India, Jan. 25 -- The storms, the rain and the chill have not deterred the city from celebrating the changing seasons, and this fall and winter cultural activity in the city has seen a remarkable rise. The celebratory mood of the Chandigarh walas is evident, with cultural groups spilling from homes to gardens and keeping the cultural centres alive. The foundation stone of Chandigarh was laid in 1952. The need arose with the partition of Punjab, loss of the grand capital city of Lahore and the flux of refugees from west-Punjab, who needed a home to call their own. It was then Prime Minister Jawaharlal's gift to the displaced and a hope for a fresh beginning. Nehru endorsed the project as a dream city for a new India rid of its colonial rule, saying: "Let this be a new town, symbolic of the freedom of India, unfettered by the traditions of the past...an expression of the nation's faith in India". Yours truly was born to this city in its fledgling years, early 1955 to be precise, but the tag of being the firstborn was already snatched by my friend Harmeet Kaur, whose father was one of the first 10 engineers in the city project. Harmeet recounts that her father Gurcharan Singh and others camped in tents and built the first five houses of Sector 22, the first sector to be built, with the backs facing Sector 21, which were allotted to them. Her mother Sukhwant Kaur joined him there. In 1954, she was hailed as the first baby of the city of Nehru's dreams. Her mother recalls that the wives of the engineers spent their time playing bridge as there was nowhere to go. Gradually, the city grew. The Kiran Cinema came up in 1953 as did the Aroma Hotel in the first sector of the city. The Sukhna lake project was completed in 1958. The same year saw the buildings come up on the Panjab University campus. The Tagore Theatre came up as late as 1962. But a civilisation cannot survive or flourish without its share of the arts. So, theatre started on the government college campus with legendary professors like Virender Mendirata and Naveen Thakur directing theatre plays there in Hindi and English, respectively. Later, groups like Abhivyakti for literary readings and Abhinet for theatre were created by the stalwarts. The greatest artistic surprise for the newborn city built after the Partition was of course the famous Rock Garden, admired the world over, built by Nek Chand Saini, a government official who built it secretly from stones and industrial-home waste. Thus, some were born to the city, others came to it and as they say, "Log aate gaye aur carvan banta gaya" (People kept coming and the caravan evolved gradually). In this case, some stayed and others moved to foreign shores with new ones replacing them. The city grew with Mohali on one side and Panchkula on the other. Now, of course there is New Chandigarh in the chain of caravans. Which was to see the birth of the wise owl when two civil servants decided to make their retirement home there. Rachna Singh (writer) and her husband Harmeet Singh (painter) started a magazine called The Wise Owl. There have been other activities related to art and literature in the idyllic hilly surroundings that have contributed immensely to attracting art lovers with enchanting readings of poetry andprose. Shumita Sandhu, daughter of communist activists Madan Lal Didi and Sheela Didi, recalls, "Our Didi home in the MLA flats always had artists, singers, poets and dancers wandering in and out. We too learned to join the chorus of music. Writer Joginder Baharla would rehearse his ballet and we children were roped in." Interestingly, legendary painter Harkrishan Lal came all the way from Mumbai to display his works in the verandah. Happily, this tradition continues in the lavish homes that the city is known for. Much loved and missed art historian BN Goswamy too had a theatre in the back garden of his home in Sector 19. He and his family made it a point to celebrate family birthdays and anniversaries with performances by the best-known artistes of the country. This spirit survives. Author Ranjit Powar holds regular 'baithaks' (meetings) in their home in Sector 27. Powar recalls, "It all started when I was living in Sector 33 and held a dialogue on the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev during a discussion on his philosophy and Islam. When we moved here some six years ago, a regular 'baithak' was started for discussions, readings and celebrations. Joining me in this endeavour are like-minded friends, including Jyoti Seth, Irma Maini and Manmohan Singh of Aroma Hotel, besides all those who grace the occasions. People make a city, and so it is with Chandigarh....