However, he got an inkling that he had to keep out of politics and focus on his idea of farming. From Pune, Joshis went to Shreyas Hotel where they had made advance booking for two rooms. His mother had her bungalow in Pune and was staying alone but the Joshis wanted to stay separate from the day one. From Switzerland itself he had made some preliminary enquiries and within six weeks he completed the formalities of buying a bungalow. It was a three bedroom house in a Pune suburb of Aundh with a small garden. A school teacher had owned that house earlier. Property prices were fairly low in that area. He named the house mrudgandh, smell of wet soil after first showers. Joshi found the name quite evocative. There was a well-known poetry book with that name and Joshi loved those poems. In the vicinity there were many fields and the earthy smell of the soil filled the air. By coincidence, the name had a connection with the future Joshi had thought of. When they arrived they had carried only a few essentials; bulk of their luggage reached later by ship. Arranging that properly took a few days. Younger daughter Gauri had said; “Every single thing that is here in my room in Bern, should be there in my Pune room. Only then I will be willing to come to Pune.” That condition was fulfilled here. In that suburb there were very few public buses and one had to go up to Deccan for most household purchases. Joshi soon bought a lambretta scooter for himself and a second-hand white Mahindra jeep so that they could go out as a family. Search for right school for the girls was also going on. Schools were to reopen soon. In Switzerland, apart from normal subjects, the girls had to study French, German and Latin. Here in Pune they had to study English, Hindi and Marathi. There was a reputed school at Panchgani where French was taught and thinking that let there be at least one subject in the new school Hands in Soil
Q
73
