Being in a big city is overrated if you live in —

Chandigarh. Or any medium-sized city. Unless you like breathing in the chemicals.

Before I begin, I want to show you the city through my eyes.

I live in Chandigarh. It is a marvel and very different from all other small cities of India. I know these are hefty claims but just look at it

The Tower of Shadows. Designed to study the solar movement by Le Corbusier. He wrote, “it is possible to control the sunlight in the 4 corners of a building, play with it even in a hot country and finally obtain low temperatures”.

Chandigarh General Post Office, Sector 17. Grey, straight lines, minimal and functional.

If you don’t know Chandigarh, this city is an anomaly. It was constituted on the first day of November 1966 and was designed by Le Corbusier, a Swiss-French modernist architect. It is young, small and the best experiment of urban planning in India. It was Nehru’s dream project. After losing Lahore (Punjab’s former capital city) to Pakistan, he wanted to build a city that reflected the values that modern India would emulate.

Le Corbusier (also known as Charles-Édouard Jeanneret) and Nehru. Photo from here

Nehru imagined a city that was unfettered by the traditions of the past, a symbol of the nation’s faith in the future.

Architects like Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry were invited to team up with Indian modernists to design around 100 cities and many office buildings of India. Of these, only Chandigarh was completed.

Since Chandigarh was the only one that was completed, it is rather aloof in terms of culture from the rest of the country. It stands out. Here’s what someone had to say,

Though it’s one of the most beautiful cities in India and a UNESCO World Heritage site, Chandigarh’s functionality — and indeed Le Corbusier’s master plan — is still criticized. It’s not only a city alienated from the rest of the country and its culture, but also sterile, expensive and lacking in social mobility.

Le Corbusier had some lovely ideas about this new city he was going to create (how successful he was on the social front is debatable). Here’s what they were:

1. Chandigarh is a city that offers all amenities to the poorest of the poor of its citizens to lead a dignified life
2. Chandigarh is a government city with a precise function, and consequently, a precise quality of inhabitants (He said it, not me)

Homes, as created by Fry & Drew

A city born out of vanity, Le Corbusier planned Chandigarh such that,

1. the creation of bad semi-urban boundaries of the new city can be avoided, drawing away from the strength of the city by unfair competition immediately beyond the area of local taxation. (I mean I have nothing against the Tricity but he did)
2. there is harmony between the urban and rural setups, in which there is no loss of the rural status but an upliftment of the rural areas because of the urban proximity

The focus on the symbolism and monumentality that imbues the plan of Chandigarh has led to the neglect of marginalized groups and spaces within the narrative constructed around Chandigarh (Sarin 1982). Such subaltern voices as that of the labor that helped construct Chandigarh or the original inhabitants who faced multiple dislocations to make way for Chandigarh have received only limited space in the city’s discourse (Sarin 1982;Sharma et al. 1999;Singh 2012). It is no wonder, then, that Chandigarh is regarded as a static representation of a state-sponsored narrative lacking a social context (Kapur 2010). Sarin, Madhu. (2019).

Not everything was perfect, clearly. Yes, the city does lack a social context and a culture that is developed over many years but hey, I am blinded.

The roads do get busier but you never want to kill yourself because of the immaculately planned geometric grid of fast traffic roads. Photo by Manoj Balodi on Unsplash

Le Corbusier’s sketch showing the geometric grid of roads (The 7Vs) and the ‘sector’ system of Chandigarh.

Information you can skip if you’re not into town planning given below:

The 7V rule was studied in 1950 at UNESCO’s request to get a consensus on the acceptable proposition of urbanism. It was discovered that we need seven types of roads for a nice life :)

1. The V1s cross the continents and arrive in the town
2. The V2s go to special public services
3. The V3s cross at full speed without interruptions
4. The V4s dispose of immediate accesses to daily needs
5. The V5s and V6s get home
6. The V7s take the children to school, green areas, and sports facilities

Later the ‘V8’ was created, independent of the others, to support the onrush two-wheel vehicles. Sounds boring? Look at it:

They’re running all over the city. Not lying.

Straight lines, sleek, simple, free space, and no-nonsense.

The High Court is a linear block with the main facade toward the public square. It has a rhythmic arcade created by a parasol-like roof, which shades the entire building. The three massive concrete pylons represent the “Majesty of Law” are painted in bright primary colors and visually punctuate the rhythmic facade. You can read more here.

The front facade of the High Court, with brise-soleils under the parasol-like roof. Took it from here

The Chandigarh Capitol Complex. Photo from here

The Chandigarh Legislative Assembly

Photo by Marc Riboud

Also The Capitol Complex

A view across the plaza of the Capitol Complex toward the Assembly, with the Martyrs’ Monument in the foreground

“Look I made this.” Photo from here

The capital of two Indian states, Chandigarh is one of the many medium-sized cities of India that provide the ~balance. They provide incredible opportunities for education and since the advent of the Internet, quick modes of travel, there is practically nothing that you cannot learn from the comfort of these cities. Chandigarh has many notable educational and cultural institutions including The Panjab University, The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, The Punjab Engineering College, and The Government Medical College and Hospital. Needless to say, there are other, some might say better, opportunities available in other cities but these are great too.

Complementing this, you have peace and quiet. We also have birds other than crows and pigeons, just saying.

Indian Grey Hornbill, State bird of Chandigarh. Photo from here

If you ask me what you should do when in Chandigarh, I’d say enjoy the roads, the trees, the space, and the marvel of exponential thinking. Not because I think you’re profound but because there’s nothing much to do.

Chandigarh was designed to accommodate the population growth and the dreams of this population not to attract crowds.

Falling in love with Chandigarh or any other small town is a process, you hate it (a lot) and then you see other things and you realize you only hated it because you are a thankless ferret.

Did I move to a big city for my education? Yes, I moved to Mumbai. Should I have? Yes, the experience was great. The exposure to different people taught me so much but it also taught me that I am not a big city person. I do not like the bedlam of noises, the congestion, the hustle, the pollution, and the over-complication of tiny things.

In my very humble opinion, the development of cities like Chandigarh is the only way of decongesting big cities like Mumbai and Delhi, reducing the raging crime rate and significantly improving the lives of citizens. I mean, fresh air can never be a bad idea, right?

These medium-sized cities usually find themselves amidst an exodus of people they have raised and the mass influx of people who come from smaller towns in the hope of a better future (Because urbanization is the only way to arrive, right?).

Coming to my next point about the mindsets of small-town people. I find so many people who were either raised in big cities or have migrated to big cities lamenting the small-mindedness, lack of anonymity, lack of exposure, and the outdatedness of us small-town inhabitants. This may be true to an extent but all kinds of people exist everywhere and we’re learning and we’re getting better. After all, we have more time to do things because we’re not always struggling to get from point A to point B.

When I moved back to my city in the middle of the pandemic, was I happy about the fresh air?

no.

I was unhappy about there being no Burma Burma, Yum Yum Cha, Pizza Express, gigantic malls but then it fortuitously struck me — these medium-sized cities are brimming with opportunities.

I hated this city for a while because I blamed everything slightly unfavorable that happened to me on externalities but taking ownership of my feelings and my life has made me so happy. I shed some weight in terms of people who made me believe that it’s the city that’s the problem and now I am just in awe (as you saw) of this lovely city. Here’s why a small town is great:

1. It has so many opportunities for small businesses
   Large towns are saturated. With the increasing exposure, standards of education, and expansion of wants in medium-sized cities, local businesses have a higher chance of success. Word travels fast in small towns (I know we hate it) but it’s great for business. Since the costs of living in a small town are much lower, your dream business is more likely to start paying your bills sooner. Obviously, tapping into big cities is very lucrative (also very difficult because so many Type As) and by all means, go get that demand but starting small helps. Ask anyone.
   Is it easier to start? Yes, it is. You have fewer things to worry about, lesser expenses.
2. You have so much more time for yourself and your family
   This is intuitive. I just love not having to sit in the traffic aimlessly. It’s the best feeling in the world. People say it grows on you, I mean so does a tumor. Is it a good thing? no.
3. The pollution levels are significantly lower (than most megacities)
   How can you argue with this? You obviously love yourself and your insides, right?
4. You know and speak a local language
   We small-town people are bilingual and we own it. Yeah, we have accents that big town people find unsophisticated, unpolished, and unrefined but at least we’re not taking pride in not knowing our mother tongues — that’s just distasteful. I mean English is cool but have you experienced the emotional connection of a local language?

The romanticization of the big city is quite understandable. The narratives created around the big cities mostly always convey the inadequacies of smaller cities and the people who live in these cities. I really hope that changes because we’ve been bullied and made to feel that our city is something we need to be ashamed of.

Mainstream media almost had me believing that I was unlucky! Can you believe it?

I tried really hard to get onto the bandwagon of ‘ew small cities’ but couldn’t fall out of love because just look at this

Let’s keep talking!