Moving to Pune!

Hello everyone!

I am moving to Pune in the middle of July. Monsoon season, I KNOW!

My best friend is making the journey to help me move. We are taking the long way, overland from London to Lhasa then flying in. What can I say? We are adventerous! :-)

I am attending the School of Fashion Technology for Computer Aided Textile Design. My school is in Karve nagar. I found a nice apartment in Warje but I know nothing about travel or if this area is even the best part for me to be in!

I know everyone says Koregaon Park, but I'm worried about the distance and transportation. I have my motorcycle license but I doubt I'll be trying to drive myself anywhere in Pune. I also love to bike ride, so I wouldn't mind being with 10 miles of my school so I can just ride my bike daily if need be.

Right now I'm budgeting myself on 44,705 rupees a month but I would like to around 35,000 rupees a month. Is this possible? I'm vegetarian and I primarily eat Basamati Rice and Indian Food now as it is.

Thank you all so much for your help and any feedback.

Hi and welcome to Pune forum!!

If you will be working at Karve nagar then there is no point in staying at Koregaon Park. You will have to spend more time in traveling through congested city traffic. Better will be to find some place nearby like Kothrud, Paud Road etc. Warje is also a good alternative.

Public transportation is not so good in Pune so you will have to rely on auto rickshaws or better if you could drive yourself after checking your comfort level on Pune roads

Budget(35 K) seems pretty much fine to me. You should find a descent apartment in 15K per month.
If you find someone to share with then it's well and good. Food is of course not a problem in Pune. You can find any kind of food, all kind of Indian food as well as continentals.

Hopefully, you will have an easy transition. Best of luck!!

Thank you so much!
If I cook my own meals, what do you think my average monthly food expense would be?

Do you have any recommendations for apartments/flats in the Kothrud/Paud Road area?

I would really like to find a place that has a gym and a pool (I promise I'm not really picky but I love to work out and in the heat, I would love a pool!)

Hello,
35k is more than what you will probably spend in a month, depending on the place/rent and if you're going to cook your own meals, its going to be cheap! Average monthly food expense I'm guessing would not exceed 700INR.
Just make sure you buy fresh vegetables. You can find flats on rent in any of those online classifieds, just google it. You probably won't get an apartment with a personal pool, but most of them have a shared pool/gym.
Best of luck!

fiazio, I think, 700 INR per month is too less even if she cooks at home. I think including normal meal, fruits and other food items, it would cost around 2-3 K INR. That too depends on an individuals living style.
Moreover, Eyeheartphoto seems to be interested in some physical activities (gym and swimming) so she would require some good healthy diet.. 700 would not certainly suffice in such a case :P

Besides for apartments, you can search it on "99acres" and "magic bricks" portals.

hmm, I think you're right

would you like to live as a paying guest? it wold be less than 20000 inr?its an option where you can stay safe with a family.

Welcome to Pune and Hope you have a good time in the city which is called the Oxford of the east.

About the rent - The normal rent in a decent society in Kothrud for a 1/2 BHK should not exceed 15K for an indian resident.

I am not sure how the locals deal if the tenant is an expat. I am sure there is a premium charged !

About the Pool and Gym- Suggest join some gym which provides the facilities as Kothrud does not have many societies with the amenities you desire.

A gym mebership would be a good way to chose what you want as per the season. Like you might opt for a pool in summers !

Locality- IMHO Kothrud or Law college road/Prabhat Road etc should be an ideal place. Avoid Warje as its still a bit on the outskirts and still a developing area. (If it is on the other side of the Pune - Mumbai Highway check google maps for that)


Abotu friends - dont worry you will find many also subscribe to the Pune meetups when you in India so you can catch up with Fellow IMers.

you have a decent budget , you should enjoy pune ; i would put other logistical worries aside; come and choose and there is plenty to choose from

I have been on both 99acres and magicbrick quite a bit! Thank you!

I am a pretty independent person so i do want my own apartment. I've found a few complexes in Warje I'm interested in. I know I will have a lot of visitors.

As for diet, I'm vegetarian by dietary needs, I can't digest meat and I"m used to eating for about $75 US a month with out food rates.

Does anyone know if I can work while I'm on a student visa? I'm a makeup artist an I wouldn't mind working part time.

Thank you all so much, you are so helpful!!!

Would re itterate - Prefer kothrud, law college road, prabhat road, bhandarkar road etc.
Warje still is evolving. Certain areas might be good but certain sections in Warje might still be remote and under developed.

If I may ask which complexes in Warje are you interested in? did you discuss it with the owners or brokers?

About part time work I don't think should be a prob to find one as long as you earn your spare buck and spend some creative time without worrying about being on payrole.

Just don't expect too much income in your part time job !

THANK YOU! I think it's the Westerner in me thinking I have to always be working, but I know I'll be fine.

Do you have any suggestions for complexes in Kothrud? I would like to find a complex that has a gym and a pool. That's only a want. :-) I can live without, I just thought a pool would be nice in the heat and a gym would let me still workout since I'm going to be eating so much good food. '-)

Hello!

I am a Westerner (born and raised in London), who has spent extended periods of time in Pune, and I thought i'd just quickly add in my 2 cents...

Koregaon Park -for me is just a tourist trap and place for Westerners to hang out and in my opinion get ripped off with imitation Indian food catered to the pseudo-vegan stereotypical backpacker. Its a very trendy area, but to me feels a bit fake. This is just my opinion though -I really don't mean to offend anyone! Shops are also incredibly expensive here in comparison to everywhere else in Pune.

Driving/Bike Riding -Just don't. I'm sure you have heard so much about the infamous Indian driving style, well multiply this by 10 whilst in Pune. These guys really have their own rules and even the most seasoned driver/rider would be disillusioned. Certainly do not try to ride a bike -hahaha -you would have to be a mad man!

One of my favourite memories of India til date is being on the back of a moped in Pune, driving through a HUGE intersection where the 'traffic lights' (decoration only in most cases) were out. At least 5-lanes thick of traffic, cars, bikes, people, carts, cows were criss-crossing over each other in perfect harmony to reach their destinations.. with this tiny little army guy/policeman standing in the centre trying to direct traffic with a white cloth and a whistle! Hahaha... bless him.

FOOD: mmm. Pune is a hugely international city as im sure you have heard and you will find an abundance of reasonably priced veg food on offer. Chinese is awesome If you shop around eating out can be seriously cheap -you will never have to cook for yourself, unless you want too ofcourse. Also, everywhere delivers right to your doorstep. My absolute favourite place to eat in the WORLD is Mayur in Camp -its an unlimited Gujarati thali, veg ofcourse. Go on a Sunday for a real treat!!

I'm off to India myself in a couple of days, drop me a message if you have anymore queries and i will be happy to help as best i can.

You will surely make many friends in the city -everyone speaks English and as I mentioned previously, its a very international place.

Good Luck! x

Ha Ha ha now thats some fancy description I came across after days. Traffic lights a decoration. Too good.



Sigma One is a awesome place near MIT college but I am almost sure they do not allow renting to bachelors from MIT or other colleges. Not sure if you can find a deal for a single girl.
Will check on this and let you know.

I cannot think of any other society in Kothrud which has a pool and a gym that is coz Kothrud never had such huge projects with all the amentities when it evolved. And now there is little space left to build such large townships with all the jazzy amenities like pool or gym.

I was just thinking in the heat it would be nice but I can definately do without, I don't have a pool here!

Any tips for how I can approach renting an apartment and not getting the NRI premium? Im hoping that if I say I'm a student, not a rich business person it may help. I haven't had a lot of luck contacting people with apartments for rent. It doesn't list email addresses a lot of the time, just asks for my phone number to SMS the owner but I don't have an Indian phone yet.

Nangu=
Thank you! That's a lot of great information.

We will be in London in June, any off the norm things we must see? We have 2.5 days in between Dublin and Paris. (travelling overland to Lhasa.)