India, Aug. 17 -- Gurgaon, the Millennium City of corporate complexes and residential towers, looks so vertical that it seems to have no past. Even its newer name, Gurugram, sounds too modern, rhyming with Instagram, though gram here means gaon, or village.

But saying Gurugram has no past because it looks new would be like saying a new migrant to the city has no past. Walk through the city and see how the impression changes.

In Jacobpura, a bungalow is being demolished by migrant-labourers from Bundelkhand. The skeletal frame still reveals old-fashioned courtyards and doors. A handful of similar structures are still standing intact in adjacent lanes. One has a wooden door bearing carved designs, the parapet above pierced by tiny opening...