Why India Seems Short Of Sympathy For Its Middle Class

Sorrows like dream homes worth crores going poof on builder failure are not seen as tragic enough

- Manu Joseph

Nirvana Country is an almost beautiful island in the vast dismal ugliness of Gurugram. Some residents call it “Unitech’s folly" because the colony has broad tree-lined pathways, pretty parks with flower beds and little green mounds, and there are other hints of builder generosity, which is rare in India. Public life here appears to be good. Happy old men amble in groups talking about the importance of authoritarianism; their wives sit in a circle and sing; an American with a mohawk teaches teenaged girls karate; and some boys are so posh they can’t bowl. The place was even prettier about 15 years ago. So, at the time, when Unitech announced the making of Nirvana II, just a few kilometres away, hundreds rushed to book villas.

The builder was to begin delivery of the homes around 2012, but no one has got possession yet. The builder has since perished, two of its promoters in jail for fraud, and its management has been taken over by bureaucrats. Hundreds of people who sank their savings in the project or had taken huge loans that they still service, have joined lakhs of Indians who trusted various marquee builders, but are yet to get possession of their houses.