Erandwane, between Deccan and Kothrud
Erandwane is the strip of old Pune between Deccan and Kothrud, and Karve Road runs straight through it. People fix places here by Nal Stop, the busy junction where the metro now has a station above the road, and by Mhatre Bridge, which crosses the Mutha towards the Sinhagad Road side. Kamala Nehru Park sits inside the residential part, and Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital is the big building everyone gives as a landmark when an auto driver looks lost.
Away from Karve Road the area turns into Prabhat Road and its numbered lanes: bungalows with gardens, society buildings that have seen a few decades, and newer flats squeezed in between. Families have lived here for generations, and tenants come and go on long leases. It is a polite, settled neighbourhood. A guest arriving after dinner draws no looks, as long as nobody shouts a flat number up from the gate.
Most Erandwane bookings go to somebody's own flat, not a hotel, and they are made for a slow evening, not a rush. Surbhi lives here, and her card calls her a dating girl, which fits that kind of evening. If she is out, Shivali is the next call, in Deccan, and Carina Lime in Kothrud is the one after. Neither adds a rupee for the ride.
