FUTURE CITY: VISIONS AND BEYOND

FUTURE CITY SERIES: PART 7

URBANIZATION UNDER WATER

AQUA

BY

ADITI DAS

I.   A Transfer

It was a cold evening in late November, 2313.  The weather was rough with a backing wind and drizzling rain. It was almost dark and the air was cold. The pallor of the winter evening fell on the city; shrouding the buildings in mist. The granite sky was obscured by the buildings that stood tall. Kapil Kishore, a middle class Indian marketing executive officer, who had been transferred to the city of X, had just arrived with his family.

As the train entered the station, the Kishore family could sense the hostility of the city in the air. They were to live in a hotel for that night and the following day they would go around the city looking for their new flat.

 This city was new to Kapil and his family, but no different from the one they had left behind a day’s journey back. Although not much was visible in the dark, Kapil knew exactly how the city would look: crowded streets, congested pavements, traffic congestion on the roads, a web of flyovers criss-crossing the city and a high density of buildings most of which stood tall, about 30 kilometers high. Yes! The buildings were so high that they nearly touched the stratosphere.

That night Kapil put up at a hotel near the railway station.  Lying on bed they were all building castles in the air about their new home. “I hope dad buys a flat on the top floor of a stratoscraper” Mansi tells Manav. 

In her mind she knew she wanted to see and touch the mother-of-pearl clouds that she read of in her geography book. But she feared to tell her father this. What if he disparaged her idea by commenting on her age? Mansi as a young girl of twelve had too much of an ego.

Kapil was suffering from partial insomnia that night. His head was muddled up with figures. There were a lot of expenses he would have to settle. The children had to be admitted to a new school. They needed a permanent shelter. Geetika lay quietly on the bed. She was not only aware of but could also empathize with her husband’s apprehensions.

Kapil got up from bed, went to the balcony and leaning against the balustrade, he lit a cigarette. The air was filled with dust and mist cloaked the city. Kapil stood still; it was like a blurred intoxication of a dream, with everything about him misty, ill-defined. He has had a tough career climbing up and down the corporate ladder. He knew his life was not going to be smooth in the new future. He finished his cigarette and went back to bed.

The following day, finding sometime in-between work, from his office, Kapil made a few calls to different brokers. He dialed the number of the first broker, “I’m looking for a flat in the city. A 2BHK (two bedrooms, a hall and a kitchen) should do fine!” he said.

The broker promised to show him two flats, both of which were at the periphery of the city. Kapil would have to travel a long way for office. He called up a few more. The prices of the flats were sky-high. They ranged from 85 lakhs to some crores. On his way back Kapil took a minute to look around the city. 

Parts of the city were lighted up with cars zooming past him in high speed, while others were dark and sordid with dark alleys full of crime, and people forced to live in an environment that was devoid of life. There was a disparity not only in wealth but also in the attitude and disposition of the entire city.

A contrast in the cityscape was so blatant that Kapil could barely ignore it. It made the city appear as a monster. It seemed as though an epidemic has broken out or some other disaster had rendered whole swathes of the city unliveable.

At night when he returned home seeing five flats around the city, he sat distressed next to his wife. “I cannot afford a flat for a crore Geetika”, said Kapil in a troubled voice.

Six days went by. Kapil was tired of looking for a shelter. If he were to buy a flat on the the 157^th floor, it would not only cost him a lot of money, he would also have to buy oxygen. He learnt that oxygen cylinders could be hired for 50 rupees a person. A flat on the 157^th floor would also mean an exposure to a lot of ozone leading to health hazards.

II. A Call Early Morning

The following day, early morning at 6 a.m., Kapil got a call. It was the broker, Ajay, who Kapil had first approached. “Good morning Sir, I have good news for you” said Ajay, “I called to inform you that there is a new flat at a cheaper rate in a more healthy environment, where neither you have to pay a tax for water nor do you have to buy oxygen. If you are willing to see the flat, you will have to come to the dock at 9 o’ clock. I’ll be waiting for you with my assistant who would show you around.”  Kapil, who was still in state of trance, just been woken from sleep, replied “Yes. Of course. Alright. I will see you at eight.” 

It never struck him as to why he was being called to the dock, where this new flat would be?

He first woke up his wife to tell her about the broker’s call. Since it was a Sunday morning, they all decided to go see the flat. They arrived at the dock sharp at nine. Ajay stood with another young boy of about twenty five- his assistant.

Along the shore were lined up these unusual looking vehicles. “What are these mom?” Manav asked with much amazement.

It was Ajay’s assistant, Gautam, who spoke this time. “Man has only two vast, natural frontiers left to him: Outer Space and the Oceans, both of which are still virtually unexplored and unexploited. Over the years, technological breakthroughs have made possible a major escalation on the part of the world's oceanographers to develop the resources of the oceans for the benefit of mankind.

The new realm of Hydrospace provides a number of new job opportunities and brings about the birth of dozens of new industries as our oceanic engineers perfect the techniques to dive deeper and stay longer under the surface of the seas. Dissolved oxygen under the sea also helps you breathe freely ” said Gautam in one breath. “I’m going to show you your new home in a city underwater.”

He looked at Manav and said “those are called diving saucers that will take us to the underwater city.”

The Kishore family was unaware of the existence of an underwater city. The family was excited to experience a completely different world, except Geetika, who suffered from aquaphobia, a phobia of water. How would they travel all the way to land daily? Will there be markets and shopping malls, schools and hospitals? Different thoughts flitted through her mind. Kapil assured her nothing would happen. Let’s go see how the city has proliferated underwater. If you don’t want, we will not buy a flat there” said Kapil in an assuring tone.

The saucer resembled the body of a stingray without the tail, thought Mansi. They stepped into the saucer and fastened the seat belts. There were breathing apparatus, life jackets, sickness bags and swim-fins beneath each seat. They were soon sitting in a diving saucer and off they were to venture into a new world- a city underwater.

III. Into the Undersea World

It was a different experience altogether travelling in a diving saucer. The saucer was made of glass on all sides. Manav was sitting beside the driver observing him drive the vehicle. Mansi sat awe-struck looking at the shoal of fishes that swam across. Soon she started identifying the different species of fish: a company of angel fish, a swarm of eels, a school of cod, a float of tunas and many more. Suddenly she clapped in excitement, “Manav, look at the corals below!” she screamed. 


The ocean bottom had always intrigued her and now she could experience it all. She thought to herself that someday she would go in search of a pearl from the oyster shell. Manav, too, was very thrilled. He could explore different parts of the underwater city and go scuba diving- an adventure sport that he always wanted to take part in. They both were now restless, waiting to go back to land to tell their new friends in school about their experience in a new world. But there was more to experience; they had not yet seen their new home.

At this point, Manav shouted “Look ahead! What is that?” They all stared in awe.

There was a huge colony of pyramidal buildings. Shortly they were told that each pyramid-shaped structure is a self- contained city, an idea that has been suggested as an alternative to building more tower blocks on land. The city has been designed in a way so as to blend architecture and ecology in order to solve the problems of city life.

The saucer eventually landed on a platform which was the entry to one of the buildings. All along the path, on two sides of the platform, stood a dozen of these similar looking vehicles. The entire platform was covered with a dome shaped glass and was designed in a manner in which the people would not have to step into the water. In every ten minutes interval; each saucer would leave the city from different points and travel to land. 

Gautam informed, “For those driving their own saucers there are parallel arrangements, with coded, moving lights to guide them to the personal parking areas, from where other individual escalators will take them directly to their rooms. For the old and the disabled there are elevators. Separate parking is available for the submarines.”

All of them looked around, completely baffled by the huge structures around them. The buildings could hold about 6000 people each. Each building was divided into six wings. They contained a vast number of additional facilities – multiplexes, shopping malls, fitness clubs, recreation spaces, hotels, restaurants, a school and a hospital. 


All the fear that Geetika had was now gone. They went around the city; most of the buildings were covered in glass which gave a view of the outside hydrospace- the vast expanses of water around along with phytoplanktons and zooplanktons. There was a phytoplankton farm just outside the building.


“Scientists recently determined that the oceans have an unlikely ally in the battle against climate change– undersea volcanoes. A group of Australian and French scientists found that a vast network of underwater volcanoes pump out nutrient-rich water, promoting phytoplankton growth. The phytoplankton plays a crucial role in absorbing carbon dioxide, informed Gautam.

“Come I’ll show you the flat Sir”, said Gautam quite delighted to see his customer taking interest. He showed them two flats on the sixth floor and one on the fifth. Geetika felt as though she was brought to a seven star (or more!) hotel. The master bedroom was huge with an attached bathroom. There were two more rooms, a huge hall, a kitchen and another washroom.

“All services have automated room delivery systems- valet, beverages, florist, drugstore, newstand” said Gautam. The Kishores were so thrilled and amazed that they barely uttered a word. There was a moment of prolonged silence which was soon broken by Gautam’s husky voice “And you know what the best deal is about buying a flat here, Sir? The price is not as high as it is on land and moreover, you need not buy oxygen!”

Kapil took Geetika aside to have a few words with her. “So what do think?” he asked his wife. Geetika was still in a state of trance. She quickly regained herself and said “A city like this could be a good place for its people to work in. Don’t you think Kapil that there would be a lot of job opportunities?  Mining the local sea bed for minerals, fish farming, and tourism would open new avenues for the young population. In fact, tourism would be an important and flourishing enterprise with holidaymakers making underwater excursions in submarines.

“Why don’t you join a travel company instead of freelancing?” said Kapil with a smile. 

The couple asked for some time from the broker. “We will get back to you tomorrow” they said.

The following day, Kapil called up Ajay and finalized the deal with him. Manav and Mansi were both over joyed. Manav could fulfil his dream of scuba diving and Mansi, who earlier wanted to touch the mother-of-pearl clouds, could now go fishing for real pearl from the ocean bottom. They were both waiting anxiously to shift to their new flat- for Mansi it meant helping mother set up the flat, while for Manav it meant exploring the city.

The next weekend the Kishore family would shift to their new flat in the new city, to experience a world underwater- the Aqua city.

Author’s Bio- Note:

Aditi Das is currently pursuing Post Graduation from Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi.