India as a country is immensely diverse. India has everything from humid offshore beaches in the south and the deserts in the west to the Himalayas in the north. You will find all forms of natural beauty. However, a large number of metropolitan cities are plagued by the problem of pollution and environmental degradation. So, where exactly does a small town in the northern region, the first planned city of India, fit?

Well, that is precisely what I plan to explore in this article: The magnificent city of Chandigarh - my hometown. Chandigarh is a rare epitome of modernization co-existing with nature's preservation. Here, the trees and plants are a part of the construction plans as the buildings and the roads. That is what makes it so unique. It finds the perfect balance between artificial and natural architecture. Every turn you take, every step you make, you will be greeted by some form of nature's brilliance. 

The city is filled with beautiful gardens and parks, like the Zakir Hussain Rose Garden, the most extensive garden of roses in Asia. Or, look at the rock garden, which houses beautiful sculptures made purely of recycled material. But, the magic of Chandigarh is not that it contains magnificent gardens like these. It is that each aperture on the horizon comprises some form of greenery. 

This leads me to my last point in the article, what I believe to be the secret behind its success. Chandigarh is not called "The City Beautiful" or the best-planned city in India because of government policy, favorable temperature, or a multitude of rainfall. Chandigarh succeeds because each citizen cares about the city they live in and thus makes a positive effort to clean and uplift their immediate surroundings. This positive spirit is so widespread among the masses of the city that it has been transformed from a deserted-treeless land in the late 1900s to a green haven today.

I hope the story of my city has inspired you to contribute positively to your immediate surroundings, uplift your local community and strive for global change.