Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai’s commercial hub, oozes luxury. Affluent shoppers stroll in and out of stores like Emporio Armani, Satya Paul, and Swarovski. The corporate headquarters of tech giant Amazon towers over the upscale shops. The large plaza in the BKC, as it’s known, hosts concerts and sports events. The Backstreet Boys performed there recently.
On a Tuesday in April, swarms of Indians streamed into the plaza to glimpse a pop star of a different kind: Apple CEO Tim Cook, who was there to open one of the tech giant’s first two stores in India. After a brief countdown, Cook thrust open the doors of the 22,000-square-foot BKC location. Surrounded by cheering, green-clad Apple associates, the chief executive high-fived and posed for selfies with some of the first visitors.
