Delhiwale: From the bridge of sighs

Delhi's pollution prompts thoughts of escape as trains depart, revealing a city of contrasts—beauty and grim realities coexist amidst the smog.

The train engine hoots out a long wail. The sound drifts far up into the afternoon’s smoggy air, disintegrating slowly. The express gives a sudden jerk, and the red coaches start to move, slowly leaving the station. The train will go past the shunting yards, past the grimy backwalls of tall buildings, past the slums, past the suburbs, and will soon be out of city limits. The train passengers will break free from Delhi. And from Delhi pollution.

Beyond the station, the horizon is flanked by the high-rises of Connaught Place. Those familiar towers are today partly shrouded in smog. (HT Photo)

Many of us have built our life on the soil of this city. There are times, though, when the idea of quitting Delhi demands a serious consideration. Such as during these days of extreme pollution. The factor is forceful enough for us to return to this picturesque road bridge in Delhi’s heart. It is a suitable spot to fantasise about staging an escape. Here, you see people literally leaving the city.

The beautiful arched red-brick bridge on Deshbandhu Gupta Marg stands over the rail tracks; its one side directly overlooks the New Delhi railway station. Indeed, the bridge’s broad pedestrian track gives a stunning bird’s-eye view of the station. You see the trains, the platforms, the porters, and the passengers. Straight ahead lurks the rail station’s foot overbridge, occasionally filling up with people carrying suitcases, boxes and bundles. Beyond the station, the horizon is flanked by the high-rises of Connaught Place. Those familiar towers are today partly shrouded in smog (see photo), doubling down on the fact that even at this very moment our city is busy damaging our lungs. It is the rail tracks below that offer some relief by appearing like a multitude of escape routes. An elderly man in saffron dhoti is unhurriedly crossing the tracks. He is carrying no possession, his hands are free. Is he heading to the Shiv Mandir at the station’s platform 7?

The road bridge itself constitutes a grim aspect of the city. It has a staircase littered with used syringes. The wall bears a chalked message in Hindi: “If you want to love me, call at *********.” A gaunt young man is lying motionless on the staircase landing, his pants soiled, his eyes half-closed, his arms scarred with track marks. A heap of rotting subzi on the floor seems to have dried to a stone-hard solidity.

On returning upstairs to the bridge, a train is seen entering platform 5. It is the super-fast Rajdhani Express, arriving from distant Dibrugarh. This moment, the AQI in Dibrugarh, per the Google, is 74. This moment, Delhi’s AQI is…sigh.