*The Inner Child at Chandigarh
August 2005 Sunny Shobha had heard that Chandigarh was nicknamed 'City Beautiful' but it was only when we went there that we wished we could have had more time to admire the full beauty of this place.
We were in the first planned city of independent India, and the city that is the capital of two prosperous States-Punjab and Haryana. We had a long drive around the city and our architect son pointed out how the fine planning had manifested itself from the drawing board to reality.
We had to collect a parcel from somebody and it was so easy to search for the address even though it was our first visit here. The city was divided into sectors that were numbered correctly next to the other. The buildings seemed to be similar in height and external looks. Even the roads were categorized as to which type of traffic they would handle. There was a demarcation of intra-city or inter-city traffic.
But what really impressed Sunny Shobha was the fantastic landscaping that was always present in between the different roads. The local flora and fauna were in full bloom and seemed to be cheerfully waving at us as we drove through the different parts of the city. And compared to the garbage that we seemed to see commonly in other Indian cities, Chandigarh looked spic and span just like some of the other countries in Europe that we had visited. The many gardens in the city were also very well-maintained.
Sunny Shobha said a word of appreciation for Le Corbusier the French architect who designed this city so wonderfully. Unfortunately we did not have the time to see his many amazing buildings that were built at the 'pedestrian paradise' in the Central Plaza of Sector 17.
We did make sure that we visited one of the most famous tourist spot of Chandigarh, the Nek Chand Rock garden, so named after it's creater. And this was such a happy place to be in. I was amazed at the imagination and the creativity of the founder. There is so much of materials that is generated every day as urban waste. Who would ever think of creating artful objects of beauty from such useless objects like metal wires, mudguards, forks, handle bars, etc. Yet we saw many unique human and animal form creations made out of things like broken bangles, porcelain pieces or marble pieces.
At every turn of the garden, we faced a new waterfall or an artfully done piece of work. This work was spread over many acres of land and there were some isolated spots with hardly any people. At one such corner we found a young couple who seemed to be very much in love. However they wanted to express their love permanently to the world and we caught them just as they were trying to etch their names on one of the cave like walls. Sleepy Shobha just hates it when tourists do not have respect for the beauty around them. Sunny Shobha could not just sit back and watch with indifference. She made sure she warned them not to write on the public property walls ever again. The girl seemed ashamed, but the boy just didn't seem to be bothered by the warning words. It was with a sad heart that Sleepy Shobha realized that he would probably go back to writing on the wall, the minute our back was turned!
Sunny Shobha just had to try out some wonderful local ice cream sold from a cycle cart. Then we drove past the Sukhna lake and once again we tried in to imbibe the beauty of the city.
Five years later we visited Chandigarh again on work. The area just outside the airport was military dominated and we were asked not to click photographs there. We stayed in a guest house that was a bungalow in an upmarket residential area. We did get a chance to visit the famous City Centre. The shops, the open arenas and the distinct promenades made walking here a wonderful experience for tourists like us.
The quality of life here is supposed to be the best, as compared to other cities in India. The people are known to be big spenders and we saw that there seemed to be brisk business done in the malls.
As we drove out, we thought that Chandigarh was the rare combination of beauty and modern urban life in India! Wow -India!
*(There is an inner child within all of us. One that we were born as - warm and happy, optimistic, capable of serving and loving others, believing in the possibility of extra-ordinary achievements, filled with a kind of inner light, wonderment and positive energy, taking initiative and action...I will call that your Sunny inner child.
And then we are exposed to circumstances and experiences. Depending on the way we react to our situations, a new inner child emerges. One that we create - cold and sad, pessimistic, capable of being indifferent or hating others, believing oneself to be trapped within ordinary limits, filled with a kind of inner darkness cynicism and negative energy, lazily whining, not taking action, I will call that your Sleepy inner child.
You have a choice on which inner child you want to encourage in your life - your Sunny inner child or your Sleepy inner child?)
I will call my inner child as Sunny Shobha and Sleepy Shobha. Together we will travel around the world).
August 2005 Sunny Shobha had heard that Chandigarh was nicknamed 'City Beautiful' but it was only when we went there that we wished we could have had more time to admire the full beauty of this place.
We were in the first planned city of independent India, and the city that is the capital of two prosperous States-Punjab and Haryana. We had a long drive around the city and our architect son pointed out how the fine planning had manifested itself from the drawing board to reality.
We had to collect a parcel from somebody and it was so easy to search for the address even though it was our first visit here. The city was divided into sectors that were numbered correctly next to the other. The buildings seemed to be similar in height and external looks. Even the roads were categorized as to which type of traffic they would handle. There was a demarcation of intra-city or inter-city traffic.
But what really impressed Sunny Shobha was the fantastic landscaping that was always present in between the different roads. The local flora and fauna were in full bloom and seemed to be cheerfully waving at us as we drove through the different parts of the city. And compared to the garbage that we seemed to see commonly in other Indian cities, Chandigarh looked spic and span just like some of the other countries in Europe that we had visited. The many gardens in the city were also very well-maintained.
Sunny Shobha said a word of appreciation for Le Corbusier the French architect who designed this city so wonderfully. Unfortunately we did not have the time to see his many amazing buildings that were built at the 'pedestrian paradise' in the Central Plaza of Sector 17.
At every turn of the garden, we faced a new waterfall or an artfully done piece of work. This work was spread over many acres of land and there were some isolated spots with hardly any people. At one such corner we found a young couple who seemed to be very much in love. However they wanted to express their love permanently to the world and we caught them just as they were trying to etch their names on one of the cave like walls. Sleepy Shobha just hates it when tourists do not have respect for the beauty around them. Sunny Shobha could not just sit back and watch with indifference. She made sure she warned them not to write on the public property walls ever again. The girl seemed ashamed, but the boy just didn't seem to be bothered by the warning words. It was with a sad heart that Sleepy Shobha realized that he would probably go back to writing on the wall, the minute our back was turned!
Sunny Shobha just had to try out some wonderful local ice cream sold from a cycle cart. Then we drove past the Sukhna lake and once again we tried in to imbibe the beauty of the city.
Five years later we visited Chandigarh again on work. The area just outside the airport was military dominated and we were asked not to click photographs there. We stayed in a guest house that was a bungalow in an upmarket residential area. We did get a chance to visit the famous City Centre. The shops, the open arenas and the distinct promenades made walking here a wonderful experience for tourists like us.
The quality of life here is supposed to be the best, as compared to other cities in India. The people are known to be big spenders and we saw that there seemed to be brisk business done in the malls.
As we drove out, we thought that Chandigarh was the rare combination of beauty and modern urban life in India! Wow -India!
*(There is an inner child within all of us. One that we were born as - warm and happy, optimistic, capable of serving and loving others, believing in the possibility of extra-ordinary achievements, filled with a kind of inner light, wonderment and positive energy, taking initiative and action...I will call that your Sunny inner child.
And then we are exposed to circumstances and experiences. Depending on the way we react to our situations, a new inner child emerges. One that we create - cold and sad, pessimistic, capable of being indifferent or hating others, believing oneself to be trapped within ordinary limits, filled with a kind of inner darkness cynicism and negative energy, lazily whining, not taking action, I will call that your Sleepy inner child.
You have a choice on which inner child you want to encourage in your life - your Sunny inner child or your Sleepy inner child?)
I will call my inner child as Sunny Shobha and Sleepy Shobha. Together we will travel around the world).
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