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“Marriages are made in PULA”. Wait, what? Aren’t they made in heaven? Well yes, they are, but they’re made in PULA too. Out of the many delights PULA has to offer, one is #MondayMatrimony. Members can post Matrimonial profiles and find a match for themselves or friends and families. It was a pleasant surprise when there was a successful alliance through PULA prompting Sonia to share the happiness through a post. Another member who was looking for a bride for her brother, casually mentioned it in the comment section of the same post. Soon after, her Facebook inbox was flooded with responses from members. She contacted one of them who was also a friend of hers, the friend had a sister who she thought would be a suitable match. In a heartwarming post, she expressed her gratitude and shared the happy news. She said, “Months of coordination and communication later, my brother found his match here, through this forum that has already given me so much!” “Who knew that one comment would turn friends into relatives?”. The post was flooded with comments congratulating the bride and groom to be. Now y’all know why I said at the beginning of the post – “Marriages are made in PULA”. Is there anything PULA cannot do? I don’t think so!   This real incident is conceptualized by Prajakta Mayank Noel from the post on PULA.

Webster’s defines the word “Community” as a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together in a larger society. Well, that’s exactly what PULA (Pune Ladies) is. We have over One lakh ninety thousand members living in different parts of the world. Separated by cities, states, countries and continents, United by one common word – PUNE. In a world where technology is being used to bring the world closer, PULA HAS indeed brought the world a little closer. There are search engines, there are agony aunts and then there’s PULA. It’s like this magical land full of possibilities, opportunities and ever so helpful ladies. It’s a boon to every member. It’s a closed group for ladies that are living or have lived in Pune. Ever wondered what goes on inside this magical land? Read on to find out. We bring you some amazing stories from PULA that highlight our unbreakable spirit of reaching out, sharing and caring. Each one of us has a different definition of what a crisis means to them. For a mother, it’s her child going without food. In March 2018, one of our group members who was traveling to Jaipur by train was in for a rude shock when the milk she was carrying for her baby had curdled. One can imagine how difficult it must have been for her to even think straight at the time. That is when she turned to PULA. She posted on the group page around 9 pm explaining the problem and asking if there was any way they could help. The train she was traveling in didn’t have a pantry car making it even difficult for her to get milk. The next stop was Surat. The minute she posted comments started flowing in. Some suggested that she check with local tea vendors, some shared web links and contact numbers to reach services that deliver food online. None of that seemed to work. One of the comments then suggested that she tweet to Railway Seva. Turns out she couldn’t do so because she didn’t have a Twitter account. A member offered to help and tweet on her behalf, the said member also shared her brother’s number and asked that he be contacted. The mother then contacted our member’s brother and shared the PNR and other details after which he tweeted on her behalf, not just him, our very helpful member tweeted too. The Railway Seva was quick to acknowledge and reply and they informed the officials over at Surat station who were prompt to deliver the milk once the train stopped there. Phew! Crisis averted! PULA to the rescue! The members were waiting for an update anxiously and once it was communicated that she received help everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Accolades starting flowing in in the form of comments. Most of them expressed how blessed and proud they felt to be a part of a community that’s ever so alert and helpful. Some thanked Sonia, our admin and founder for having created this amazing community. All in all, it was a happy ending.   This real incident is conceptualized by Prajakta Mayank Noel from the post on PULA.

“Children are a blessing”. Everyone who is a parent or loves children will agree. A mother to be spends 9 months in anticipation of this blessing. The birth of a child brings happiness into the lives of the new parents, especially the mother. One of our group members was one such mother. Unfortunately, her son was born with Crohn’s disease. A rare disease of the digestive tract that required him to be in the ICU for a prolonged period of time. This is the kind of thing that could move even a rock to tears. Soon, there was a post appealing the group members to help raise funds for the baby, the medical expenses were beyond the parents’ means. Like they always have been, PULA members were prompt to respond and reach out. A milaap.org link was shared. A staggering amount of 4,00,000 INR was raised through PULA alone. Apart from this, there were several posts inquiring about the baby’s health and wishing him well. The baby that has fondly been named “The PULA baby” turned one in November 2018 and one of our wonderful PULA bakers baked a cake for his birthday. He is out of ICU and recovering but needs constant medical care. His mother expressed her gratitude at the end of 2018 through a post on the group thanking the members for having stoop by her and for their never ending support and prayers. We pray and hope he recovers completely, soon. In a world where humanity is dying, the fact that thousands of people from a single group come forward to help a child selflessly restores my faith in humanity. PULA is a community that thrives on principles like love, compassion and selflessness. Alone I may, together we can!   This real incident is conceptualized by Prajakta Mayank Noel from the post on PULA.

They say, “Something that’s a boon can quickly turn into a curse if it’s not used appropriately”. The internet is one such boon that has made everything Swift and convenient. You can order almost anything online with a few clicks. PULA has been an amazing platform for female entrepreneurs. We believe in supporting small businesses and giving our members a platform to promote it. However, there are some elements that engage in dishonest dealings. In July 2017, a group member posted about suit materials at a throwaway price. A lot of ladies ordered the said materials and paid the money in advance. A few days before the post, she had posted a picture of her husband along with an adorable child thus portraying herself as a normal mum on the group. The picture got several hundreds of likes and comments. However, things took an ugly turn when the seller deleted her Facebook profile, turned off her phone and disappeared. At first everyone assumed she was going through some issues and that she would soon return, but that never happened. After a lot of posts and complaints, group founder and admin Sonia had to take matters in her hands. She posted asking members if anyone knew the seller personally. The post was flooded with comments; some blaming the group, some trolling and some being hopeful. Sonia took it all in her stride and was determined to get to the bottom of this. She posted a 2nd post informing the group members that all was not lost and that appropriate action could be taken. She appealed to the group members that had fallen prey to the scam asking them to contact her via Facebook messenger so the matter could be taken forward. Then came the 3rd and final post from Sonia. We have always maintained that PULA is not a business group and that any deals gone wrong are the buyer’s responsibility. She didn’t have to go through all the trouble but she did given the fact that she is a good human being. An angel in disguise from the group came forward and offered to help since she had a cousin who works for the Crime Branch. All the contact information and bank account details of the fraudulent seller was forwarded to the group member’s cousin who put in a request to have them blacked. Paytm helped with a number where the seller transferred funds. When Sonia called the said number, it was the seller’s friend, he got scared and shared the seller’s sister’s number. Sonia was already in touch with the seller’s sister since the previous night but it looked like the person posing as the sister was the seller herself! She wouldn’t admit it, though. However, when the member that had helped us with the Crime Branch connection called the seller and told her that the cops had been informed and that she would soon be in trouble, she agreed to pay up. The total amount of money she had scammed 18 ladies for came up to a whopping 61,000 INR! She transferred the money to Sonia’s account and it took Sonia over 3 days to transfer them to the ladies that were scammed and thus, after all the chaos and several sleepless nights for Sonia and probably all involved, the case was closed but not without an appeal from Sonia to the members requesting them to be alert while buying. She also had a strong word for the members that defamed and trolled her and PULA. It’s easy to blame and accuse but hard to lead the way and be a part of the solution instead of a problem. Lessons learned! This instance highlighted the power of PULA yet again.   This real incident is conceptualized by Prajakta Mayank Noel from the post on PULA.

In this fast-paced world, in a bid to reach someplace in time or sometimes out of mere clumsiness we often end up losing things. Cellphones, wallets, keys, the list is endless. What does this have to do with PULA? Patience, dear readers. So, out of the many amazing qualities of PULA, one is our lost and found department. Okay we don’t actually have a “department” but we constantly come across posts that tell us about items lost and found. There were 4 such instances where our members posted about wallets that were found and they found the rightful owners of the lost items through PULA. The said wallets had things like pan cards, aadhar cards, debit and credit cards and cash. We all know how terrible it is to lose a wallet. It causes a great deal of inconvenience, but thank God for honest people that take the trouble to find the owners. All the four instances had one thing in common – PULA. It seems like the perfect place to post about things lost and found. It’s amazing how quick the owners were traced and it was made possible only and only because the group is a vast community and the members are extremely alert and helpful. I’m going to conclude by saying something I strongly believe in – Every act of kindness no matter how small contributes in making this world a better place. That’s what PULA is all about – Kindness that goes around and comes around putting smiles on the faces of the people that are associated with this fabulous community.   This real incident is conceptualized by Prajakta Mayank Noel from the post on PULA.