Moving Out

After completing the MBA I got a job in an IT company as an entry-level analyst. The company was far from my home at Range Hills road, near Pune University. I would go to the office on my bike. I was very excited about that job. The best part of my job was the team in which I was working. The vibe of that team was more of friends than just colleagues. One year later our office moved to Kalyaninagar in a big multistorey Cerebrum IT Park. That new place was situated in the heart of Pune's prime locality. On the way to the office, I would pass through Koregaon Park, again one more prime locality of Pune. KP was always my favourite place since I came to Pune. KP was divided into lanes. One side of the road were Lane 1,2,3,4,5,6 & 7 and other side were Lane A, B, C, D & E. All these lanes had big roads covered with huge trees and king size bungalows. KP was famous for Osho Ashram, German bakery, Osho garden, beautiful cafe shops, 5-star hotels, top-class restaurants, clubs and awesome nightlife. KP was the party centre of Pune.

While driving to the office I would eagerly wait to reach KP and then slowly drive through looking at the lanes. On weekends I would often go to KP just to walk by all the lanes. I would keep wondering how it would be to live here. That place had some glamour attached to it and I was fascinated by that. I had checked the rent of some houses and it was way beyond my budget. I had seen the FRIENDS tv show and I was dreaming of the same kind of life in KP with some cool roommates. But I didn't know anyone there and all the rich & fancy people were kind of intimidating. When you carry small-town boy inferiority filled mindset, you often underrate yourself. So I would walk in those lanes with a dream of living there and at the same time reminding myself you don't deserve and can't afford it. Every time driving back to my home I would leave those lanes in KP with some sadness in my heart. There was something in that place which was pulling me towards it.

After working with that IT company for 3 years I decided to leave the job and start my own business. I ventured into the world of Fitness. Got myself certified in Fitness Training and a couple of more certifications. Then I worked for 2 months in a Fitness Centre. Later I went for Freelancing. I designed my own website by myself learning from YouTube tutorials. Somehow it got ranked on the first page of Google. Through that, I started getting a huge amount of enquiries for fitness coaching. It was getting difficult to manage all by myself so then I created a team of trainers who would work for me. I also started Online Coaching as I would get clients from outside Pune. Finally, I got my business registered and opened a Fitness Training Company. That happened within a year after leaving my job. I was earning way more than what I used to make in my job. Also, I was my own boss. Life was going really great. Except for one thing. Like every job has its downside, mine had too. My work required an insane amount of travelling. I would literally crash on my bed when I would reach home late at night. All my clients were far away from my home and travelling was just killing me. So I decided to move out of my own home where my dad & sister were living. I started searching for places where it would get easier for me to reach all my clients. I went to Google maps and draw the location of all my clients who were spread across the city. And I tried to check the centre point. To my wonder, it came to be Koregaon Park. I couldn't believe my eyes. KP was calling me..... again.

In all my excitement I started looking for rental houses in KP. When I would get free from client training I would walk around in the same lanes. But that time my walk was not carrying that I don't deserve & can't afford inferiority ridden feeling. I was walking like a King as if I had owned that place. After looking at many houses I found one private bungalow where the first floor was available on rent. That was in Lane C. I checked the house and fell in love with that place right from the beginning. It was a huge 1 bhk apartment with parking at the ground. There was a nice playground in front of that house and a school nearby. I immediately booked the house and moved in the very next day. Slowly I started renovating that place with furniture, kitchen decor, painting the walls. I turned that place into a beautiful home. I had many parties with my friends in that house. I had hosted so many of my clients and guests in that house. Many beautiful memories are from that house. That was the first house where I moved out of my parent's house and started living independently. I would still go for the walk-in those lanes. But that time the feeling was I belong here. That house and those lanes will always stay close to my heart.

It was surprising how life presents you with the experiences which you were really passionate about.