Chandigarh - From a rural landscape to a smart city

In the pitch darkness of the wee hours of October 1958 as I stood facing the one room Chandigarh Railway Station building, there wasn't a soul around. Wrapped in a thick quilt, the Station Master was fast asleep. And rightly so because the cargo-laden goods train that I had just de-boarded would be attended to by daylight! Setting out on seven days leave from the Poonch- Rajouri Sector and entraining at Pathankot for Ambala, the passenger train lost time and missed the connecting train to Chandigarh. However, the porter helping me with baggage informed that a goods train scheduled for Chandigarh was about to depart and as I had the upper class ticket, I was entitled to board the train guard's cabin! So I grabbed the chance, it departed dot on time but for inexplicable reasons, it was halted at Lalru for 3 hours which dashed hopes of dinner with my parents! I gently nudged the station master and sought his help to reach Nagla, the present-day Sector 19 which went by the name of the village it was carved out of. He happily located two cycle rickshaws and persuaded one for the task at double tariff. The pathway turned out to be a compacted mud, a cart-track running parallel to the Rail-track. After about half an hour, the rickshaw-puller, who seemed to be struggling, readily accepted my suggestion that both of us will dismount and jointly turn the rickshaw into a push-cart. On his part, he entertained me with his favourite songs till we reached a narrow, bitumen road by the side of an overbridge, one end of today’s Madhya Marg! By then the puller was exhausted, but we kept firm on our resolve till another cross-road junction, the present days Grain Market locality. On the pavement sat a solitary tea vendor so we had a leisurely break sipping piping hot sweet tea. We reached Nagla locality at 4am, and he parked the rickshaw near a cluster of mango trees. We spotted eight single-storey government bungalows, each in a four-kanal enclosure of a well-manicured thick hedge, neat lawns and wide flower beds. Only one bungalow had lights on and I guessed that was my home! Sure enough my mother awoke to a gentle knock on the glass pane and minutes later I was deep asleep. And what a magic dawn it was in the would-be Smart City, heralded by a loud cacophony of peacocks calling from the cluster of mango trees. Other performers included coveys of Grey Partridges and Alexandrian Parakeets. Just as the peacocks led each dawn, night fall was ushered by packs of jackals and their spooky, high-pitched calls, and who moved like shadows in search of food morsels from garbage. And on moon-lit nights, with lights switched off, the lawns were the merry playgrounds for gambolling Indian Hares feasting in flower beds. The first two bungalows had housed the All India Radio Station and its staff, followed by the next two by the PWD functionaries and the remainder by the Civil Service administrators. Our opposite neighbour was the Gautama family, Pater being the Deputy Secretary Revenue. The surrounding rural communities had found an assured source for their produce and intuitively delivered all necessities at each door step happily. And on the far side of the Nagla Mango trees cluster was the first and only general merchandise store named Peshawri. My brief arrival was timed with the commencement of Game Bird Shooting (Shikar) season so regrettably had no time for further exploration. Long live the City Beautiful. Lieut Gen Baljit Singh (Retd), Chandigarh Tribuneindia.com invites contributions to SHAHARNAMA. Share anecdotes, unforgettable incidents, impressionable moments that define your cities, neighbourhoods, what the city stands for, what makes its people who they are. Send your contributions in English, not exceeding 250 words, to shaharnama@tribunemail.com Do include the name of your city and your social media handles (X/ Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn)