Love on a rainy day in Chandigarh, writes Disney Brar

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Chandigarh, July 24

Rimjhim gire sawaan… and our city beautiful, stands drenched and draped in the pearly nectar dripping from the heavens above; like a beautiful vision of a rain-kissed woman, draped in nine yards of wet chiffon, leaning onto the brawny arms of her mate. And we are instantly transported to the enrapturing world of the Yash Chopra films shot in the misty mountains and locales of Europe.

Nestled amidst the musical notes of the Grey Hornbills, the cooing of the Koels, mud-fights of the Mynas and the cacophony of the seven sisters or the Jungle Babblers,  cobbled pathways spill onto winding lanes strewn with pockets of abundant Bauhinias. The lush-green city parks offer ample solitude to young couples to enjoy intimate moments together and  savour the monsoons over the crunch of a piping hot butta picked from a makeshift stall of a roadside vendor along with a sip of a solid cutting chai aka the Mumbai ishstyle.   

Even though the popular gheri routes of the city meander through the bustling markets of Sectors 8, 9, 10 and 11 and are as popular now as back in the 1970’s when it was first discovered and popularised by a handful of students. Not to forget the evening drives along various departmental blocks of Panjab University where one can stop at the Stu-C and dig into the sumptuous fare available there at bare minimum rates for the Gen Z to enjoy.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

There is a place beyond the done-and-dusted spots in the city that offers a serene spot where lovers find their ultimate ambrosial nectar. A scenic walking trail and the road perched right behind the Sukhna Lake heading towards the Chandigarh Golf Association (CGA) and further ahead the Garden of Silence. On any day in the month of sawaan when the rain-gods bountifully bless the city with their love, one can find lovers of all age groups, sections and walks of society, enjoying brief moments of love and bliss together without any care for the world scurrying past them. 

One can spot couples enjoying their drives on this stretch of the city on their swanky bikes and cars, soaking in the weather with their favourite genre of music blasting out from the open car windows, ranging from Kishore Kumar hits, English country delights to the classical Raag Malhar to raise a toast to the flavour of the season. 

I too hopped onto my Black Mahindra Thar, on a quiet rainy afternoon, and went story-hunting. I came across these mushy lovers henpecking in their private vehicles and got talking to them about what makes this part of the city so popular with the lovebirds.                                                                                                                     

Gagan Kataria, a 22-year-old student from a government college in Sector 11, chuckles as he adds, “This is one quiet spot where I can date freely, away from the prying eyes of society and the police. This particular stretch is so beautiful and calm that whenever I need to spend some quality time with my girlfriend, I drive down here, we sit comfortably in my car and end up spending a long time here”.                                                 

Ditto for Sandeep Singh, a law student from Panjab University, who loves to drive down here whenever it rains and enjoy a good stroll with his fiancée, he shares on a nostalgic note, “I just enjoy my strolls under the beautiful bunches of the bougainvillea plants abundant here; they spread out like flowery canopies showering soft petals on us.”   

With the coming in of the monsoons and the increase in the footfall of these lovers trickling in here from around the tricity, many roadside bhaiyas and didis, also set up their nondescript stalls, which mushroom up in this part of the city during this time of the year, like the frogs in the rain. Rani, a 36-year-old migrant from Bihar, smiles as she says, “I sell garma garam pakoras, here along with my famous ginger and saunf chai, which is loved by all these Laylas and Majnuns coming here for dates whenever it rains.”

Not too far from her, is the butta (corn) stall put up by 20-year-old Prakash, who has come to the city from Muradabad to churn out a living, sharing his views on the popularity of this stretch with the youngsters, he quips, “whenever it rains I buy buttas in bulk from the Sector 26 mandi and put up my stall here because I know many young people come in with their partners to enjoy their drives here and I always end up selling all my buttas and earning good money.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Imtiaz Khan, a software engineer working with an IT firm in Mohali, Phase 8B, adds on a coy note, “this place is beautiful and I get the much required privacy to romance my girlfriend without worrying about the cops barging in on us or people ogling at us because most of the crowd here comprises of young lovers and everybody is so busy romancing their partners that nobody has the time to even look up or worry about what others are doing.”

But once in a blue moon, trouble brews up in this lovers’ paradise when an odd police jeep is spotted checking in on the love birds and setting up their much-dreaded naka here. Sharing his views on the condition of anonymity, a senior police inspector from the Sector 26 police station says, “We know everything that goes on here in the parking lots behind the Sukhna Lake. But we don’t deliberately go there because there is no harm in letting these young lovers enjoy their dates and have some fun. We only go there once in a while to set up a naka there or simply patrol to keep things in check. We also go there when we receive a tip-off on some serious hanky-panky going on there. Sometimes we get an odd complaint of some couple behaving indecently. Otherwise, we let the lovers be at peace. After all, we are not against love.” Well, this reminds us that even Mahatma Gandhi said, “Where there is love, there is life.” Happy Monsoons.