Chandigarh Location Recce

Day 1

Jantar Mantar
We had a brief layover in New Delhi. Hence we walked through the wide boulevards, thorough the PTI building and Sansad Bhavan to reach Jantar Mantar. For foreign nationals the entry fee is 1 pound (hahha!)and for Indians 5 bucks. It is one of the ticketed sites that Archeological Survey of India (ASI) has done well to maintain well.

The Rajputs kings took great interest in astronomy and built these amazingly accurate observatories. I had to watch a couple of more YouTube videos to understand the workings of the structures. I was never good at trigonometry, but at least I know this that the hypotenuse of the giant triangle (Samrat Yantra) is parallel to the earth’s axis. We came along pretty impressed with the architecture and emphasis on science by the Rajputs, even when they were fending off the Mughals.

Soon we were joined by scores of class VII and VIII kids, each with a fancy mobile tucked in. The teachers had it easy as the kids are easy to control. They are more bothered about their screens and images that they will upload and share.

Chhole kulche @ Connaught Place
Nirula’s was supplying the day's stock to its metro kiosk and we saw the boys in red offloading food items from their van.

However, we opted for the roadside delicacy and staple diet of the area- Chhole Kulche for a mere 15 bucks a plate. And here’s what! The guy gave us a second serving and topped it up with thin ebullient onion chops, fried chillies and a dash of lime juice to perk it up. The dish has the chutzpah!

Delhi has THE metro 

The similarity between Dadar and Rajiv Chowk is that both are important junctions in their respective mass transit networks. The differences are many. To start with, the Delhi Metro station is underground and clean and has security checks for the commuters. While one stands for gradual decay, the other represents spurt in progress.

And the clinching argument in favour of the young Metro is that not one single person spat in its premises. Who says infrastructure doesn’t change people. It does!

Empty streets

We arrived in Mohali when the third ODI between India and Australia was into the 96^th over. MS Dhoni had played a gem we had heard and were informed by the twitter chatter. It was fairly desolate on the streets as mostly everyone was inside the park. Then James Faulkner hoicked a few Ishant Sharma deliveries outside the park in a sequence of 4 6 6 2 6 6. An over later he tonked another six into the stands and sealed a memorable win for the aussies. Well, for the neutrals it was a great game, for the locals, not so much. But the nip in the air as we reached in Chandigarh and its outskirts was refreshing and welcoming.

Work starts early tomorrow. So should be hitting the sleeping bags now.

Chandigarh Location Recce Day 4

Day 4

Open Hand
The Open hand is Chandigarh's official emblem designed by Le Corbusier. It is located in Sector 1 in the capitol Complex. It has been designed in the form of a giant hand made from metal sheets that rotates like a weathercock, indicating the direction of wind. The open hand is 14 metres high and weighs around 50 tonnes.

THE CONCEPT BEHIND THE MONUMENT
The world is undergoing a fever of clasping mortal contradictions. It is agreed! The world may burst! It is possible!

The machinist civilization for its hundred years of scientific and technical conquest will shortly have the fruits for its efforts. The balance sheet is eloquent.

One science universally researched, practiced and developed.

An unprecedented technical equipment, revolutionary in the human history, is capable of producing the unlimited products for fruitful consumption and sensational information owing to the progress in photography, cinema and sound recording embraces an extensive domain between the astronomic spaces and the microscopic pro founders. This information through the effects of printing, radio and television, clothed with precision and exactitude, is responded all over the world with the rapidity of lightning. Everyday the world is instructed of its proper palpitation. The science of aeronautics is added to the means of land and naval transports. The air route has introduced a major modification in the relations between human groups.At last the fission of the atom will upset the sources of energy and thus the production. The abundance seems to be the sign of the epoch.

The open hand to receive, the open hand to give should be chosen as a symbolic materialization of all these victories.

Open for receiving the created richness…

Open for the distribution to India’s people and to others.

                                                  

                                                                                                -     Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier Centre

Le Corbusier’s ingenuity and inventiveness inspired a lot of faith in then Prime Minister, Nehru; and he paid the trust manifold over the years. Filled with archives, photographs, telegrams, blueprints and paintings from the multi-faceted architect is the Le Corbusier Centre.

The Old Architects’ Office situated in Sector 19 is of immense historic value to Chandigarh; it was the design workplace of Corbusier and his team. It is a significant resource for understanding the technological, formal and aesthetic spirit of modern architecture, as also its peculiar manifestation in the context of Chandigarh.

Besides contributing to the ongoing international deliberations about the policies for conserving modern heritage, this project is a landmark as a first ever project of conservation and adaptive re-use undertaken by the Chandigarh administration.

Le Corbusier quotes

• Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of form in light.
• Space and light and order, these are the things that men need just as much as they need bread and a place to sleep.

Chandigarh Trivia

Sector 17 used to be a Harrappan civilization settlement. What a coincidence-the two almost identically planned cities-Chandigarh’s sectorial and Harrappan grid layouts-complement one another as if time meant them to perpetuate a tradition of planned settlement in this part of the world. History repeats itself albeit 5000 years in time and over 3 metres of silt in between.

Chandigarh Golf Club

We arrived after a short walk from the Cell and found elderly golfers doing the same between their rounds of golf. A quick one minute meeting with the general manager of the ongoing tournament and we got ourselves busy with covering the mounds and bunkers and tees and eagles around the sprawling 18-hole course. 

It is rare to find such golf courses right in the heart of the city. No urban planner would be allowed such freedom and luxury today. As unfortunate as it is, that is the truth. Nonetheless, it is a golf club that even the Scots will love to tee off in and we are happy to have covered the location.

Sukhna Lake

The man-made lake is home to quacks of hundreds ducks. The duck peculiarly get wet and then get dry and continue to do so all day.A quick grub and shared bites later,we picked up a few souvenirs from the shop.

Graffiti

One of the indications of an open, cosmopolitan city is the how she treats its artists. If she is open to subversions and representations of popular cultures, it says a lot. Here are some samples of the paintings and graffiti done by the students of the Chandigarh' Govt. Art College on the road stretching from Sukhna Lake to the Rock Garden in Sector 4. In fact they let us try our hand for a few broad strokes. The students splashed paint to bring to life Raj Kapoor, Charlie Chaplin, the minions, Heath Ledger’s Joker, Arabian knights, Pulp Fiction and many many more.

Chandigarh Location Recce Day 6

Day 6

Some have left for jogging, others playing volleyball in the morning winter haze. With the cycle racks and cold shaded walkways they have here, people don't mind walking. So we keep walking like that Johnny Walker guy.But mostly,we are having a relatively easy day, collating and sorting out the data at the guest house.Evening is just about taking sort of the situation and winding up a few select places that are remaining in our list before we head off to shop, dine and wine in the evening.

Sector 22-D Local Market

The festive air has set in. The festival of lights and delights is just around the corner. The marketing blitz of upcoming Bollywood releases is everywhere. New merchandise is in the stores. The local market’s is fizzing with festivities.

But Chandigarh peculiarly is a bit different that other cities. There is commotion, but the noise is never grating, never frustrating. These are genuinely happy faces. The bargainer and the bargained off. The customers and the shopkeepers. Children, women and men alike. Towards the dawn of the day, we loosened our purse strings, thinned our wallets and swiped and swished to come away with some memorabilia and gifts.

Today we bid adieu to a very hospitable city and a very homely guest house, who fed and housed us during our stay. This is an early morning view (taken a few days before) from the room’s window.

And just like that the Chandigarh leg of the recce is over. Sigh! 

Simpoo Sir

Its amazing what good concepts and 2-D line animation can do. I am thinking The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy et al. They are the most telling social satires told in the most entertaining ways. Even Simon’s Cat by Simon Tofield is simple daily tunes of a lazy cat.

Some time in 2000 I think, Channel V in India came up with Simpoo Sir aka SS Sodhi series into their programming. It was mostly used as a filler .

Simpoo Sir, the Maths teacher who also had a thing for music and grooming popstars. Loving and idiosyncratic – that’s Simpoo Sir for you. Rustic and a very Chandigarh twang to his English and Hindi . So yes becomes yuzz, joke becomes zoke, Pankaj becomes Pankuzz or better still ask the Pankuzz.

Here’s the link to Channel V’s Simpoo Youtube channel . They should never have stopped making these.