India, Aug. 7 -- In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a mall wasn't just a mall. It was a destination, a family event, a window into India's emerging urban aspirations. And in the heart of south Delhi, Ansal Plaza stood at the centre of it all - the first shopping mall in NCR, a glossy, semi-circular marvel that brought together families, couples, fashion, food, and festivity under one gleaming roof.

Today, that roof leaks when it rains.

The escalators - once a thrilling novelty for children and a marker of modernity - are mostly broken. Plaster peels from once-grand walls. On a recent monsoon afternoon, shuttered storefronts lined echoing corridors as a handful of college students wandered the skeletal halls in search of an open cafe or ...