Chandigarh

I am visiting IISER Mohali to attend the annual Ramanujan Mathematical Society Meeting.  I am preparing for my talk tomorrow – so, this won’t be a very linear post.  Just some random thoughts:

1)   I have now visited four of the IISERs: Kolkata, Pune, Bhopal and Mohali.  All have their own advantages and special qualities, but in terms of accessibility, the institutes at Pune and Mohali easily score over the others. 

2)   It’s a different matter that traveling from Pune to Chandigarh isn’t all that easy.  There is only one flight from Delhi to Chandigarh, which leaves Delhi at 9.45 am.  So, one has to either travel to Mumbai to catch a flight, take an early morning 5.30 am flight from Pune to Delhi or take a later flight from Pune to Delhi and then travel from Delhi to Chandigarh by bus or train.  Interestingly, there is a direct flight from Bhopal to Chandigarh (which halts at Delhi).

3)   I have a special relation with Chandigarh.  It was my favourite childhood destination.  We lived in a small town called Dagshai in Himachal Pradesh and were lucky enough to get a house on the top of a hill, from where one could see vast expanses of Chandigarh.  Dagshai was where my father bought his first car (a Maruti 800) and we often drove to Chandigarh.  At that time, Sector 18 was the “happening” part of the city.   I had ice cream for the first time here.  This is a very short visit: but if I come back later for a longer visit, I would love to go there.  I wish I could also revisit the rock garden and the Pinjore gardens.

So much for now.