Pune: Flamboyant city hotelier and businessman Avinash Bhosale likes to do everything in style. So when he decided to meet a bunch of old friends every week for a game of cricket at Sinhagad Institute, he rejected the idea of travelling to the ground by car from his Baner residence.
A distance of 20 km, from Baner to Sinhagad Institute is about 30 minutes by road. For Bhosale this was too much time wasted. He did the next best thing. He uses his private chopper to cover the distance.
It takes him merely five minutes to reach the college ground where he spends almost five hours playing cricket. Local residents close to Sinhagad institute feel that it is just a craze.
"It's weird. You don't need to travel by a chopper to play cricket," said Satish Kale, a resident of Wadgaon Budruk who used to go for a morning walk near the Sinhagad Institute.
Bhosale travels in his Bell helicopters and it has now become a common sight at the ground at Sinhagad Institute on Sinhagad Road.
Asked why he did not use his car, he said, "I love cricket and I like to spend time every Sunday with friends.
There is nothing wrong if I want to save time and use my chopper, which takes me to the place in just five minutes. It would otherwise take about 25 to 30 minutes. The cricket ground is big and there is no need to create a separate helipad for the purpose."
Bhosale owns three models of choppers: Bell-407 and -427 and Augusta 109.
"I need the choppers for work and it is not a luxury. I use it wherever it is required," he said.
According to him, using a chopper to go to play cricket is also not a luxury. "It is how you look at it. Earlier, people used to criticise me when I used to travel by Mercedes instead of Fiat," he said.
Bhosale has been playing cricket for the past 15 years and has sought permission from M N Navale, president, Sinhagad Technical Education Society, to play on the campus.
Navale said special attention is paid to the ground to keep it in good condition and it is used only for students.
"Bhosale asked for permission and I agreed to sanction five hours every Sunday morning. I am not charging him because he is my friend and a well wisher," he said.