Chandigarh is a lived emotion not just a planned city

Transfers had become a way of life for me, each city adding a new chapter but also taking a little more of me away. But when I got posted to Chandigarh, what I found instead was a home away from home.

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The beautiful city welcomed me gently into its fold. I noticed the sky — so vast, so open — and the roads, laid out like a quiet promise of order in a noisy world. Everything here had a sense of calm purpose. The Sukhna Lake, with its mirror-like waters and soft morning breezes, became my sanctuary. I would sit there, watching life unfold at its own pace — joggers, artists, laughing children — and, slowly, I learned to slow down too from a hectic life lived in metros.

The people here didn’t rush through conversations. They lingered, smiled, offered directions and advice with a warmth that felt almost old-fashioned. Neighbours introduced themselves without hesitation; vendors knew your preferences within no time. Chandigarh didn’t just give me a place to live — it gave me a community to belong to.

In the symmetry of the sectors, in the flowering trees along the sidewalks, in the honest fare of the local dhabas, I found something I had forgotten: simplicity. A way of living that wasn’t about how fast you could move, but how deeply you could feel.

Today, when I think back, Chandigarh isn’t just a city on a map. It’s an emotion. A reminder that sometimes, amidst the structured streets and quiet lakes, you don’t just find new places — you find yourself —transformed to an emotional being full of human touch from the past of a professional workaholic.

Love you my city beautiful for having transformed me to live life fully and not spend it madly.

Nishant Kumar Shrivastava, Chandigarh