India, Sept. 15 -- In my first fortnight as a reporter in Gurugram, I expected trysts with cafes, metro lines, and gleaming towers that outsiders often associate with the Millennium City. Instead, my first real brush with the city was a knee-deep, waterlogged school compound on Budhera Road near the SGT Medical College. They call Gurugram a city of dreams-home to million-dollar condominiums and the corporate elite. Yet, barely a few kilometres away, a government school with 500 students, turns into a pool after every spell of rain.

The toilets were flooded, the playground reeked of sewage, and garbage floated, like boats in a swamp. I braced myself for a conversation with the principal, expecting regret and some helplessness. Instead, th...