ABSTRACT
One day, still early into my research in Gurgaon, I was riding in a car with Krishan Kumar, a hired driver and a long-time resident of Gurgaon. We were driving south on the Delhi–Gurgaon Expressway (DGE), past DLF Cyber City on the eastern side of the highway. DLF Cyber City was part of DLF City, a privately developed township built by India’s largest real estate developer. This private township, which at one time claimed to be Asia’s largest, was divided 149into five incremental phases of residential, commercial and office space spread out over some 3500 acres. 1 Its disjointed and unevenly developed enclaves constituted what was increasingly called New Gurgaon. 2 Upon seeing the sparkling towers of Cyber City from our moving car Krishan suddenly exclaimed: “Jaab me yahan gaari chalata hun, mujhe aisa lagtha hai ke main ne Hindustan chodke videsh gaya!” 3
