Settling down in Chandigarh

As the moon rises the buzz on the Chandigarh streets lifts from relatively quiet - from what I’ve seen in India - to buoyant, busy and honkingly loud. Charcoal fires sear chicken tikka on spears and the smell of both showers across the street. By day the chai makers, who squat next to small gas cookers and filter their drinks, are there, but by night there are more foods to try – but I don’t. The samosas on a metal stand look yummy with, I’m guessing, tamarind chutney. People stop like they’re buying a paper, then briskly step off to the next errand. It’s a convenient walk-through takeaway.

Below the yellow moon on the street there is much more colour. Turbans bob as their wearers walk – my favourite so far is bright pink – and the patkas, which Harbhajan Singh uses, seem more popular among the younger men. This is Harbhajan’s home state and Singh is a name on many shop signs.

I’m just looking for a chemist so I can buy some handwash and vitamins. “Go right, then left” is one set of directions, but after ten minutes I turn back. “Straight down there,” a second person urges. No luck, but lots of window shopping.

There are so many mobile phone outlets, so I was surprised when I was taken to get a SIM card and we ended up in a store selling watches. Cheap watches, and SIM cards. They go together like the shoe-and-shampoo combination in a nearby shop. I’ve just read The God of Small Things and the owner’s banana jam is banned because it’s too runny for jam and too thick for syrup (don’t worry, it’s not the whole plot). I wonder whether shoes or shampoo sell best.

The watch-SIM card shop wants a copy of my passport, a letter from the hotel, a passport photo (it requires a sidetrip) and 350 rupees. I managed to negotiate to get it without needing to promise one of my children. Eventually I can make a call. It’s easier to get a bank loan in Australia. On the walk back the son of a chai seller is packing up. A bucket of water heads for the street, pushed by a straw brush, like an arm of the scarecrow in Wizard of Oz. Tea time has quickly been replaced by pre-dinner snacks.