Secondary School Level

Allahabad is my favourite city. When I think of very big cities like Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi or Madras, I feel that they are good only for sight-seeing. They are like many small cities thrown together. Life there is too fast. The distances there are so great that people have to waste three to four hous in reaching their place of work and back. The crowds are terrible. People are so lost in their own business that they have no time for others. The result of all this is that life is very expensive, mechanical, full of tensions and mad hurry.

Life in small cities is also not very attractive. They are not yet fully developed to provide all facilities like medical colleges, corporations, local bus-system, big educational institutions, employment avenues etc. One has to run to bigger cities to get all these facilities. Life also is very slow and sleepy.

It is medium sized cities like Allahabad — neither very big nor very small — that are ideal for living. That is why I like Allahabad. It has so many good points to recommend itself. The population of Allahabad is around eight lakhs. It is surrounded on three sides by the two great rivers—the Ganga and the Jamuna. They meet at ' the 'Sangam’. Nereby is the famous fort built by Akbar, and now a military establishment. There are many other worth seeing places in Allahabad like Anand Bhawan, the sprawling Alfred Park where Chandrashfekhar Azad was shot dead, the " Museum, the beautiful Civil Lines, Planetarium; Nag Basuki, BharadwajAshram and many important temples. Allahabad is also an important centre of education with the Engineering College, the Medical College, Sangit Samiti, Prayag Mahila Vidyapith (established by the poetess Mahadevi Verma),the famous Allahabad University, often called the Oxford of the East and innumerable other education institutions. It is a clean city with wide roads. The bus system is efficient. Allahabad is well connected with other big cities by railway.

Allahabad is a cultural city. Much cultural activity is seen here throughout the year. Great personalities like Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Pt, Motilal Nehru, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Shastriji, Pant, Nirala, Mahadevi Verma, Bacchan belonged to Allahabad. All this and much more makes Allahabad a very fine city and my great favourite.