It’s like living in a gas chamber; like smoking 8-13 cigarettes. That’s the quality of the air Delhi-ites are breathing ever since our biggest, grandest festival of Diwali got over.
Pictures like these, floating on social media would give you an idea of our days. Shanghai also faced something like this, the government there asked the schools and offices to shut down, post 3 days of dangerous pollution levels.
I start reading twitter feeds of our Ministers- in-charge, in hope of reading some concrete steps that could reduce the health damage to my kid and loved ones. But alas, someone is busy being inside the jail and hence crucial meeting scheduled to discuss pollution was called off. What difference would another 24 hours make?
Disappointed, I start exploring self-help tips to stay away from pollution. They say staying indoors is the best. How easy does that sound. And knowing the impracticality of that idea, I wander off in my dreamland, wishing we lived in a world where we could just stay indoors, money could keep flowing in the bank without moving our butt, children could get formal and informal education by sitting inside forever, houses could get cleaned automatically, groceries could self-replenish themselves and health check-ups be done on their own!
I get back to reality and move to other points that could seem a little more practical, and oh I read someone’s got out of the jail. I hope he can now breathe and see the same toxic air. Anyway, buying air purifier is the next suggested thing. Alright, that sounds good. Woah! They are priced more than INR Ten Thousand and wait, there’s one for INR 50k as well? What the hell! They say it’s like buying an ac, you have one for each room, right? So, with a child in the house, who can’t stay at one place for more than 10 minutes, I need to have one purifier for each room. Well, why not? After all, it’s health! Surely we can invest that much money to take care of our lungs. I ask around in friends to take recommendations on the available brand, but guess what, no one has used it before! I could be spending a lot of money on something that I don’t know would work or not. Could the government at least give some insights into recommended specifications or brands?
Oh, he has moved to Bhiwani.
Wear masks if you must move out, says another pointer. Surely that’s do-able. To drop off my girl to her bus stop, I took out the masks and while I was still explaining to her why we are doing what we are doing, she took it out saying she feels uncomfortable and I, much to the looks of the passers-by, kept wearing it. I felt like the only one concerned about my well-being. Maybe they aren’t reading the news, maybe they don’t know they can wear masks. Maybe they think I am too sensitive, maybe they think I look funny. Maybe, whatever, I ask my mind to stop putting these questions in my mind, as I confidently get back home, with the resolve to wear it whenever I should go out. Next few hours, going to the nearby market, picking up the girl back and going to the neighbor’s, I kept forgetting about the mask. They say it takes 21 days to develop a habit!
Not wanting to give up this fight, I keep reading. Surely, there must be some way of combating it, which I could do at my own level, without being dependent on some law makers? Don’t exercise, avoid morning walks, keep the ac on (yes, in winters, with an already blocked nose?!), it goes on and ends with move out of Delhi.
The Dark Knight rises was a movie where Gotham savior, Batman, returns from his recluse to save his beloved city from a deadly nuclear destruction. Signing off in the hope that someone will rise up and if nothing else, give a clear picture of how disastrous the situation is, what is the probability of things improving and how can as citizens we help or do to get clean air?
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