The Mall of India near Delhi attracts the eyes of the passer-by, but as you go past the swanky structure, the scene suddenly changes to a cluster of tiny, dirty houses, and huts. This unpleasant confrontation can challenge your view of economic development in the world’s largest functioning democracy.
One of India’s biggest and largest malls standing right next to a poor locality could be mistaken as India’s diversity, but a tall wall has been erected to prevent the mall’s visitors from seeing the settlement, which points instead to a division of the rich from the poor.
As part of a group of photography enthusiasts, called the Delhi Photo Expedition, we decided to juxtapose the two sides of India’s economic reality in our frames. Although we found more smiles and warmth on the sadder side of the wall, we couldn’t help notice the brutal exclusion of the poor from the so-called development that India often boasts of.