Triumph of the City

It’s strange that despite all the fantastic new infrastructure in Delhi,there’s not a single,new,iconic building that symbolises a city in the making or on road to progress. And now,a suburb,not even a leafy one at that,will beat the national capital to it. Yet,Delhi is changing,frighteningly fast. Till the ’90’s,Delhi was a city of bungalows,that have all but vanished.

If you take a walk down most south Delhi colonies like Jorbagh,Defence Colony or Greater Kailash,almost every second bungalow is being reconstructed. The few,remaining single-storey homes have become legal,gigantic,four-storey structures on plot sizes that seem absurdly tiny to contain them. They usually have a basement and stilt level parking,and are constructed at an astounding speed. The home owner is suddenly a millionaire,after having cashed out on a priceless asset.

But can a city,even an intellectually vibrant one like Delhi,be called one without a single,modern structure that makes an impact on the skyline? The only one that comes to mind is Corporate Tower in Nehru Place,where from the restaurant Royal China,you get a fabulous view of the green belt and the Lotus Temple. However,as a building,it can hardly be called iconic,it’s not tall enough for one. There is a certain stretch in Gurgaon,where if you travel at night,when the muck on the roads is concealed,and look around at the large glass domes,lit up,with people working inside,that you could be in London or New York. No part of Delhi gives you that feeling.

Building a humungous skyscraper cannot buy a city a history or culture. But it’s a start. Noida has many advantages like Dubai; good living,great connectivity and golf courses. Who knows,a really cool,state of the art building maybe just what it needs,a welcome change from shopping complexes and malls,even if,most of the time the weather doesn’t permit tourists to visit it. That reminds me of my only visit to Dubai,for the opening of the Burj Khalifa,right before the famous 138-floor building was to open,at the height of the slowdown in 2009. It seemed like a desperate attempt by Dubai to keep up with their gaudy image; aggressively challenging the notion that their story is over. When you take the elevators to the 124th floor,your ears pop twice and the wind is strong and cold. The breathtaking view encompasses the man-made islands,The World,and planes are flying a lot below you. Gaudy or not,when you’re up there,you can only exclaim and marvel and grim economic realities seem really far off.

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