The Elevator That Went Sideways

A new building in Pune had an elevator that was unlike any other. It didn’t just go up and down. It went sideways.

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At least, that’s what Rehaan told his friends.

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They rolled their eyes. “There’s no such elevator.”

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But Rehaan’s uncle was an engineer. And he had helped build a prototype of Thyssenkrupp’s MULTI elevator — the world’s first rope-free elevator that can move both vertically and horizontally using magnetic levitation.

It had just been installed in a research tower in Germany. But India was testing its own model for smart cities.

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One evening, Rehaan’s friends came over. “Show us.”

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They got into the elevator. Rehaan tapped a special code. The lights flickered. And then, with a smooth hum — the elevator slid sideways, turning into a bridge between two towers.

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The kids screamed in delight. No cables. No jerks. Just a floating box gliding in silence.

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Back at home, Rehaan’s friends started sketching their own designs: elevators in pyramids, treehouses, underwater buildings.

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Fact check: The MULTI system by Thyssenkrupp does exist and was unveiled in 2017. It's designed to revolutionize how we think of space in megacities by eliminating cables and using magnetic levitation, similar to maglev trains.

Rehaan’s building didn’t stay secret for long. A tech blog found out. Soon, Rehaan was invited to write a guest article: “Elevators Can Fly — and So Can Imagination.”