The Chronicles of Mumbai

Book excerpt: There was something about the high rises that appealed to her particularly. Sometimes, she�d wonder whether those high rises had a heart since they were a witness to so much happening around. She would look at them, and just ponder deeply about their existence, her existence, and where she belonged in this naked world. She continued contemplating and looking at those buildings when her eyes rested on the most simple, dilapidated one where Alex Ford worked. She always felt an undiscovered, and unjustified attraction towards that building. Even though it was a high rise, this building was designed differently and was in no way similar to one of those typical architectural skyscrapers that filled the whole of New York. There was something special about this that no words or adjectives could substantiate� The tip of the building resembled a cone that went steeper and sharper towards its vertex. Whenever she felt exhausted from the day�s work or the times when she�d be losing her motivation to slog , she�d just be staring at the cone, trying to decipher its meaning. Her eyes would move in oscillatory, linear and circulatory movements and she�d notice the caricatures even more minutely. What amazed her the most was that no one design was identical to the other. Somewhere they appeared a little cylindrical, and in some places, elliptical. Looking at them, and studying them deeply, Shan could say that each of them had a story to tell.