Bonne Année

Boy, what an year 2010 was! It was an year riddled with scams; so many of them that we have to invent a new search engine to just wade through them. Then there was Obama’s visit, Sarkozy’s visit, Hu Jintao’s visit. But that’s not all to the past year. It was also the year when I decided that I have had enough of the comfortable environs of Pune and that it was now time to brave the icy winds of Delhi. Delhi hasn’t let me down. Every morning it sends a chill down my bones when I get out of my warm and cosy bed.

It is said that some people in Delhi don’t feel any cold. I had heard and read about them in magazines and movies but never quite believed it. But its true! Delhi girls don’t feel any cold. They have waxed off their goose bumps and apparently live and die by the tagline “Jitna kam pehnoge, utna hot dikhoge”. They are a burning topic (no pun intended) for scientific study to find out what kind of heat insulating/generating system they have which helps them wade through chilly winds while we lesser folks remain trapped behind layers of clothing looking like Eskimos on North Pole.

There are many ways to fight off the Delhi cold though. The easiest way is to go to your neighbourhood vegetable store and ask for price of onions. You needn’t even buy it; just asking for its price would make you feel the heat. If you are of adventurous kind, you may also ask for tomato and milk but do so at your own risk.

In case you are feeling particularly cold, you may try crossing the road and more often than not a Tata Sumo with “Gujjar Boy” written behind it will zoom past you. It is sure to get your adrenaline pumping and is a perfect way to fight off the cold. And hey, don’t curse the poor and downtrodden gujjar boy! He probably would have been in a hurry to block rail and road tracks for getting 5% reservation in jobs.

If crossing the road still doesn’t warm you up then try getting on to any DTC bus. The behaviour of driver, conductor and fellow passengers would surely leave your blood boiling. But always remember, they too are just trying to stay warm in the harsh winter.

If you have any more suggestions to fight off the Delhi cold, then please do share them. In the hindsight, looking at the hots and colds which 2010 brought, it would surely figure in my top ten years of last decade!