Take it easy

For the average Indian, winter in Delhi is pretty cold,reminding us of all the late-rising, blanket wielding smugness. Anyone without the customary winter protection is viewed with awe and suspicion as if there is a mischievous trick to it.

On such a cold December morning, sometime after the winter solstice I was waiting at the Sector-18 metro station headed for Rajiv Chowk. In my mind's eye I was comparing and competing with my to-be co-passengers, over our layers of winter-wear. I had put on just a half-sweater and my pride was swelling. There was one guy with a thin looking wind-sheeter, but I over-ruled his seemingly superior austerity by imagining it to be a real good wind-sheeter and probably a woolen/silk shirt of good insulating capabilities underneath. There was one old sadhu, with a bedraggled blanket. It was quite prosaic to dismiss him. He never took a bath and had an extra layer of dirt on his body and clothes to protect him and he was more used to hardships in life. A stray limping dog on the street below was disdainfully overlooked. It had its fur, it was biologically more suited to sudden needs for acclimatization, and it had very few options. My eyes wavered and got fixated on a beautiful lady on the other platform, wearing kind of a party dress from last night. I must have turned green like the available status of gtalk. Mercifully, her husband came from nowhere (for I was too focussed with envy) and wrapped a shawl around her lovingly. She was derisively snubbed out of contention. A teenage couple were wearing those trendy hooded pullovers. Easy meat! They were no match whatsoever. Besides, they were teenagers. Their blood was still hot and they probably were in love. Next! A young stud was

wearing a woolen blazer. I figured he was not much of a stud if he had to try that hard to keep himself warm.

My train arrived a minute before the time it showed on the forecast-clock. ( Good progress my motherland ) I was pushed inside immediately after the doors opened. It felt like I had been slotted. The train started with its customary jolt and I was finally moving. The gleaming early rays of the sun washed over the sleepy city and I could feel the mornings freshness, the promise. As my eyes wandered around with a new found optimism, I saw two urchins starting off on their begging duty wearing nothing but tattered rags. It was humbling.