Important Punjab city in the north of India. Known for its sports equipment industry and the manufacture of hand tools. Unlike last time, was placed first not at Amritsar but in Jalandhar.
Entering Jalandhar from the Grand Trunk road, noticed that there had been no progress at all in the highway flyover from the stage it was at a year ago.
Its current function seemed to be as a semi-permanent advertising billboard.
From my hotel suite on the fifth floor, I had a great view across the wealthy residential area to a Hindu temple (Chintapurni Mandir).
Very well looked after at the Maya, Jalandhar for breakfast, lunch and dinner by the ‘silver service’ dining room staff Sanjay, Ravinder, Pria, and Nishu. On one of my lunchtime walks, heard my name called out and totally surprised to see the dining room staff, having finished their shifts, in their civvies!
My hotel in Jalandhar is located on the Grand Trunk Road in Civil Line near the judicial courts. The former colonial district court is still there in Tehsil Road but the new more modern multi level complex is located opposite the Maya. Impressed to see that there is an e-court system for complainants to access their cases online. Behind the Maya hotel are hundreds of advocates’ chambers. Met a very helpful young advocate who offered to get me in to observe a court in session.
In easy walking distance from my hotel is Jalandhar’s Model Town. It has a wealthy ‘posh’ residential area which features Cool Road, one of the city’s most attractive tree-lined thoroughfares. In nearby Link Road there is the magnificent residence of a former Indian minister with a 24 hour security presence at his gateway. You also pass the Punjab Scouts and Guides Training Centre, another hangover from British colonial days. Model Town itself is a jumble of various shops ranging from high-end boutiques to clothing stores offering hope for obese men. A haven for expats is Nik Baker’s which makes a decent coffee and provides a range of very tasty pastries. He advertises himself as ‘a professional baker from Australia’.
The best bookshop specialising in India that I’ve come across is Readers’ Paradise in Model Town with its owner S. K. Sharma. So knowledgeable about all things Indian: culture, religion, history and literature. It was here that I bought a copy of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. It deals with India’s transition from British colonialism to independence and the partition of India. At the end of each working day I wound down with a chapter from this magnificent novel.
One late afternoon shot of a gathering monsoon thunderstorm from my hotel window. Indian Independence Day on August 15 was celebrated at the nearby Neopolis Mall as well as in my hotel, where guests were reassured that they could ‘sleep peacefully as the Indian army is guarding the border’.
Other photos are a wall image graffiti for an Indian #metoo women’s movement. A group of tertiary students practising English with me, who intend pursuing post graduate studies in Canada. A number of secondary students on bikes heading to their homes at lunchtime. A local MacDonalds. A patriotic billboard for BSNL, a state-owned telecom company and their staff ‘colony’ which has clearly seen much better days. Feeling very safe in the hands of a detachment of Jalandhar’s Punjabi police. Billboards for coke & whisky. An auto rickshaw with a full complement and ‘Juice Corner’ intersection, near my hotel. Two boys being driven home in a rickshaw from school for lunch.
Cliver's Punjab Blog 