Mohali

Becki

I have been offered to stay with a family in Mohali...I am single female traveller and I will stand out as a tourist. I know this place is quite near Chandigarh but when I do research, why do I get some different views of both cities? ie: Chandigarh being modern, Mohali a bit of a hole? I also get that Chandigarh have high drug and alcohol problems and Mohali with guns and violence. These comments are scaring me a bit. Should I be staying in these cities?

shere

Everything has a positive, Mohali and Chandigarh are close to Himachal.

mira4bai4

Hi Becki,
I lived in Sector 70 for about 12 months from 2006-07, I thought of it as a US western frontier town in comparison to Chandigarh.

It has it own charm and is developing with each month and will i think be just as interesting as Chandigarh.

As for guns and violence and sexual assaults, India is in a mess and getting worse, guns are freely available, especially in the Punjab. Just don't piss anyone off and do not wear jewellery or carry a hand bag in an area where you may be exposed to snatchers as it turns nasty anywhere now.

Chandigarh is just one big booze barn and fit to explode with intense drunken driving and drunken violence. The arrogance of those that live there adds to the aggressive nature so watch out for those drivers in SUV's as they have no qualms about where their position is on the road; anywhere they want to be.

As for drugs, well the streets are lined with marijuana plants but no one touches them, everyone prefers hash and it is very available throughout, after all Himachal and Manali up so near by.

Yes you will stand out, my wife and I were 2 out of possibly 10 foreigners and even the expats wont talk to you, but don't worry as the locals will adopt you as their pet foreigner and you shall be paraded all over like a trophy. You will have to be tough and stand your ground to get fair prices as in most cases you will be taken for a ride but once you get it sussed you will be respected for it.

My suggestion is to work out why you have been offered the place to stay and what you may want out of it yourself, an experience? You need to know if these people will look out for your best interests as this is essential to anywhere that you stay.

Becki

Thanks for the replies. Yes, what a shame as the city is meant to be one of the most modern and planned cities in India and Punjab is known to have higher wealth and education standards compared to many other states. Surely seems like a case of society and youth let loose and gone wrong. Appears families let their kids do whatever - be it getting drunk or selling drugs. The parents are getting drunk themselves.

I was planning to visit later this year and have been keeping myself up to date with India/Chandigarh/Mohali news and what I read everyday just freaks me out. Not only of drugs and alcohol, but also kidnappings, murders, HIV/AIDs, snatchings, groping, domestic violence, thefts, corruption and suicides.

Should I be reassess going to this place?

PeakXV

We had an office in Mohali back in the mid 90's. Only used it as a storage depot and business address .... but I remember it wasn't really a happening place - that's for sure. I stayed at the Hotel Mountview in sector 10 which was very comfortable & in a good location. For some reason I lost the brass keyholder in my belongings when it was time to checkout at one point - thus ended up with a nice brass souvenir from my time there(see photo below). I liked Chandigarh and it's people very much. The park/garden system are all linked together and full of birds & small wildlife. Many area locals who frequented the Hotel were also from Canada and were quick to invite us to their Indian home for dinner. The tennis stadium was just across the way from the hotel and pros went out of their way to organize a court & marker each morning. The museum, Rock Garden & Pinjor are very interesting attractions as well. There was absolutely no hawkers, touts, or any street aggression or solicitations of any kind ..... street strangers just kept to themselves pretty much. That's how I remember it anyway & can't imagine it's changed a whole lot in 10 years .... at least I hope not.

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Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

capt_mahajan

Becki, based on this and your other posts so far, I wonder if you should reassess coming to India

Unless you are still in the process of gathering information, in which case I suggest read as many of the 'safety' and 'first time traveller' threads on indiamike as you can, before you begin to decide. Many people have posted very good advice there.

Sorry to say this, but your posts seem either naive or paranoid to me.


Edit: On re-reading, my post sounds a little harsh and laconic. It was not meant to be.

Suggesting again, read up on those threads to get a feel first, before specific questions.

As an example, Chandigarh is not one of my favourite cities, but it is not the generalised unsafe/lousy place it is being made out to be. Your reading up on the place is good, but, for instance, you will never read headlines like "21568 foreign women visited Chandigarh last year and didn't get raped/groped"

Just an arbitray number, mind.

Becki

I know what you mean and I know I am getting a bit paranoid.
(Un)fortunately I read alot of things before I travel anywhere and I know India is particularly different. I am trying to have an open mind but need to make myself also aware of my surroundings too. It's just I feel I need to be particularly cautious as I will be on my own and am female. It's a balance of things I guess.

capt_mahajan

Absolutely. A single female has to be more careful, specially in certain parts of the country.

Good luck with your planning.

sam_ester

I wonder if Mira4bai4 visited the same Chandigarh, that I been to!!

AFAIK Chandigarh is not the 'wild wild west' that Mira4bai4 seems to suggest... Its a beautiful, well-planned GREEN CITY without all the high-rises, crime and squalor of Mumbai, Delhi or Calcutta. Not an urban jungle like these metros.

And, though I found Punjabis a little short-tempered as compared to rest of north Indians, their aggression pales in comparison to average NY punks.. But yeah, you might notice that the nuveau rich in Chandigarh have no qualms about flaunting their wealth.

puchoo

As mentioned in a previous thread as well i dont agree. I am still surprised to hear the kind of feedback that you have given.

The city might or might not be loved but to put it on a pedestal with respect to guns, violence , drugs etc is not being fair at all. In all the years i have been there , and i make multiple trips yearly, its a city which has never made me feel uncomfortable.....but yes i would , as should everyone, take precautions to ensure one does not stray into aspects or geographical areas where one should not.

Driving sense in Chandigrah is better than in Delhi anyday thanks to more disciplined cops.

As for the streets lined with Marijuana plants , you see that in Himachal as well for instance , but thats because the plant is indigenous to this region.

12 months is a considerable time but in the larger scheme of things not enough or substantial to warrant such a generic sounding opinion.

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jyotirmoy

Our company is a telecom service provider in Punjab and we have our office at Mohali. We have quite a few single female executives who live in Chandigarh and they seem to enjoy their stay.
I have visited Chandigarh many times and I won't label this city with tags of drunken brawls, kidnapping etc. etc. Driving on the tree lined wide raods is a pleasure after Delhi.
I don't know from where OP has got this horror feedback. As far as brats are concerned they are found in all metros.

brownboy66

there's even a couple in my house !

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ronsaik

This is a pure flight of fancy. Chandigarh (including Mohali and Panchkula) is probably the safest Indian town. DO NOT WEAR JEWELLERY is not just bad advice, it's taking paranoia to insane limits.

Yes, you do see the occassional pub brawl. And punjabis love their drink. But unless you'd want to get involved in a fist-fight (and if you do, have your smith&wessen ready), you'd have nothing to worry about. Chandigarh is not swarming with hordes of drunken louts who like picking up people off the street and bashing them to pulp.

Again, a general observation without any basis in fact. Had this statement been about Haryana (Gurgaon!), I might have agreed. But even then, there's no need to be alarmist. Yes, don't go about picking a fight. And if you don't, you wouldn't have someone coming over to you and causing any trouble.

FYI...Chandigarh has the most disciplined traffic and traffic police in India, and the few speeding or rashly driven cars you'd see there would be bearing DL number plates.

Completely untrue. If you hang out with hippies, then the foregoing observation is valid.


As for myself: I have lived in Delhi most of my life, in Mohali for a year, and have my in-laws staying in Chandigarh. I know what i'm talking about. Incidentally, I've also driven across vast swathes of Punjab (the land of the badly driven SUV, apparently), and have always been pleasantly surprised to see that drivers there generally: 1) overtake from the right side (which is the correct side in India) 2) Allow faster cars to pass. That's not how you'd expect congenital road-hogs to behave, right?
Finally, it would make sense to point out that the vast, overwhelming majority of cases of violent crime, including sexual assault, involve the poorest sections of society - rickshawallahs raping their construction worker neighbour's daughter etc. Our alarming crime statistics are largely irrelevant for people who can buy an air ticket. That's the hard truth, politically correct or not. There's virtually nothing to fear for tourists if they travel sensibly. Remember, you don't get mugged in India.

shere

These problems are not limited to Mohali. You get them in London, NY, Delhi etc etc. Every city has problems and Mohali is no worse than London etc.

ronsaik

This point escaped my attention earlier: why on earth would you be bothered about suicides?