India, July 15 -- "Walkability is a European concept. People in India do not walk. You people from NGOs visit European cities, see people walking there, come back and try to copy that culture here." The remark came from a young officer, in a meeting to review a major urban-roads project - one meant to serve not just cars, but the millions who walk, wait, cross, sell, cycle, and board buses on Indian streets every day.

The senior officer chairing the meeting had stepped out to take a call. In that small administrative interval, philosophy entered the room. A discussion about cost per kilometre became a civilisational inquiry: Do Indians walk?

One must wonder at the confidence of such a remark. In a country where schoolchildren walk to sc...