How I lost my heart to City Beautiful forever

I belong to a fauji family and that meant frequent transfers and new schools. Visits to Chandigarh to my grandparents during vacations were the only constant. It was during those visits that the City Beautiful captured my heart forever.

My favourite moments were morning walks with my grandfather in a nearby park. He would share gripping tales of his wartime experiences, filling our strolls with history and pride.

At home, my grandmother would tend to her garden, mildly chiding the gardener for neglecting hedges or her flowers. This lively banter is a common practice in Chandigarh as people here take gardening seriously, turning their homes into beautiful displays of nature.

Now that the city is my home, the familiar streets feel like an extension of myself, and the vibrant community here has embraced me as one of their own.

Akanksha Sharma, Chandigarh

Chandigarh