BETTER BURRR OR BURN?

You like being blinded by the fog or getting soaked in sweat in the scorching heat? Or stepping into a muddy ditch after a heavy pour (quite an exaggeration in the rain deprived Delhi)? I have stayed here for 17 years now and this experience gives me the authority to comment on its weather conditions (unlike climate warrior RK Pachauri’s glacier gaffe!)
I need time to rummage in my memory to talk about nip in the air or dripping sweat during my schooldays (or heydays?), so let me easily start with the weather report in today’s foggy times.
I don’t need a newspaper to stun myself with the dipping temperature record, the layer of clothes I need and the amount of fog I see each time I breathe are determinants enough (loosely) to estimate the burrr-ing intensity. Besides, the controlled cab speed and unending hours spent in the cab while being escorted back home pile up more proofs.
And thanks to this, one of my chums had to spend time in office recently… well... by working until the crack of a ‘clear-sky’ morning!
Falling maximum temperature year after year in autumn and the rising mercury level during summers, 2009-10 saw breaking of past records.

I need no statistics to confirm this change, I am a witness. Here’s little what I recall…

Cold breeze used to pierce through our lightly padded blazers, through cotton uniforms, and even through our skin and make us shiver while waiting to board the school bus early in the morning. No doubt then that the attendance used to take a plunge down during winters more than summers, in the wake of soaring body temperatures!
Hiding in this matter-of-factly situation is another reality: Who wanted to leave the cozy quilt?
Sometimes, early to reach school (just to accompany my study-struck brother), I remember watching the foggy and soggy (due to mist) school Football ground.
It appeared to me as if an artist has given a grey and white gradient effect over the green grass!
Coming to the sweaty season. One does not have a reason for not getting up early, as the sun rays piercing through your window made us rub our eyes in a delayed shock, in case we were late to school!
Till the time we were within the school premises, in the classroom to be precise (who wanted to play outdoors?), it was tolerable. Albeit, lectures without ACs (or coolers, to sound reasonable) was kind of inhumane! Obviously, teachers used to get irritated due to constant call from someone or the other to fill one’s water bottle and then apparently attend to the nature’s call!
But the time the bell declared the end of day at school, we knew the time was not right to start our journey back. With sun over head and rickshawallas not willing to drop home at reasonable rates, haggling all day long we had reasons to crib!

Well, I can just pity the school-goers today! Or perhaps have a reason to cheer as I have crossed that stage! But wait, don’t I just keep saying ‘Wish I could grow up again’? Even today my Gmail status says ‘Wish time machine was a reality’!

CW Goal! Only time will tell…

Forget it! There is no question of fear of failure. Let’s just give up — like our CM Sheila Dikshit! The time the firecrackers adorned the sky on the New Year, I wondered if this is the time to celebrate or worry! 2010 was approaching then and it’s here now, and in 9 months time, will we get a khushkhabri for being successful hosts? Such questions remain best unanswered or should be left for the time to tell…
What follows is an account of Commonwealth Games progress work — Delhi University, September ’09:

Delhi University (DU) won’t just be the learners’ hub anymore! In the course of sprucing up entire Delhi, DU too is seeing some brick and mortar as it will participate in the becoming of Commonwealth Games 2010. For this purpose, the varsity has readily given out a portion (sports ground of seven colleges) of its sprawling campus.
Seeking answer to the big question ‘Will we, won’t we?’ by October 2010, I set foot on the campus. The intent was to find out whether the ‘ground’ is set or are we lagging behind the schedule as public scepticism about the completion is growing.
Starting with St Stephen’s College, it has lost not only its football ground, but also a small Nescafe hangout zone to the Games. As far as my eyes could reach, I could see fallow land with some giant rollers walking at an elephant’s pace.
Moving on to its rival Hindu College! Sadly, they too have parted with their soccer ground and on one side I could see the ribs, bones and muscles of a building, which has yet to get under a skin! The under-construction building will be meant for the participating sportspersons. The ground here too was fallow and brown, waiting for Rugby grass to be sowed!
Entering Ramjas College, one could see some kind of hullabaloo in the lawns. On inquiring I got to know that they have served as substitutes to the playground which is being renovated to serve some other purpose! However, I could not peep in to the original playground as it seemed to have been enclosed from four sides with steel boards neatly displaying ‘Commonwealth Games-2010’ in red.
Moving on to Daulat Ram College, the students have been left in dismay as their festival ground has been taken over. Here too, the ground seemed to be no thoroughfare and I failed to steal a glance!
In the adjacent Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), the work seemed to be in full swing as the ground was laid, and the participants’ quarter construction was on. However, peeking into Khalsa College playground, I could notice a fully constructed Harchand Singh Longowal Sports Complex, while the ground was not for all to see!