Is this a way to live? Delhi winter joys gone now it’s indoors purifiers on

NOIDA/GURGAON: Winter in Delhi that meant picnics in the capital's expansive greens like Lodhi Garden and Nehru Park, sunny walks in Sunder Nursery and Purana Qila, and slow al fresco lunches at Hauz Khas and Mehrauli seems to have, just like everything else, vanished into the smog.Come winter, the advice now is to stay indoors as much as possible. "Basically, we have to live on filtered air for four months. It seems no different from the lockdown during Covid," says Neha.The IT entrepreneur's ninth-floor flat in Greater Noida is an example of how most of Delhi-NCR is bunkering from pollution this winter when AQI has been at hazardous levels for over a month. It's like this every winter now. Windows stay shut most of the day and air purifiers run continuously in every room.In the 12 years Neha has spent in Delhi, she has seen the air "only get worse". It's a good urban life but the trade-off is a very costly one, she says, if one has to breathe poison for a quarter of the year.The Tripathi family has five members in the household. Neha and her husband Manish, their seven-year-old son, and Manish's parents Ganesh Shankar (73) and Mamta (72). The smog, as a visible reminder of the hazardous air, forces them to weigh every outing against health risks. "Even short walks are ruled out on most days. We want to take our son out and show him different places in Delhi. But we cannot. Clean air and a healthy life are basic elements of quality of life. Is this too much to ask for?" Neha says.The days are like moving from one place with filtered air to another, adds Manish, about his claustrophobic routine. "Our commutes are calculated. I go to work by car, return by car. There is no option to take an afternoon or evening stroll with this air quality," he says. In his desperation for open space, Manish went to play cricket but came back feeling unwell. "I was down with a severe allergic reaction, cough, cold and sore throat infection.""Delhi used to be so beautiful in winters," Neha adds. "Akshardham, Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb, and so many other places to enjoy the sun. But pollution has taken everything. Forget outings, children are not being allowed to go to parks and play because parents fear they will fall ill. It is very difficult to keep a child indoors all the time."Ganesh Shankar, a regular morning walker, would meet up with a peer group early morning and spend some time chatting and exercising. That group activity has been indefinitely suspended. "The fear of asthma and allergic cold has confined them indoors. So they just sit at home and watch TV," Neha says.‘Under house arrest'For Kanak Dwivedi (32), life in Gurgaon was supposed to be a return to comfort and family after years in London. She knew about the pollution but hadn't expected it to be this bad. Since the birth of her daughter in early Sept, Kanak's three-bedroom apartment on the 16th floor of Adani Oyster Grande feels both like a sanctuary and a prison. "We are basically on house arrest. Every time we take the baby out for a medical appointment, she becomes irritable and unsettled for days," she says.The family's daily life is now dictated by air quality readings and medical advice. "Our paediatrician was very clear from the beginning — avoid stepping out unless it's an emergency," says Kanak, who moved to Gurgaon two years ago and now works as a pharmacovigilance executive.Three air purifiers run round the clock, steam inhalation is routine, and the large French window remains shut. Their paediatrician has been unambiguous: avoid stepping out unless it is absolutely needed. "We explained the symptoms to the doctor and were told not to venture out. So we are basically on house arrest," Kanak says.Her husband Vikas Panwar (33), who runs his own blockchain business, and his parents Manju (53) and Vinesh (56), make up the five-member household. "We are used to an active life. We go swimming, gymming and jogging. Now, all mobility has come to a stop. I was advised to go for walks 40 days after giving birth, but I can't because of a persistent cough," she adds.Vikas links the family's pollution anxieties to personal loss."My maternal grandfather died in 2023. He would fall sick every winter and was often hospitalised during this season," he says. "Sometimes, I feel that if conditions were different, he might have survived longer. We are losing parts of our lives to pollution."Everything, Vikas says, is happening indoors, from yoga to ordering food and groceries. Yes, one can get by like this. "But is this a way to live?" he asks.