Notes on the Geography of Northern India: Parsvnath's La Tropicana and Majnu Ka Tilla

Cities are full of amazing juxtapositions. Here's one: a glitzy new subdivision on the north side of Delhi and, a five-minute walk to the east, the capital's Tibetan-refugee colony.

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Lengthen your stride. Look important, or at least in your element.

Oops! Oops! Wrong turn. We don't want the construction site.

Here's what we want.

The sales office, with a model home for our delectation. Please remove your shoes.

Living room.

Dining.

Kitchen.

Price? Delhi apartments in 2007 ran about 7000 rupees per square foot. That's pushing $200.

Well, we're going to walk over to the Tibetan colony. There's a little transition zone here.

Transaction.

Samosas.

Birds: dead ones above the living.

This is the Outer Ring Road. We'll get across on a pedestrian overpass, but notice first those flags up top.

From the overpass.

Prayer wheels.

Tailor.

Thirsty flautist.

Public meeting.

Speech... in Tibetan. One topic on the agenda might have been the plans of the Delhi Development Authority to demolish the colony.

The order was to remove everything within 300 meters of the Yamuna River, which the colony flanks.