India, April 24 -- Taak, a niche on the wall, is a disappearing element of Delhi's architecture. Maybe because suburban flats no longer have walls thick enough to afford taak.

But here's a taak, set deep into a wall. Well, it actually is a two-dimensional representation of the traditional niche, consisting entirely of tiles. For that matter, virtually the entire pedestrian passage it is to be found in is adorned with tiles.

This is a small underground tunnel in South Delhi, running under the traffic-heavy Outer Ring Road and connecting SDA Market to IIT Delhi. This afternoon, it is empty, filling one with uncertainty about the aesthetic merits of its tapestry of tiles. Is it beautiful or not? The dilemma quickly gets entangled with the ...