Unedited unabridged version of my column Run&Bee in Hindustan Times on 2nd Nov 2019.

Week 70: We all are to be blamed for this poisonous air

Two years ago, around the same time, I was very vocal about how bad the quality of air was and it was hazardous to be out there walking or running. I was trolled incessantly. Running evangelists told me that I was blackmailing cash rich race organisers and had an agenda of my own. Those race organisers were trying to calm me down.

What everyone had forgotten to notice was that I had been training about a 100 folks for 7 months to run that much talked about half marathon. When the air-quality went from bad to worse, I told them that they would not be running outdoors and definitely not participate in any running events for a month. They were heartbroken since they had trained hard but they trusted me enough. They had seen the passion with which my team and I had been with them every step of the way. In the beginning some of them could barely walk briskly for 15 consecutive minutes and now we had them doing 15 plus kilometres in good form.

A couple of days back, I flew back and forth the same day from Delhi to Dehradun. As soon as the flight doors opened at 8 PM in Delhi, I started to cough. On stepping out, my eyes burnt. There seemed to be smoke everywhere.

The air quality difference was so stark. I immediately looked up the Air Quality Index (AQI) at the airport and it showed PM 2.5 to be 999, the highest the monitor could show.

Had something happened to Delhi over last few hours while I wasn’t there or was it building up over last few days? Because of my travel, I had something to compare to. People who have been in the city for last few weeks or more, probably didn’t feel the change in quality of air as much.

The website in which I looked up the AQI, showed that India ranked number one in poor air quality. It’s high time we did something about, together as a society. We need to stop blaming the politicians as they are a part of us. They are what the society is, i.e. pathetic and indifferent to what is happening around us.

Then are those residing in palatial bungalows having the most expensive air-purifiers, wearing high quality masks, passing a judgment on everyone else. They have more than half a dozen cars each, with massive diesel generators as backup for power-cuts. These holier-than-thou folks don’t understand that we need to address the whole environment together.

I had been invited to one such elitist group two years back before I was thrown out in two days, the shortest stint till date, because I like to call a spade a spade. This movement has got to be inclusive, rather than of a particular class alone who suddenly become very righteous.

I am from a farming family and my first cousins still farm. People like them feed us. Rather than isolating them and suggesting to ban cultivation of a certain crop, we need to understand their problems. And, before we point at them, fire-crackers just didn’t happen on their own. In any case, Diwali is a festival of light, so let’s stick to the diyas. Fire-crackers on the other hand, is a recent invention of the Chinese.

I moved my boys at 13 and 10 years of age to the boarding school in Mussoorie where I had studied too. They were asthmatic because of the poor air quality in our city. They would cough throughout the day and could barely run for a minute non-stop. Change of air has helped them run better. My 18 year old has run 55 kms in Ladakh besides running 21 kms for last 3 years. My 13 years old, has been running 10 kms for last 3 years.

If we can, we need to get our children out of this gas chamber we call home. But till then, I request people to work together because none of us will be spared. In the meantime, for next few days, please walk or run indoors on a treadmill or a track. Focus on strength training and your mobility.

Print version from Hindustan Times: