[ebonho]

Originally Posted by Neomobile

What is your definition of a good school and how did you conclude that Bishops is a good school? Academics, sports, extra curricular, board results? Your search for school would depend on your answer.

I'm mildly curious. Even academically interested. As an aside. Do you fundamentally disagree that the Bishop's School is a good school? On all the 4 criteria you've laid down?

This is from Education Today -

ABOUT THE BISHOP'S SCHOOL

EductionToday.co Ranked "The Bishop's School" General Bhagat Marg ,Pune, Maharashtra "Ranked no.3 in India / Ranked no.3 in Maharashtra / Ranked no.1 in Pune " under category "Top Boys School in India".

Incidentally, they will be celebrating their 160th year next year.

Cheers, Doc

[Neomobile]

Originally Posted by ebonho

I'm mildly curious. Even academically interested. As an aside. Do you fundamentally disagree that the Bishop's School is a good school? On all the 4 criteria you've laid down?

This is from Education Today -

ABOUT THE BISHOP'S SCHOOL

EductionToday.co Ranked "The Bishop's School" General Bhagat Marg ,Pune, Maharashtra "Ranked no.3 in India / Ranked no.3 in Maharashtra / Ranked no.1 in Pune " under category "Top Boys School in India".

Incidentally, they will be celebrating their 160th year next year.

Cheers, Doc

Sir, since you are from Pune, you must have seen how each school claims to be number 1 in different publications. Ranking depends on point system, so you can tweak it to your advantage depending on where you are submitting the same. Please go through the last few years results and see where St. Mary’s and Wisdom World school stand w.r.t Bishops. Talk to some parents whose kids are in Bishop. That’s all I can put down here.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by Neomobile

Sir, since you are from Pune, you must have seen how each school claims to be number 1 in different publications. Ranking depends on point system, so you can tweak it to your advantage depending on where you are submitting the same. Please go through the last few years results and see where St. Mary’s and Wisdom World school stand w.r.t Bishops. Talk to some parents whose kids are in Bishop. That’s all I can put down here.

Well, I'm personally not going by any ranking. Just putting it out there, because it uses a set of pretty detailed criteria, much as you did. I'm more old school. I go by the polish of the products in the real world. How they speak and carry themselves. Not necessarily how they perform academically. But how they turn out as adults overall.

Bishop's is my kind of boy's school personally. I studied in one very similar.

And yes, I am well aware that these (Bishop's and Mary's) are looked at as elitist schools. Hoity toity, entitled snobs, etc etc etc. And bad mouthed by a vast cross section of parents because an admission to these is not easy. Especially not if you are in the services or from out of town.

A school is what makes a man or a woman. Its not just rankings or results. Its a second home. And a second set of parents and elders and siblings. And when a school has an unbroken heritage of 160 years, it really does not need a ranking. Its name and its alumni is what sets it apart.

I am not putting any school down. Just telling you how some of us look at things. Maybe differently?

[Neomobile]

Originally Posted by ebonho

A school is what makes a man or a woman. Its not just rankings or results. Its a second home. And a second set of parents and elders and siblings. And when a school has an unbroken heritage of 160 years, it really does not need a ranking. Its name and its alumni is what sets it apart.

I am not putting any school down. Just telling you how some of us look at things. Maybe differently?

That is exactly what I asked the OP and I quote myself

Originally Posted by Neomobile

What is your definition of a good school and how did you conclude that Bishops is a good school? Academics, sports, extra curricular, board results? Your search for school would depend on your answer.

Does he want good academics, a good name, a good overall school with a balance of academics and extracurriculars? This was a genuine question, not sarcasm. The OP would stay in Viman Nagar and most probably look at Bishops Kalyani Nagar. Times have changed. I would not like to start a controversy over here so cannot put down certain things. After knowing certain things first hand I decided not to put my kid in Bishop’s Kalyani Nagar and it has nothing to do with elitist, hoity toity etc. May be the spectrum of admissions have changed today, may be the level of discipline is not the same today, and may be many things more. To each his own. But I wanted the Op to research more and not just go by a name or it’s heritage rather than what he is getting.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by Neomobile

That is exactly what I asked the OP and I quote myself



Does he want good academics, a good name, a good overall school with a balance of academics and extracurriculars? This was a genuine question, not sarcasm. The OP would stay in Viman Nagar and most probably look at Bishops Kalyani Nagar. Times have changed. I would not like to start a controversy over here so cannot put down certain things. After knowing certain things first hand I decided not to put my kid in Bishop’s Kalyani Nagar and it has nothing to do with elitist, hoity toity etc. May be the spectrum of admissions have changed today, may be the level of discipline is not the same today, and may be many things more. To each his own. But I wanted the Op to research more and not just go by a name or it’s heritage rather than what he is getting.

That's the beauty of having so many schools. Catering to a huge population. You are free to choose. As per your own comfort level and world view and priorities for your child.

When I say Bishop's, and keep drumming home the legacy and heritage, of 160 years. obviously I am not referring to Kalyani Nagar or any of the other recent newly opened branches. I am talking about THE Bishop's School. In Camp.

Just as when we say AIIMS, without qualifying it with a city, we are talking not about any of the newly designated AIIMS's across the country, but THE AIIMS in New Delhi.

Cheers, Doc

[Neomobile]

Originally Posted by ebonho

When I say Bishop's, and keep drumming home the legacy and heritage, of 160 years. obviously I am not referring to Kalyani Nagar or any of the other recent newly opened branches. I am talking about THE Bishop's School. In Camp.

Just as when we say AIIMS, without qualifying it with a city, we are talking not about any of the newly designated AIIMS's across the country, but THE AIIMS in New Delhi.

Cheers, Doc

Again that is your point of view based on your specific situation and interactions. I have met and many, and this many is not just for argument’s sake, many parents who think that if it is the same name, run by the same group, it would be good and then they are shocked by the reality. Whether it is Bishops or Sanskriti school that runs a very good school in Bhukum, VPMS in S B Road, parents go by the name and admit their kids in Kalyani Nagar, Undri, Wagholi and realise the reality. If you read the Op’s post, he has clubbed Bishops Camp and Kalyani Nagar together.

I would beg to differ with your AIIMS analogy. I have taught in a premier B School, my sister in law is a Professor of Pediatrics. We deal with young students on a regular basis who have worked very hard and spent their parents hard earned money to create their own destiny from different parts of the country, not because they were blessed with some old boys club. That is the beauty of today’s India. And to them an AIIMS Bhubaneshwar or Raipur or an IIM Kozhikode is an excellent AIIMS and IIM ONLY, and they come out as very good doctors and management professionals irrespective of whether their English is impeccable or not. At the other end of the spectrum you have students who go to AIIMS Kalyani and realise that they would graduate from a temporary building with nothing like the facilities of AIIMS that they thought they have come to, only because the facility is not ready yet, recruitment process of professors are still under way.

So my job is to make the OP aware so that he just does not go by a name and sees what he is getting into. You are absolutely right about your view and so am I with the opposite view. You had a good experience, some others did not. In camp in a PTM teacher was not sure who the student was. Yes in class 8, not some nursery admission. As you see I did not vilify any school, I am asking the OP to be vigilant. We have different points of view but I guess we can both coexist peacefully. And thanks for the interesting discussion.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by Neomobile

Again that is your point of view based on your specific situation and interactions.

No, it is not just my point of view, but that of parents who have sent their kids to both these schools and trusted them with their education for near a century and a half.

Pedigree matters. Be it modern India or India 150 years ago.

I'll stick to my guns and recommend The Bishop's School Camp as the best ICSE boy's school for the OP's kid in Poona. If he gets admission. After all, Viman Nagar is barely 15 minutes away from Camp. And Bishop's has a very nice fleet of school buses as well, so no worries in terms of inordinately long commutes either.

There most definitely would be other good ICSE boy's schools in Poona, just as there would be other good AIIMS in the country. But the AIIMS New Delhi is consistently ranked No 1, with No 2 and 3 usually being swapped by the AFMC Poona and CMC Vellore. And I have not in the past 3 years seen another AIIMS in the Top 10, in any ranking. In fact the ones mentioned by you are in the late 20s to 30s, depending on the ranking you look at. So I believe my analogy with reference to the context here was actually quite apt. Because you can list the good institutes, but there is usually always a best. No harm in pointing that out as well, because isn't that what we all aspire for where our kids are concerned?

Cheers, Doc

[jomson13]

My two cents on the topic:

I too am looking for a school for my kid, he will be 3 next year and will be eligible for the nursery batch that starts in June 2024.
I'm an alumnus of Loyola, spent 12 years there, wonderful school, not one complaint, period.
I'll get admission easily for my kid but I am looking at other schools, here why-

1. What makes a good school - its staff. I consider myself truly blessed to have had brilliant teachers all throughout school. 90% of them have retired
I've heard of Frank Freese (ex principal of Bishop's camp) from a friend is an alumnus, I'm guessing that he too would have retired.
How do I ensure that the void that they've left behind has been filled?
I don't care about SSC or CBSE or ICSE, its the teachers that are important.
You need them to teach the kid language, etiquette and discipline.
The kid will pick up subjects on his own.

2. Loyola's and Bishops both are boys only schools. I'd prefer to have my son in a co-ed school. I don't see the merit in having only boys or only girls schools

Having said this, it could be possible that my son finds himself in Loyola. After all, not all decisions are made rationally!

Just a few more schools to consider - I've heard good things about these
- Rabindranath Tagore (Balewadi)
- Vidya Valley (Sus)
both these are away from your place of work - but you said you are open to commuting hence suggesting these

[Neomobile]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Pedigree matters. Be it modern India or India 150 years ago.

There most definitely would be other good ICSE boy's schools in Poona, just as there would be other good AIIMS in the country. But the AIIMS New Delhi is consistently ranked No 1, with No 2 and 3 usually being swapped by the AFMC Poona and CMC Vellore. And I have not in the past 3 years seen another AIIMS in the Top 10, in any ranking. In fact the ones mentioned by you are in the late 20s to 30s, depending on the ranking you look at. So I believe my analogy with reference to the context here was actually quite apt. Because you can list the good institutes, but there is usually always a best. No harm in pointing that out as well, because isn't that what we all aspire for where our kids are concerned?

Cheers, Doc

This discussion is going off topic (thanks to me too), so I would not prolong it. Yes Bishops is a good school. That was never my argument. It was about pedigree. All I said was pedigree does not guarantee results and may not be the only thing that the OP should look at. I am not going to reply to you point by point as I already said it is digressing. All I would like to do is thank you for substantiating my point with your examples.

It is easy to have a gatekeeper model and create pedigree that several schools do. However your example of AIIMS has pointed out what I have been emphasising that results are not correlated to pedigree. So we cannot talk about “Elitocracy” and Meritocracy together. AIIMS, which you talked about, is an example of the latter. It is not filled with Doon, Scindia, Welhams, Loreto, Sherwood and similar and may be Bishops, if you want to include in the same list, but the brightest students from all over the country including tier 2, 3 towns and villages. These students may not even speak proper English and would never be allowed inside the gates of such schools of high pedigree. Same applies to IIT Madras and Bombay. This is pure meritocracy, and that makes what the institutes are today. And going by the current trend, these students would not have seen much of any schools (pedigree or otherwise) except for a few days a month thanks to the trend of Dummy schools and coaching centre combination (I personally don’t support it, but the results and ranks show the picture).

To the OP, Vidya Valley is good but very far. If you stay in Magarpatta, Magarpatta City school caters exclusively to the residents of Magarpatta and is good in academics. Wisdom World School in Hadapsar is known for good results, producing toppers, though the Wakad branch is the best. If you are looking at decent schools that are not the greatest but produce good results, many 97+ percent, you can look at and Pawar Public School. If you are not bothered that much by academics but want a school where your kid would study mostly with other high income professionals kids, Vibgyor NIBM road is also an option.

[Capri89]

Hi Punekars,

Travelling from Mumbai and need to have darshan of Sant Tukaram maharaj (Dehu) and Sant Gnaneshwar maharaj (Alandi)

1. What are the route options?
2. Can both the places be covered in one day ? Relaxed darshan is primary.
3. Kindly suggest stay options nearby. Would be proceeding to Bangalore next day via Solapur - Vijayapura.
4. Should I include Paithan in this itinerary?

Non Punekars may also advise.

Hope to have a quick feedback.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by Capri89

1. What are the route options?
2. Can both the places be covered in one day ? Relaxed darshan is primary.
3. Kindly suggest stay options nearby. Would be proceeding to Bangalore next day via Solapur - Vijayapura.
4. Should I include Paithan in this itinerary?

1.1 Mumbai Pune Expressway till Talegaon toll plaza, where you will need to take exit (don't remember if this exit is before or after the toll, please check on GMaps) and join the Talegaon Chakan road which leads to Dehu. Eway exit to Dehu temple shouldn't be more than 20 kms.

1.2 For Dehu temple to Alandi temple, take the Dehu - Alandi road. It's quite straightforward and is the default route if you use GMaps.

2. I've not been to both temples in the last few years, but if you start early from Mumbai, it should be easily doable in 1 day.

3. Considering your plan to travel to Bangalore via Solapur - Vijayapura on the next day, then Bloom Hotel, Magarpatta and Radisson Blu, Kharadi are 2 that come to mind. Bloom is very close to Solapur road, while Radisson is about 4-5 km from Solapur road.

[Capri89]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

1.1 Mumbai Pune Expressway till Talegaon toll plaza, where you will need to take exit (don't remember if this exit is before or after the toll, please check on GMaps)

The exit is neither before nor after the toll, it is exactly on the toll, well, almost. There is a separate gate for Chakan.

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

1.2 For Dehu temple to Alandi temple, take the Dehu - Alandi road. It's quite straightforward and is the default route if you use GMaps, it should be easily doable in 1 day.

3.

As both the darshan got over quickly chose to proceed to Solapur for overnight stay.

Thanks for the guidance.

[Flanker99]

Hello all,

It's been more than a month that I relocated to Pune from Bangalore. There is something that I have been observing about the behaviour of motorists here and wanted some clarification/perspective on.

Before that, some background. I have been born and brought up in Bombay. Resided there for close to 40 years before taking up a new job opportunity in Bangalore post COVID. Then relocated to Pune due to personal reasons. I have always thought of Pune as Bombay's "polite" cousin. Have never stayed in Pune before this, but always heard about it in a very positive context from my school, college mates and colleagues.

In Pune, I have both my vehicles (Jazz and Dio) at my disposal. Both are MH02 registered. Jaz does the Expressway duties on the weekends and Dio is used for office commute (Viman Nagar - Hadapsar) on weekdays. I leave for office by 8am and leave for home after completing the first half.

Now my observation. Last week, I almost became the victim of a road rage on the Beed - Ahmednagar - Pune road. I was around 50-75 meters from approaching a signal and noticed a privately registered Eeco behind me. There was plenty of space on my either side and vehicles in front of me had slowed down as the signal was red. The Eeco didn't overtake me. However, as soon as I halted at the signal, it picked up speed and screeched to a halt behind me. Then the driver started honking continuously. I was in the first row. All vehicles on my either side were not moving as there were vehicles crossing the junction. As soon as the signal turned green, I began moving. The Eeco aggressively began pursuing me with its horn sounding continuously. I knew that this person was keen on a fight. My speed wasn't more than 30 and immediately after starting from the signal I had moved to the left most lane. I slowed down further, waited for him to come to my right side. Then, without making eye contact I made a "Peace" sign with my left hand and watched him move ahead. This was the first episode.

Today morning, while travelling on the Pune Ahmednagar Highway towards my office, I again was subjected to road rage. This time by two Ola / Uber cabs in quick succession. Traffic was sparse and I was in the middle lane. The entire right lane was free. But these two cab drivers aggressively came up to within 1 meter of my tail, stayed there for around 10 seconds, continuously sounded their horns then pulled up into the right lane and sped away. I was very pissed off at the first instance. Hence, when the second driver did that, I gesticulated with my hand about the entire right lane being free.

In all three cases the vehicles were MH12 registered. Needless to say, all three incidents have left me quite irritated and distressed. I like to stick to speed limits and always respect traffic signals. But I am not sure what exactly was I subject to in these three incidents. Never faced such a thing in Bangalore where I was using the same vehicles. Is there some unofficial Pune - Bombay rivalry that gets played out on roads and elsewhere in the city? Or is it simply a case of "my vehicle is bigger, I will do what I please"; something that's "normal" across India.

To conclude, I would like to reiterate that I am not at all thinking about Puneittes in the wrong way. But something just doesn't seem right to me.

Mods, please feel free to delete this post if it is disrespectful or irrelevant.

Thanks, and Peace!

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by Flanker99

I have always thought of Pune as Bombay's "polite" cousin.

Assuming you understand Marathi, translate this to get the essence of what I'm trying to say, "Gone are those days, all that's left are memories".

Is there some unofficial Pune - Bombay rivalry that gets played out on roads and elsewhere in the city?

It's neither. Size of vehicle doesn't matter, registration of vehicle doesn't matter. Traffic manners in Pune have gotten terribly worse. Everyone is looking for a fight, it doesn't matter if they're a cab driver, or someone working a fancy blue collar job. Perhaps it's a cultural shift, perhaps it's frustration of being stuck in traffic endlessly, but there is indeed a massive change in behaviour on the roads. Not just on the roads actually, even off the streets.

Ignoring or even making it loud and clear that they're the bigger man is the way to go about it.

The root of this may be easy to guess, but political discussions are not allowed here so we'll leave it at that.

To conclude, I would like to reiterate that I am not at all thinking about Puneittes in the wrong way.

A true Punekar would say, they don't really care even if you do.

Relax, and enjoy the quirks of the city!

[Rodie09]

Originally Posted by Flanker99

Hello all,

It's been more than a month that I relocated to Pune from Bangalore. There is something that I have been observing about the behavior of motorists here and wanted some clarification/perspective on.

To conclude, I would like to reiterate that I am not at all thinking about Puneites in the wrong way. But something just doesn't seem right to me.

Mods, please feel free to delete this post if it is disrespectful or irrelevant.

Thanks, and Peace!

Hey mate, welcome to Pune. I have been living in the city for 20 years now and yes things are not great from traffic sense perspective. However, in my driving experience here I have never faced the kind of of incidents you have mentioned here. If there was space on either side, cabbies would never care to honk and would cut across and overtake you anyway. Time is really money for them. There could be some reason if this has happened with you frequently, specially when your vehicle is not an outsider but an MH one. Not concluding, but it may be worth to look for a reason - I have seen many a times people go slow in mid of road even though the road ahead is empty. That may irk some folks and they may want to prove a point. Again, just trying with these pointers to help you look for reason. The behaviors you mentioned are not common place in Pune.

And yes, enjoy the city - its definitely one of the better ones in many aspects.

Cheers.