Chandigarh City Beautiful

The good thing about having a day off is that we have time to go for a jog in the morning.  The good thing about where we live is that we are a short walk from one of the beautiful parks in Chandigarh, Terraced Garden, a great place to jog.  The good thing about the walk to the park is that we have to cross the street only once.  Crossing the street is a bit of a high risk activity although our neighbourhood is better than some.

The section of the park where we jog is about one quarter kilometre long.  A jog of six lengths in 30+ degree temperatures surely must be equivalent to a 5 km jog at home!  We call it Bikram jogging!

Occasionally, we see another jogger, but mainly people are out walking or doing yoga in the park.  We are getting acquainted with the regulars.

Chandigarh is a planned city and there are many other parks and sites that we have yet to explore.  Unlike other cities in India that grew from villages, this city grew from the drawing board of a French architect by the name of Le Corbusier.  It was the dream city of Prime Minister Nehru after the partitioning of Pakistan and India's independence.

When Lahore, the original capital of the Punjab, ended up on the Pakistan side of the border, a new capital was needed.  Nehru wanted a new city that would be symbolic of the new freedom for India.

In fact, Chandigarh is now the capital of two states, Punjab and Haryana.  It is unique in another way as it is really in neither state but in its own Union Territory.

There are many government offices here as well as a Canadian Consulate.  Most industry is high tech and we have driven through the new Rajiv Gandhi Technology Park which includes Dell, IBM, Infosys and many more.  We hear that Chandigarh has the highest per capita income in India and that property values are very high.

Of course, there are many slum areas and our roommates, Stacy, Adam and Kathryn work in one every day.  We hope to have an opportunity to go along with them one day.