But who lives next door?

2003: The four iron gates enclosingthis south Delhi colony close at 11 pm. You can enter or exit through a singlesecurity-manned barricade after giving your car number and the address of thehouse. But you could say something as weird as ''Y-2K, Mr Claus'' and getby.2010: The fortressing is no longer just walls and gates.Sophisticated electronic surveillance systems take note of your entry, andrestricted circuit cameras record your movements through the colony.You reach the house you want to visit and press the doorstepvideophone. If your face and voice are recognised you arein.Unnerving? It''s unlikely that you would have a choice in the nearfuture, says sociologist Shiv Vishvanathan. "By 2010, there will beslums encircling all upper end housing colonies. Over 80 per cent of Delhi willbe taken over by slums. The city will witness even more crime. Delhi will be thenew gang war capital."Delhi is quite on its way to becoming anotherLos Angeles where neighbours are more likely to meet at secure, privatisedconsumer places such as shopping malls and cineplexes. Like Shalini Khattar. "Inthe two years we''ve lived in Vasant Kunj I''ve visited the family on the samefloor just once — to make an emergency call. Because my mobile wasn''tworking. But we''ve met twice at the Metropolitan inGurgaon."As has been the case in the West, with the world comingcloser because of the increase in electronic communication, neighbours growfurther apart. Remote socialising with family and friends throughteleconferencing will take over from, say, a short coffee visit to that housedown the lane. Creation of virtual communities — like-minded people''meeting online'' — will add to this distance from the immediate socialenvironment. Vishvanathan agrees: "Our lack of control over spacesoutside will lead to a growing internal neighbourhood. It will be simpler tosocialise over a conference call with your son or daughter in New York than withthe woman two houses away."This is what Anshu Manocha, aneducationist, is doing. "Most of the day I''m busy with my work, says Manocha."Earlier we would go for an after dinner stroll and meet neighbours. Very few people come out for a walk after 10 pm in Ghaziabad now.Its not safe. So we prefer to net chat with our daughter in Washington. I havegreat fun seeing her show off her new clothes."Vishvanathan predictsthat "policing each other will make us a more closed-in society." By 2010, sayshe, "Delhi will see a huge conservative majority. This will cause more people,both young and old, finding solace in religiousgatherings."