Chapter 11 – From Paranormal Kasauli To Peppy Chandigarh

Tanvi was petrified. She couldn’t be there for another minute. Tanvi hurriedly dumped her clothes in the trolley suitcase, grabbed her toiletries from the bathroom, snatched away the phone charger from the plug, and got into her car.

She wanted to go far away from these haunting mountains. She kept on driving till she stopped seeing hills on the horizon. When she had to stop overnight in Chandigarh, Tanvi decided to stay in a Gurudwara, the safest place she could think of. All ghost stories told to us since childhood, make us believe one thing across cultures that ghosts don’t enter holy premises.

Tanvi participated in voluntary community service of gurudwara where people gather together to either roll out roti, or clean utensils, or wipe the floor, or even clean shoes left outside by devotees. Sikh community believes that doing these tasks makes you humble, keeps you grounded and controls your ego from soaring sky-high. It results in a community feeling in peoples’ minds as they drop their mask of ego. The feeling of “I” or “me” is forgotten as they perform this valuable service to humanity. Even filthy rich NRIs are seen cleaning used plates in a gurudwara. Such a beautiful lesson of life taught so simply.

Tanvi quietly rolled out roti for langar with her head covered in a dupatta. After doing community service for a few hours, Tanvi felt a sense of calm. She went for a walk to Sukhna Lake in the evening. Chandigarh, located at foothills of Shivalik was designed by French architect Le Corbusier who has set best example of architectural marvel and urban town planning. Not only were modern concepts of town planning used but also ancient theories of Vasstu shastra were incorporated. For the records, Chandigarh stands among top 10 cities in the world when it comes to modern town planning, and add to it the fame of city with highest number of millionaires in India. Name any brand, any model of latest car or bike, and you will find it here – from hummer, to Mercedes, to Audi, and Harley Davidson – people of Chandigarh live life king size. Chandigarh ki teh shaan vakhri

Everything is so organized and systematic in Chandigarh that it stood in stark contrast to how Tanvi’s life was currently. Tanvi was subconsciously contemplating this while walking on the cobbled path around the Sukhna Lake where light instrumental music was playing. Sky was a grayish-reddish hue owing to the setting sun and white ducks glided away fancily posing for the tourists with shutterbugs. Couples were getting them sketched for eternity at Rs 200 per black and white picture, kids were enjoying rides, and families were freaking out at the excitement of boat ride. It slowly became quieter when Tanvi walked farther. Now, there were either serious joggers or couples looking for privacy.

Tanvi kept on walking till she reached the other end known as the Garden of Silence – a magnificent statue of Gautama Buddha, sitting in enlightenment posture with aesthetically done lights around it. Tanvi sat down, enjoyed the evening breeze, looked into the statue and felt the storm inside quieten down.

Read the previous post here – Chapter 10 – Fantastico Experience – Was She or Was She Not?

Read the next post here – Chapter 12 –

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.