The famous Delhi chill is here to stay, regardless of what
the infamous MET department has to say about it. Although the celebrations of
Lodi declared that the end of winters is near with grand bonfires across the
city, nature seems to have other things on her mind. Delhi continues to wake up
to chilly mornings blanketed by dense fog. Those who can afford it, sleep in,
while the rest of the poor souls get out and continue on their routines as
usual.
Delhi plays with its inhabitants’ feelings and emotions like
a cat playing with a ball of yarn. One day would be a warm sunny day, raising
hopes of its 14 million inhabitants as they get out of their quilts and looked
forward to spring. Alas, all hopes are shattered on the frost covered ground
into a million tiny pieces, with the mercury nose diving the very next day. The
chill is such that it penetrates to the bone, helped by the sharp stinging
winds which bring down the collective morale of the entire population. One can
however, protect oneself from the chill, but then has to contend with the evil
twin of fog. It is a natural phenomenon which delays and derails daily life in
the metro. There is little else worse than cold, damp, dreary days with dense
fog which refuses to lift till 1 pm. Traffic slows down, jams run for several
kilometres, hundreds of trains run delayed, sometimes up to 24 hours and scored
of flights get delayed, diverted or cancelled. Mighty Delhi is brought to its
knees by the fog each morning.
The cold is such that it sends most residents scurrying
indoors at sundown for a warm cup of coffee or a bowl of invigorating hot soup.
Fortified thus, some venture outdoors well protected by layers upon layers of
warm clothing to meet with friends and enjoy the chill. The less fortunate of
Delhi’s inhabitants however, face the evil twins of biting cold and fog out on
the streets, a place which knows no mercy. With minimum temperatures dropping
below 5°C,
life becomes a continuing battle with the forces of nature. There is an acute
shortage of winter shelters for the homeless in the city, with reports of
existing ones being destroyed by clueless agencies such as the MCD over
relatively petty issues such as permissions lost in gratuitous red tape.
Benevolence is not dead in the city, and it is in this spirit that many kind
hearted people distribute blankets and give away old clothes to the poor &
destitute to try to alleviate some of their suffering.
Although the cold is the same for all citizens, its affects
are felt differently by the people depending on their economical strata. Within
a span of a few meters, the divide is blatantly apparent; with young women
claiming that all the layers of clothing makes them look fat to a homeless
person trying to cover his body with the rags he possesses and wordlessly curling
into a tight ball, accepting his pitiful condition as a part of his life.
Here’s hoping that the cold releases Delhi from its clutches so that life can
resume its course of approximate normalcy.
Only In Delhi.
