pune queens garden the name invokes images of opulence and serenity the opulence might be a thing of the past but serenity is definitely found in oodles heredespite being located a stones throw from the bustling pune railway station queens garden feels like its in the eye of a stormlike most of the cantonment this area was little more than a barren patch of shrubbery and listless trees before the british east india company transformed it in 1817 the newlyestablished settlement was named for the reigning british monarch of the time victoriait was replete with imposing establishments that screamed authority sprawling recreational facilities lush green grounds and lawns and englishstyle cottages the latter would evolve into bungalows with quintessentially indian architectural refinementsthe area has lost none of its charm during the canter into the modern era with rich green cover providing respite from the sunthe trees are a blessing during summers as well as rains say jamal shaikh with a laugh shaikh sells fruits on his threewheeler near the rajendra sinhji institute sure sometimes im chased away by cops but thats fine as i do great business otherwise shaikh addsthe area was also home to the citys then foremost authority a local magistrate who was the last word in law enforcement administration and collection of revenue from lands in the city and nearby areasthe allimportant official would in the days to come come to be known as the collectorqueens garden was and remains an important nerve centre for the militarythe armed forces of the east india company and later of the crown had their barracks towards the southern end of the cantonment their offices and com mand centres however were established near where the commanders were lodged in luxurious residences in queens garden even today the headquarters of the southern command are housed in an old elegant structure here the roads too were clear ly planned keeping the army in mind they are wide and curiously devoid of medians the roads were designed such that soldiers and artillery can be deployed at a moments notice you wont find dividers almost nowhere in the cantonment says a jawan posted herebut for all its military might queens garden was also a symbol of affluent indias entry into british aristocracysome of the defence land markers here outside bungalows according to available records have had indian names for the past century or longer a majority of them from the parsee community later hindus muslims and goan christians too joined their numbers and started living in the hitherto british bastionhistorians samita gupta and jaymala diddee write in pune queen of the deccan that this was the result of the british lifting an apartheid in the cantonment towards the end of the 19th century of course the natives as the authors write had to adopt a more british lifestyleby 1876 the parsees owned houses on arsenal road and the once exclusive areas of alexandra napier parvati villas and wellesley road and the even more exclusive queens