What I love and hate about smaller cities and towns.

2026 Day 179. #PersonalDays.

I would consider myself a small town boy, I was born and raised in Dehradun, but I spent a lot of my teenage years in an extremely small midway town by the name of Barlowganj.

A lot of my mates from school were from all over India, some bigger cities and some not. The perspectives I gained between all of things that happened has left me very opinionated about living in smaller towns.

The things that I love.

People develop a bond of closeness. Any event that happens is known to the entire town, and everybody joins in. You know the shopkeeper who gives you the better prices, the restauranteur that gives you the extra portion, and so on. The economy survives on tourists passing through and others just trying to get by. The life is simpler and less complicated.

There is a person for everything you might need in your day to day life. People pick up trades often because their family has been doing the same thing for a while and everyone knows exactly one person to get their work done from. Even though it is a monopoly, tradesman realise that they live with the same people that they rip off, so it is better to have reasonable prices and get reasonable work done.

People are simpler and nicer for the most part. They do not have much and everyone lives lightly. A lot of them survive on a daily wage or minimum markup sales and often are happy between all of this. Because nothing is ever hidden, there are no secret agendas, the community tends to stick together and be nicer to each other.

Because of a lack of overcrowding and development, trees are allowed to grow and there is more greenery around. I enjoy roaming around in concrete jungles but I like to live with a lot of vegetation around me. Something about the shade of the trees is much more calming than sitting indoors with the AC on.

The things that I hate/dislike.

Everyone seems to know everybody, so one wrong mistake can be very detrimental to your mental being. People love to gossip, and they like to make up their own versions and stories which may be far from the truth, and world travels fast and quick. This is like playing a game of Chinese Whispers with very real, and often long lasting effects.

While your day to day life is simple and easy, it is hard to get the more important things done. Government offices for passports, IDs, advanced medicine, tech literacy, etc. can be far to reach or unavailable. Ruining your laptop in a major city is a minor issue, in smaller towns, it can mean a commute to the closest city.

People have such a limited concept of the world that they are barely aware of the outside world and its developments. They simply do not care about it and that’s something that bothered me personally. Because of a lack of awareness, there is also a lack of ambition. They are so content for the time being that they forget to check if this is what they will do for the rest of their lives.

Due to a lack of development, there is also a lack of safety. People forge their own shortcuts through the vegetation and the danger of wild animals is always around. In my few visits to my ancestral village, I have been warned to not step outside after sunset because of tigers in the area. Very inconvenient since places like that have no concept of en-suite bathrooms so essentially you are locked in between sunset and sunrise.

As you might have observed, it is not the things in themselves that I love or hate but rather the perspective that forces me to change my views.

I have often considered where I would like to live for the rest of my life but I have not come across the perfect place and maybe I never will. I have collected the bits and pieces of the things I like more than others.

When it is time to settle down, I will look at all the places I have seen, find the things I am willing to compromise on, and then make a decision. Who knows what becomes the more important idea between all of this. Some things will live on wherever you live, you just have to find a way to distance your self from the negativity, or eradicate it somehow.

Some of the negative ideas are due to human nature and are not easily mitigated. So you must also make sure you have people around that you trust and love above anyone else and make a smaller community inside the larger one. It will make things easier and more fun, hopefully.

Where would you want to live?

See you tomorr