Life in Chandigardh looks like... ¿?HELP!!

Hello Everybody!!!! I´m Florencia from Argentina and I´m going to Chandigardh on exchange for some months.. for sure!!

I would like to know details about..
- How much you spend a month in food?? Supermarkets??
- What about travelling around??

- And one important thing, how is your daily life?? Young people go out?? when?? weekends / others days?? where?? is it cool and safe?? Or it´s quite calm...

Every detail you can give about LIFE in Chandigardh would be Great!!!!! So, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

I´ll be waiting your comments

All the Best!!

Flor =)

Mod note

Florcita, glad about the 'for sure' and that Chandigarh has been decided.

I am closing your earlier thread, then, to avoid confusion.
COSTS of living!!

Chandigarh is essentially what you would call a mini-metro though in reality its as happening whether its night life or infrastructure as Delhi.......well maybe not as much but definitely not too far behind.

Its a good city to be in at. The weather will be similar to what Delhi experience ie hot summers and cool winters but the added advantage that its close enough to the mountains for the weather to be affected.

Food bills etc will depend on your lifestyle. how much you cook Vs how much you go out. Chandigarh has a few supermarkets but items in general are available with the same degree of easiness as anywhere else...infact one thing i found Chandigarh more 'advanced' (for lack of a better word) than even Delhi was the booze shops....neat and clean, accept credit cards, marble flooring, english speaking staff...and a huge huge selection.

The city has a good crowd in general and theres nothing additional to worry about in that sense. Infact more often than not i would say that the police and authorities are more helpful than they are in Delhi.

I find it to be slightly laid back and slower in pace to Delhi..which in my mind gives it another point. Golf is a big thing in Chandigarh.

You will additionally be very close to some of the other popular tourist haunts , for example a 4 hour bus journey will get you to Shimla , a 2 hour one will get you to Kasauli....places such as Manali etc are within easy reach as well.

I could go on and on but will leave you to ask more specific questions if any...!

Florencia, watch out for the guys in Chandigarh.

Nah , they aint that bad.....

Hi Florcita!

I think I'll be the lone voice here, but i would *not* recommend Chandigarh to you at all.

While it is true that it is clean and tidy as Indian cities go, and has fewer beggars, I found the people very rude. My daughters (then aged 3 & 5)and I spent last summer in India. My ex is Indian, so I had been there a number of times before, and as my eldest was born in India, I'd also been there for an extended period in 2002. I tell you all that so you can see that it wasn't culture shock or the stress of a first time visit that upset me.

I found that both men and women in Chandigarh were rude. If you asked a question - no matter how politely - they would either cut you off with a smart alec answer or look past/through you as though you didn't exist!!

Also, in Chandigarh, I found that no one quoted a fair or reasonable price for anything! Even though I knew how much a trip from A to B or a bunch of vegetables should cost (having been appraised by my landlord or someone else who was local to Chandigarh), everyone attempted to fleece me left right and centre - and then get annoyed and/or abusive because I was assertive!! Every morning I would get out of bed knowing that before I got into it at night, I'd have at least 20 arguments. It wasn't what I came to India for - so I forsook my deposit on the apartment and ran out of the place (with a child under each arm!) after less than six weeks.

It is true, however, that you are very close to beautiful places like Shimla, Kasauli and even Dehradun isn't too far away. You can do Amritsar as a day trip if you leave early enough in the morning.

If you require more specific information, please feel free to PM me.

Cheers!

Hazel

Chandigarh had, at one point of time, a certain genteel class in the shape of bureacrats and retired armed forces officers...unfortunately taken over somewhat in recent years by the noveau riche as cribbed about to me by my Chandigarh friends who are old time denizens (snobbishly perhaps)...and nouveau riche Punjabis can be a major pain...pain compounded by the high testosterone and chauvinistic levels of Punjabi males.

Kabarry....you see, that's kind of what I was going to say - except I didn't want to give offence or open myself to being flamed, seeing as I'm not from India and mightn't be deemed to have the *right* to say so. Even though all I'm doing is truthfully recalling my experiences.

Haze

We should all say what we feel is right..and certainly not shy away from that when posting in a forum on the net where we are all anonymous - people ask questions herein - we answer (so long as it is not racist, vituperative etc) - upto them whether they like it or not....what's the worst that can happen in the virtual space ? We get banned ?

Chandigarh sadly is now a place full of long haired, unshaved young turks zooming around in their Mercs looking for "action".

Of course you're right. If I'm just telling it like I saw it (which I was/am) then there's no reason for anyone to get upset. Like you say - no one here actually knows where I live......

Chandigarh aside, we had a *wonderful* time in India and my girls are now asking when we can move back.

Still I hope the OP has a better/nicer/more interesting time there than we did.

H

I dont think anything is really being said for CHD which cannot be called true for any other big city in India.

While its OP's decision , i will stand my ground and recommend it strongly. The genteel society as was mentioned still stands today and for me Chandigarh houses some of the most hospitable and friendly people i have ever come across in India..

right.. and thats why i asked her to watch out.

I would agree with Haze and KABAARY; I lived in Chandi for over a year and the constant battle for fair prices certainly was and is each time I return a battle.

A local shared auto is either Rs5 or Rs10 depending on the distance, a special that is you only is Rs50. A cycle rickshaw is pretty much Rs5 per chowk the way I figured it but sometimes Rs 20 gets you a long way to.

Chandi is a place where the locals feel they have made it, the big city and they get right up themselves but in fact may live in 3 room squats, 2 bedrooms and living cum bedroom, kitchen and bathroom, mostly lower middle class govt employees with snotty nosed kids that think they are shit hot on a power trip living off their folks with little actual intelligence. Much of the time they want to practice their monosyllabic English, that is ask you the standard questions in the smart aleck manner while they do not understand English so conversation is pretty neutral.

The driving is pretty full on and if you react for sure I do they react with "whats your problem", then thump you, a Punjabi cultural arrogance and ignorance of the law.

As for shopping, much is available in clothes and as for food, don't get excited it is pretty boring for dining there; thank god for Subway and Purple Rice. There are a couple of stores that almost have western food and 2 bakeries that have good bread. The are no good coffee shops in 17C, the main shopping area which is so stupid but is a reflection of the place as far as I can see.

I found the place to be really boring, a little hostile and with the amount of booze sold there a disaster waiting to happen.

Be careful as they have no idea how to handle alcohol and the guys are quite insulting to females. Essentially it is a place of double standards, high morals on one level and none on another.

Enough said, but I know change will come and City Beautiful that has no heart with a symbol they say is a hand that to me looks more like a bird is a place of confused people grasping at little and pretending to be more than they are.

I do have a number of lovely friends there so there is always a place to escape and the Rose garden is very nice.

Just to clarify, were you caught up the the middle of a rant, or are you actually complaining that conversation in Chandigardh is poor because the locals don't speak good English?

Well thats sad to hear....think a lot of you missed out on seeing the good side of the city....not that i understand why it makes a difference... every city in Indian has its good points and bad points...

and incidentally, Mohali is not really what Chandigarh is like...neither is Panchkula..