Sanjay Kaul
Be careful, everyone-but also pause to enjoy the fragrance of Jammu’s monsoon. For those of us who grew up here, the rains were not just showers, they were stories. Even today, after a heavy downpour, slides in Doda or Reasi remind us how fragile the mountains are, and bridges in Jammu sometimes give way. Friends call it the “Smart City” effect, but the truth is simple: nature has always been smarter than us.
There was a time when Jammu lived more simply, and perhaps more joyfully. We didn’t have tall hotels, malls, or big colonies, yet the city felt complete. Monsoon meant a city that cleaned itself through sheer gravity. After Gumat, everything washed down, leaving Jammu shining without effort. We may not have called it smart, but it worked.
Neighborhoods carried their own charm. Bhagwati Nagar, Ashok Nagar, and Mahinder Nagar were worlds of their own, connected only by Canal Road. Apsara Theatre was a cooperative venture of spirited Jammu journalists, who pooled their resources to bring cinema to Gandhi Nagar. I still remember watching its inaugural film, Yakeen, with my father, when all around it was just barren land. ShankerTheatre was another hub-its “ladies shows” had their own legend. Today, I hear, it has become a mall.
Residency Road was our promenade, the place where families strolled, students lingered, and tourists from Kashmir added their color. Walking up and down was a social ritual-one didn’t just walk, one met half the city along the way. Hari-Talkies and Uttam Talkies brought us the magic of Bollywood. I still remember the thrill of the movie Zanjeer, and the excitement of movie passes, courtesy of a school friend of Uttam Flour Mills. Cinema was more than entertainment-it was community.
Today, Jammu has stretched in every direction. Hotels now stand at the foothills, big houses rise beyond Gumat, and orchards that once gave us guavas are walled into colonies. The city wears the badge of “Smart City,” but in my memories, the real smart city was the one where rains wrote poetry, gravity did the cleaning, and joy came from guavas, and the magic of a movie night.
And to the younger generation of Jammu: remember, the story of this city is not just in its new flyovers or shopping complexes, but in its rains, its old roads, its theatres, and its orchards. You have inherited a city that once let nature take the lead. If you carry forward even a little of that balance-between growth and simplicity, between smartness and wisdom-Jammu will remain not just smart, but soulful.
(The author is a Professor of Technology at Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA, USA.)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
