Malls with No Roads

When I first got off at the Sikanderpur metro stop in Gurgoan, I was greeted with a sweeping view of the surrounding area. “Gurgoan was supposed to show off the New India, but they forgot to remove all this,” a friend told me, gesturing to the shantytown and trash piles lined up next to the metro station. Of course, there’s plenty of New India in Gurgoan, too. Just behind the shantytown, Gurgoan’s “Mall Mile” stretched into the distance, filled with cafes, designer clothing stores, and hip restaurants. The rest of the night would further reinforce my friend’s observation: we took an auto rickshaw to a microbrewery in an ultra-modern glass building that also housed a Mercedes Benz dealership, but the road in front of the building was half asphalt, half dirt and was pitch dark because there was no street lighting. Inside the bar, we were greeted with IPAs and Miley Cyrus at full volume.   

Situated south of Delhi in the state of Haryana, Gurgoan sprouted up from farmland, and over the past 25 years the city has grown into a commercial center for Northern India. Today, half of all Fortune 500 companies have a presence in Gurgoan – drawing many middle and upper class professionals to the city. Gurgoan’s quick rise is attributed to a combination of cheap land, lax development regulations, and its proximity to Delhi. Much of the private land in Gurgoan was developed by DLF Limited, one of India’s largest private real estate developers, and it can sometimes feel like the company owns the entire city. A Gurgoan resident could easily live in DLF Phase IV (a residential colony), work in DLF’s Cyber City (an office complex, pictured below), and go out for dinner in DLF’s Grand Mall (or, alternatively, DLF’s Cyber Hub, which is attached to Cyber City). 

Private development transformed Gurgoan into the economic powerhouse that it is today, but it has also resulted in a city with practically no public infrastructure. Gurgoan is plagued by poor roads, insufficient waste disposal systems, weak power infrastructure, and a government that is struggling to fix it all. Inside a gated community or mall in Gurgoan, it is easy to forget that you are in a country where nearly 60% of the population lives under $3.10 PPP a day - but step into a public space and you are immediately back in India. Cambridge economist Amartya Sen warned that India is at risk of becoming, “half California, half Sub-Saharan Africa,” and this dynamic is abundantly clear in Gurgoan. These photos hope to show some of the perplexing scenes that one encounters on a daily basis in Gurgoan, with special focus given to the surreal transitions between the city’s public and private spaces. 

(If you’d like to read a more comprehensive description of Gurgoan’s development and the problems it faces today, I would highly recommend this New York Times article.)

A man checking his phone on Golf Course Road, Gurgoan. In the background, a Mercedes Benz dealership, microbrewery, Dell offices, and the skeleton of a new metro line look out over a barely-paved road.

An informal open-air market alongside Gurgoan's "Mall Mile" - a stretch of malls built next to each other. Gurgoan has over 25 malls that largely cater to wealthier segments of the population.

DLF's Cyber City, a private development with corporate offices and a large mall, rises above residential developments in Gurgoan. DLF Limited is one of the biggest real estate developers in India, and the company owns a large portion of the private land in Gurgoan.

... the roads outside Cyber City are still a work in progress.

The gate to DLF's Cyber City, one of the largest private commercial developments in Gurgoan. The interior of Cyber City feels completely removed from the public areas that surround it.

A rickshaw peddles along a dusty highway in Gurgoan.

High winds kick up dust on Gurgoan's Golf Course Road. Many roads in Gurgoan are partially or completely unpaved, which contributes to poor air quality.

Workers carry building materials along a road outside of Cyber City.

Ambience Mall in Gurgoan. Malls in Gurgoan are similar to malls you might find anywhere else in the world.

A storeowner in a shantytown behind DLF's Cyber City.

The excise duty on alcohol in Gurgoan is considerably lower than in Delhi, which has allowed large liquor stores in Gurgoan to attract customers from across the state border. However, in March the state of Haryana announced that the excise duty on foreign alcohol would brought to parity with Delhi.

A stray dog outside of Cyber City. In 2015, an average of 28 people were bitten by dogs every day in Gurgoan.

Lightning strikes above luxury high rise apartment buildings under construction in Gurgoan.

Ambience Mall in Gurgoan

Cycle rickshaws and gas-powered auto rickshaws wait for customers outside of a metro stop in Gurgoan.

Pratap, a security guard working in for a construction site in Gurgoan, stands on the median of Golf Course road.

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Ladakh: Leh Valley Area

In August, I had the chance to visit Ladakh, a part of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir situated high in the Himalayas along the Indo-Chinese border. I can confidently say that Ladakh is the most beautiful place I have ever visited. At 3,500 meters (11,500 ft) high, the barren landscape and deep blue skies were like nothing I’ve seen before. Driving around the area was a treat, and I spent most of the time on the road hanging out of the car window camera in hand trying to capture the passing landscape. There was no shortage of monasteries and pretty valleys to visit, many of which are pictured below. The highlight of the trip was a visit to Pangong Lake, which will have an entire post dedicated to it. 

I was only able scratch the surface of what there is to see in Ladakh during the week I was there, but with any luck I'll be back soon. Hopefully these photos will give you a taste of what it’s like!

Thikse Monastery, Ladakh. Taken from the Shey Monastery across the valley.

Clouds gather over the Stok range in Leh, Ladakh. The Stok range is one of the most popular trekking routes in the area.

A stupa on the outskirts of the town of Leh. Behind it, the Stok Range.

Buddhist paintings inside the Alchi Monastery in Ladakh. The paintings are some of the oldest in the Ladakh area.

A winding staircase at Hemis Monastery, Ladakh.

A prayer bell inside of Hemis Monastery, Ladakh.

A stupa at the Hemis Monastery. The high altitude in Ladakh gives the sky an unreal blue hue.

Clouds move across the mountains creating dramatic shadows. 

Looking over the Leh Valley. To give you a sense of scale, the small buildings in the center of the image are hangars that could probably fit a full commercial airliner inside.

Between the Royal Enfield motorcycle, the monks, the prayer flags, and the old solar panel, this photo feels very Ladakhi to me.

A line of stupas outside of the Shey Monastery in Ladakh.

A monk at the Leh Monastery looks over the Leh Valley.

A beautiful ceiling surrounded by paintings in the Leh Palace.

A lightening bolt over the mountains in Leh, Ladakh. I didn't have a tripod with me, so I got this shot the hard way by pointing my camera towards the storm and setting it to burst mode with as long a shutter speed as I could hold steadily. After a few hundred shots I finally got one with lightening in it. Next time I'll bring a tripod...

The main market street in Leh, Ledakh. On the mountains to the left, a monastery and the Leh Palace look over the town.

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Out and About in Delhi

More photos from around Delhi, and a continuation of my unintentional fascination with auto rickshaws as photo subjects. Enjoy!

An auto passes in front of a fruit stand in Green Park, Delhi.

A women peeps out from the back seat of an auto rickshaw on a highway in South Delhi.

Rickshaws in the streets of Old Delhi.

A man cleaning a car in Green Park, Delhi.

The Vaishali metro station at sunset. The Delhi Metro is one of the most beloved parts of the city.

A father and his daughter outside an optometrist in Green Park, Delhi.

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