For the past four months, I have been settling down to life in the foothills of the Himalayas, in a village a few kilometres above Dehradun, after all the hurly-burly of Mumbai. But while there is birdsong, fresh air and great views, the most compelling impression has been that of real estate development. The sound I hear most often is of earth movers and concrete mixers straining up the hills, negotiating steep inclines and narrow dirt roads.

Three out of four hoardings advertise some new property. The names range from Raj, nostalgia, geographical impossibilities and the craving for the ideal and the improbable Imperial Towers, Arcadia Hillocks, Pacific Hills and Green View Blossoms, Whispering Willows and Park Belles, (pronounced ‘Bell-es’, to make it easier for some customers but don’t tell them I told you).