India, March 17 -- On a crisp March morning, a young man in his early 20s walks slowly across a vast field, a wicker basket dangling from his forearm. Every few steps, he bends down to pluck bright red strawberries, their glossy skins glistening under the morning sun. Behind him, an even larger expanse of flower fields, dappled in vivid hues of yellow, orange and white, stretches to the horizon.

Beyond the blossoms, the land drops off at the riverbank, or ghat, where a quiet river carves its way through the landscape. Its water is clear and blue - a striking contrast to the inky, polluted stream most Delhi residents associate with the Yamuna.

It is an image that could belong to a pastoral Himalayan valley or a quiet European farmstead. ...