It is with bewilderment they look at the future megapolis of urban India, as the slogan-shouting, rally-hopping politicians whiz around the outskirts of the gleaming twin towns of Noida and Ghaziabad. Every attempt to tempt and seduce, charm and captivate them have been met with diffidence and disdain, and they have had to back off dazed and agape. As the rest of Uttar Pradesh battles it out in a do-or-die electoral combat, the rise-and-shining citizens of Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad, which go to polls tomorrow, couldn’t care less.

They have little stake in it, they want little part of it.

Heartland politics, tell it to the cows. In these cities of six-lane highways, flashing neons, outlandish skyscrapers, residential arcades, frenetic malls, hip nightclubs, it’s boomtown exuberance that’s the signature. The future of the modern urban Indian Dream is here — offering tantalizing platinum, gold and silver card membership lifestyles.

It’s a trilling Tina Kharbanda, the 28-year-old daughter-in-law of a giant garments retail business family who says, “Our family moved from Delhi to Noida 10 years ago, and I still can’t believe how happy I am. There is none of the congestion, traffic jams, power cuts Delhi has. We have parks, shopping malls, clubs that I wouldn’t have dreamed of, here. “

Kharbanda is candid when she says she is relieved she left — back in Karol Bagh she had to socialize with her older auntyjis, the residential area was being squeezed to accommodate unplanned development, from guest houses to shops, social life was stuck in traffic snarls. “Social talk is uplifting here,” says Kharbanda, “it’s all about the best schools, club life, community living. I can’t imagine going back to Delhi anymore,” she shudders.

... contd.