New Delhi, Aug. 29 -- In this age of hybrid work and unbroken connectivity, we can live anywhere, work elsewhere, direct events in a third place, and take a course that's at the other end of the world. Where we are located no longer matters because technology has freed us from the confines of one place and allowed us to move to a peaceful hill or hide in a clean cave and still live urbanised lives. Yet, that's not entirely true, is it?

Data shows that talent, innovation, creativity, ideation, money and opportunity are still largely concentrated in urban areas, which therefore makes cities places of hope and despair. The cities we choose to live in shape us irrevocably, erasing boundaries we set for ourselves. For Gulzar, now 92, that pla...