Smog, Sweet Smog | Power Play by Anand Mishra
The HinduPublished : Dec 06, 2024 18:12 IST - 4 MINS READ Dear readers, So here we are again—Parliament’s winter session unfolds like a well-rehearsed drama, complete with its predictable plot twists and familiar cast of characters. My relatives and friends, many with children or relatives working in the capital, keep asking the same question: “How do people live there?” It’s a fair question—and one that Delhi’s residents ask themselves every morning as they check the day’s AQI readings like other people check cricket scores. The Aam Aadmi Party’s Raghav Chadha told the Modi government to “talk about AQI not AI”—a clever soundbite, but like most clever soundbites, it’s all flash and no substance. In the annual ritual of clever Delhi pollution tweets, American entrepreneur Bryan Johnson called out to hotels marketing “clean air as a service” and historian William Dalrymple called Delhi a “tragic choking death trap”. As Delhi’s Assembly election approaches, we’ll hear plenty about pollution, but it is most likely to be, as Shakespeare said, just “sound and fury, signifying nothing”.