Essay | A planet of suburbs

Places apart

The world is becoming ever more suburban, and the better for it

THIRTY kilometres south of central Chennai, just out of earshot of the honking, hand-painted lorries roaring up Old Mahabalipuram Road, you seem to have reached rural India. The earth road buckles and heaves. Farmers dressed in Madras-checked dhotis rest outside huts roofed with palm leaves. Goats wander about. Then you turn a corner, go through a gate, and arrive in California.

This article appeared in the Essay section of the print edition under the headline “Places apart”

Essay December 6th 2014

Sheikhs v shale

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