The future of the past

The strains of a soulful if slightly out-of-tune kirtan emanate from the gurdwara, competing with the clanging of the bell from the Mariamman koyil (temple) standing right next to it, and the azan floating out of the modest south Indian mosque a few steps down the street. The street in question is Kampung Keling, in the heart of Medan, the biggest city in Sumatra and the fifth largest in Indonesia. As a mirror to Indonesia&rsquos multi-religious, multi-ethnic society, it&rsquos hard to beat Medan. Javanese, Malays, Batak tribals, Chinese and Indians rub shoulders on its crowded  streets, and the architecture too reflects layers of the city&rsquos history gabled Dutch colonial mansions, Victorian and Art Deco buildings, mirrored malls in the style of early Dubai, metal-domed mosques, red-brick church steeples, and brightly-painted gopurams studded with statues of deities.