DETAILS

"I'll send my car for you"  she said.  At 7.30 p..m. on the dot, the large air conditioned, white, 4 x 4 arrived to pick me up for the gala event.   These vehicles are larger, faster and higher than anything else on the road and so one is instantly transported into the world of the 'haves'.

The occasion was a house warming party to inaugurate their new home, some way out of the town.  With urban growth and sprawl taking place, this smart, luxurious new housing estate, catering for the tastes of the CEOs of foreign companies and wealthy local business owners, was set some distance from the heart of the city but within a year, the rest of the town will have caught up to it.  This is one of the fastest growing cities in India.

Along the way we passed the usual ambling cows, dogs running on three legs,  most of them maimed or injured in some way, crowds of people living on the street, eking out a living,  their lives in all their entirety spent in the same spot, surviving.  They looked with curiosity at the darkened windows of our car, as we swept by.

The Estate was lit up, chairs were set out in the open area, draped in gathered fabric with elegant bows tied behind, the band was striking up, the caterers were getting ready with their stands, white gloved waiters held silver trays. White lilies, decorated every surface, making elegant displays on every table.

We swept on to the house itself - it glowed with lights, the hostess came down the wide staircase, later, dressed in a hand embroidered, red, sari.  She was Financial Director of the Company,  her husband its CEO - their company supplying machinery to countries world-wide.   The house was built on three floors with a glass lift.  Every room had been designed by an Interior Decorator with a particular theme.  Paintings decorated the walls, along with memorabilia from countries around the world - elaborate masks from Venice, trophy heads from Africa.....  The top floor provided an enormous den for the teenage son, just back from a trip to the U.S. and workshop at NASA.  Apart from the latest in electric guitars, drums and acoustic equipment, the den was equipped with a sunken bath, filled with rose petals,  a jacuzzi, huge overhead shower and flat screen tv at the side.

The bar on the same floor,  was straight out of the West End of London, rows of bottles gleamed from the glass shelves and above, a skylight in the ceiling, magnified the sickle moon - a door opened onto a terrace, overlooking the countryside.

These are the new palaces of India - they have replaced those of the Moghuls, just as this is the developing Ruling Class.  When asked how she had made it to the top, she said...'good luck, being in the right place at the right time and maintaining the good fortune with hard work'