name in the countries whose people know about Bollywood and enjoy watching its movies, is Senegal, a small African country, located on its west coast and known for its French colonial heritage and natural attractions.

This is what Shashi Tharoor has to say about Bollywood movies and Hindi TV shows in one of his TED talks of November 2009, about Nations pursuing Soft Power :

"[...]having said that, the fact is that Bollywood is now taking a certain aspect of Indian-ness and Indian culture around the globe, not just in the Indian diaspora in the U.S. and the U.K., but to the screens of Arabs and Africans, of Senegalese and Syrians. I've met a young man in New York whose illiterate mother in a village in Senegal takes a bus once a month to the capital city of Dakar, just to watch a Bollywood movie. She can't understand the dialogue.She's illiterate, so she can't read the French subtitles. But these movies are made to be understood despite such handicaps, and she has a great time in the song and the dance and the action. She goes away with stars in her eyes about India, as a result."

Continuing further, he talks about how Hindi TV daily soaps have made a mark on minds of Afghanistan's local people.

"[...]You know what was India's biggest asset in Afghanistan in the last seven years? One simple fact: you couldn't try to call an Afghan at 8:30 in the evening. Why? Because that was the moment when the Indian television soap opera, "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi," dubbed into Dari, was telecast on Tolo T.V. And it was the most popular television show in Afghan history. Every Afghan family wanted to watch it. They had to suspend functions at 8:30. Weddings were reported to be interrupted so guests could cluster around the T.V. set, and then turn their attention back to the bride and groom. Crime went up at 8:30. I have read a Reuters dispatch -- so this is not Indian propaganda, a British news agency -- about how robbers in the town of Musarri Sharif* stripped a vehicle of its windshield wipers, its hubcaps, its side-view mirrors, any moving part they could find, at 8:30, because the watchmen were busy watching the T.V. rather than minding the store. And they scrawled on the windshield in a reference to the show's heroine, "Tulsi Zindabad (Long live Tulsi)."

Source : Transcript of "Why nations should pursue soft power"

Quora link : https://www.quora.com/Which-countries-watch-bollywood-movies-besides-India/answer/Swapnil-Bhandarkar?srid=pcO5

Quora Answer : Where is the best graffiti and street art in India?

A few days ago I happened to go to Delhi, and got to know about the Lodhi Colony Street Art Project. These are some pictures I took there, showcasing the work of various international street artistes who painted these walls under the street art festival that took place from 15th Dec 2015 to 16th Feb 20216. For more information, here is the website -> ST+ART India

The art is really mesmerizing, and kudos to the residents of lodhi colony and the municipal authorities to encourage such type of street art, considering such art is not very common in India yet (except for Kochi may be, where also it started only recently).

Link to quora answer : https://www.quora.com/Where-is-the-best-graffiti-and-street-art-in-India/answer/Swapnil-Bhandarkar?srid=pcO5

What we think of our fellow Indians

The other day I was searching something on google and stumbled upon this treasure hunt of sorts on our collective impressions about people from other Indian states. I typed in some words and allowed google to auto complete. The results are here. Some are funny while others are ridiculous. But one thing is common though, people from each state think that people from other states are racist :).

Obviously I am taking all these auto completes with a truckload of salt, because surely we can't be so negative in our assumptions about others (or is it some western conspiracy to divide and rule us :P ).

Starting with Maharashtrians. I somehow think the first entry is suggested not because this is what other people thinking, but perhaps this is what Maharashtrians themselves are searching for. Other suggestion of whether we are Dravidians is perhaps a known curiosity. Some people can take the suggestion of us being ghatis a bit negatively though. Other adjectives assigned to us are useless, racist, cheap and rude, which I have absolutely no reason to doubt that they are stemmed from the stereotypical Bollywood portrayal of Maharashtrians. We may well be lazy too, as I don't see any reason to doubt this suggestion :).

Gujratis come next. So some people think even Gujratis are the best, while others think they are cheap and only think about money. Some people even think they are cowards, and it makes me wonder on what basis people make these assumptions. And based on my experiences with gujjus so far, I don't believe in the last suggestion of them being racist at all.

Coming to the South, people generally seem to agree that south India is more developed, but don't share positive views about south Indians in general. So Tamils are viewed as bastards, arrogant and what not. Telugu people are both stupid and smart. Keralites are considered cunning (a trait I don't identify with at all), selfish, and of course intelligent. Similarly, Kannadigas are viewed as lazy and idiots. I fail to understand how on earth can someone think that way?

Moving towards North, Biharis do have this bad reputation.

Talking about Delhiites, people think they are not just lazy, they are terribly lazy :). And of course their rudeness is a commonly known perception all over India anyway.

Kashmiris are somehow the only lot to be the exception to this negative stereotype. People generally seem to think overall positive things about them, if you ignore the first suggestion here.

There is more or less same perception of Marwaris and Sindhis - cheap and rich. But they do think Sindhis are good looking :).

I had thought Punjabis have the best perception among other people, owing to their easy going nature and jovial attitude. But no. People think they racist, cunning and non-Indian ! Of course some do think they are the best ;).

Towards the eastern side, Bengalis do invoke rather strong reaction too.

Oriyas are perceived as lazy, for god knows what reason :).

Even Goans are perceived as lazy and racist. What's even more ridiculous is that people seem to be questioning their nationality !

So crux of the matter remains that people generally think other states breed predominantly racist, cheap and lazy people. What a great united country we are ;).

Disclaimer : These auto complete suggestions keep changing over time. So what was suggested 6 months back may not be suggested today. Moreover I think the auto complete may also be dependent on where these searches are carried out from. So if I am searching from Maharashtra, then auto complete may be showing our perception of the other people. If I had searched from Delhi then it would have shown a delhiite's perception of other states. But I have no proof obviously, so just forget all the negative things shown about your state :).

Quora link : https://www.quora.com/India-What-do-Indians-think-about-Indians/answer/Swapnil-Bhandarkar?srid=pcO5