Chandigarh- am I still in India???!!

Namaste, but somehow I feel hello is more appropriate at the moment!

I'm in a place called Chandigarh, in the state just below Punjab. It is a modern city planned 50 years ago by Le Corbusier, a Swiss city planner. The city is organized in a grid pattern- I'm staying in "Sector 22"! Although it makes navigating pretty simple, the buildings are all quite similar in style- mostly concrete and low density so the city is quite spread out.

Here are some things that I find interesting, in contrast to the other cities in India I've visited:
- there are gardens and green spaces everywhere!
- the signs are mostly in english and the shopping area has Tommy Hillfiger, Addidas and Levis stores
- I haven't seen one Hindu (or any other religious) shrine which usually is always around the corner whever I've been
- there is relatively little garbage on the streets
- there are even continuous sidewalks (this I still can't get over!!)
- I haven't seen one cow on the roads!

Above is an example of one of the many green gardens... I don't know how the plants manage to stay alive as I'm going through 1L of water every hour here!!! ;)

However, to keep me confused but sane knowing I'm still in India, there are rickshaw wallahs everywhere that try to get your business and chai wallahs on every sidewalk... Phew! As much as it was nice this morning to go for a long walk through "Leisure Valley" and the rose garden, I kind of miss the chaos and the different cultural aspects of the rest of India (plus mid 40oC's just tire me out!!). But off to Delhi tomorrow as my time in India is running thin!

Cheerios and many greetings!
Kristy