Growing City

The once staid city has become a new upwardly mobile' town, albeit a small one. Want to party after a 12-hour day's work? Looking for some ...

The once staid city has become a new upwardly mobile8217; town, albeit a small one. Want to party after a 12-hour day8217;s work? Looking for some fun or just need to chill out? The alternatives are infinite in Chandigarh. Considered previously a place where plump ladies met over high tea to discuss matrimonial prospects and where jovial men struck business deals over tandoori chicken, Chandigarh is now the place where it is all happening. The city8217;s innumerable discos cater to the rich kids and young couples who play and party equally hard. Look around. Aroma, the city8217;s oldest hotel, has a 24-hour eating place. And last year, Las Vegas, the city8217;s first disco, opened. Chandigarh hasn8217;t looked back since.

Then there is the way the town dresses. Mini-skirts, body suits and tights have replaced the ubiquitous salwar kameez. Swimsuits are on display at amusement parks like Fun City, and also on the catwalk, inspired by Chandigarh8217;s NIFD.

In recent times, a fair number of NRIs have moved in too. Then there is the town8217;s proximity to the capital and its influential lifestyle. However, the most significant factor is the growth of the city8217;s yuppie population, as more and more MNCs set up base here. The social ladder has grown new rungs to accommodate the emerging rupee-and-dollar rich new classes. And they like to flaunt it.

The Chandigarh corporate world likes to wear their labels on their sleeves and go for the highest tags. The ranks of this tribe is being swelled by garment exporter and traders found aplenty in Chandigarh.

The younger breed of industrialists and the seriously rich travel executive-class for oft-held meetings with their Delhi counterparts, while setting up next day8217;s meeting on their mobile phones. For the omnipresent yuppie, happiness is a designer lifestyle. These young independent entrepreneurs have their own custom-built interiors in their Sumos and Unos.

Weekend afternoons mean golf at the Chandigarh Golf Club and bridge, and evening are for clubbing at the Chandigarh Club or Indus Valley. The other intangible in the yuppie game is planning holidays, whether it is to the nearest hill station, to their summer home or a trip to Rajasthan for a weekend of partying with friends at a haveli, or a concert attendance of Yanni at Agra. Young couples no longer live with their parents. It is a nuclear family where holidays and partying is a weekend necessity. They both work hard and late but share the housework. They are oblivious to the save-save8217; mantra of their predecessors, and like to treat themselves to nights of candlelit dinners and dancing before settling down to child-bearing and rearing.

Finally, the masters of one-upmanship and our future yuppies: children of the nouveau-yuppie wearing Levis 501s. These are the real trendsetters and style gurus. They like to spend and spend they do. Hoping to cash in on this boom are the upmarket food chains striving to offer franchise of their outlets in the City Beautiful.

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Spiritual talk is also gaining ground. Taking courses in Reiki and meditating, are all part of the young independent entrepreneurs psyche. So does Chandigarh have a yuppie culture? It sure looks like it. And, this is one transformation that seems set to stay, for a while anyway.

The writer works with a public relations firm and is a freelance columnist.