Choked up yet checking on Spring!
Delhi sucks! It literally does. Sucks in all the fumes of around eight million metric tonnes of agricultural debris that’s burnt in the nearby Haryana and Punjab (Yes, Punjab, Mr Kejriwal). Add to this paddy stubble burning, the rants of the Dilliwalas on the helplessness of the local state government and the apathy of authorities – you get a heady mix of aerosols including smoke, dust and other air pollutant particles along with the fumes of ordinary Dilliwalahs. Caged and hopeless with sadly no authority taking suo motu action despite Delhi being the seat of power and the dwelling place of the powerful.
Dilliwalahs, being the way they are, see a positive side to this smog that virtually limits one’s vision. You can’t see the filth around you anymore (Swachh Bharat by default) and you can’t see that uncle who parks his car awkwardly to stand besides the compound wall for a leak. You don’t get to see Mr Arvind Kejriwal screaming at you from every other billboard. The lethargic can avoid morning walks for that’s what the doctors have ordered. And since low visibility leads to traffic snarls one can be pardoned for being late to work.
Now before you jump the gun and point a finger of complete inaction on ‘authorities’ – behold. They are tied up with more pressing issues such as blacking out news channels. So preoccupied are the authorities that they don’t even have the bandwidth to answer a simple question such as ‘Bagon mein bahar hai?’ (Is there spring in the gardens?). Ravish Kumar of NDTV tried and failed. He now gets a day off to ponder.
