Spotlight: Jamshedpur

When we come to Manipal, most of us meet people from all parts of India and the world. We make friends from Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and… Jamshedpur! I’m sure you’ve heard of that city before. ManipalBlog brings to you an article on Jamshedpur, to impress your JSR friends with your knowledge of their city or just fill you with nostalgia if you are from there!

I have lived all 18 years of my life on this Earth, in Jamshedpur. Although it’s not a metro city, the standard of living is quite high. The city is named after Jamshedji Tata, founder of Tata Sons. Just like Manipal, a town managed by and with predominantly MAHE colleges, Jamshedpur is Tata’s township. Most people are Tata employees, and you have Tata Main Hospital, Tata Motors, Tata Steel… even the station here is aptly named Tatanagar station!

People in Jamshedpur belong to different backgrounds and cultures… so Holi, Diwali, Eid are all celebrated with the same fervour, and there is as much enthusiasm in the air during Christmas as there is during Durga Puja!

I was lucky to live just behind my school, Sacred Heart Convent, which is one of the best schools in Jamshedpur. A fun fact: The Hindi remake of “The Fault in our Stars” was shot here in mid 2018, so you’ll get to see the school and this city when the movie releases next year! It’s also Sushant Singh Rajput’s second time in Jamshedpur, first being for the shoot of “M.S. Dhoni- The Untold Story”. On the subject of Bollywood, this is also the birthplace of Priyanka Chopra, she was delivered in Tata Main Hospital. Imtiaz Ali and R Madhavan are alumni of DBMS English School… so even though a small town, Jamshedpur has generated big Stars!

 

 It was a glorious moment last year when Jamshedpur FC was announced as a team in the Indian Super League. We had the honour of watching the live match between Jamshedpur FC and Mumbai City FC at JRD Tata stadium this year. The stadium is very close to my house, so even when we were sitting at home, we could hear the screams and cheers of “GOAL!” and would know our team has scored a goal before it was telecast!

A new mall has come up, “P&M Marketcity”, which is quite nice and is the new party place for students! Another huge mall, “The Forum Centenary”, is on the way. For students from Jamshedpur reading the article, I’m sure you miss the fun times you had at Brubeck Bakery, The Sonnet, United Club or Beldih Club 😀 Well I advise you to make new memories here in Manipal at Zeal, Remix or DeeTee, places like which Jamshepur students had never been to before coming here!

When students from Jamshedpur go to other places for higher studies, they are at par with their metropolitan counterparts. This is because Jamshedpur provides ample opportunities for skill and personality development. JRD Tata Sports Complex is a haven for fitness and sports enthusiasts. Most of the kids spent their evenings after school playing badminton, table tennis, lawn tennis, swimming and so on. During my free time after the board exams, I enrolled in skating and went for practise everyday at four! That’s the best part of this city..the distance between places is minimal. I either walked or cycled to my school, to the sports complex, or to the club. Therefore people are able to do a lot of things in a short amount of time. It takes 4 hours for my cousin in Delhi to attend her tuition and come back..here, we are done with our tuitions, hobby classes, and sports activities in that span of time!

When you finish school and head to college, you realise how much the city and it’s people have contributed to your character and personality. Life in Jamshedpur is awesome, and you’ll know that only when you live here. It doesn’t have many malls, or dance clubs or even a huge airport like big cities, but it has provided me with experiences, opportunities and given me memories which make me proud of how I have utilised my time there, and grateful for all that I know today. It also taught me to make the most of every place, and that’s what we all should do here in Manipal as well!