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
From the December 6th 2014 edition
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