Delhi winter

From March to September, Delhi bakes you. It roasts your fragile body at almost 50 degrees Celsius, and throws in power cuts to mess with you some more. It provides no wind for respite, and when it does, it’s in the form of Loo. To provide that finishing touch to your misery, it asks you to share the city with 16 million people, which takes your endurance to its limits.

Sometime mid-October, the tide turns. The fans go off, and full-sleeved shirts are taken out for dry-cleaning. By the first week of November, winter officially arrives. It becomes acceptable to wear a coat on an evening out without people thinking you are overdoing it, and Pepsi is substituted with coffee. Over the weeks that follow, winter intensifies, and brings with it Diwali, the wedding season and new year. This winter takes you to the first month of the year, letting you spend a few more weeks enjoying the Sun, before handing you over to summer, and with it a year of work and toil.

This winter, it being my first in Delhi after many years, I am trying to spend more time out. There’s a lot to do — visit Dilli Haat, take the folks out for a picnic on the weekend, catch some movies at the theatre with my father-in-law (we share very similar taste in movies), and hopefully visit some of the many historic monuments scattered all over Delhi. Here’s one I visited today, where a friend proposed to his long-time girl friend. Called Bada Lao ka Gumbad, this one is right behind Priya in Vasant Vihar. The security guard might try stopping you from entering quoting it’s a historical preserver, just tip him Rs. 50.