It felt like someone had stuffed burning tyres, a hundred unstubbed cigarettes and the contents of an open drain into my nose and down my throat. I thought I was going to die.

It was early November. I remember waking up gagging like the rest of Delhi and parts of the National Capital Region. The stench was so foul that I could not only smell but taste it.

I made the mistake of stepping out onto my balcony to get some fresh air but instead I inhaled toxic fumes. Within seconds the incessant coughing began, my eyes wateredand a shooting headache gripped me.

One didn’t even need to switch on the news to confirm what I instinctively knew: Delhi had turned into a gas chamber - with poisonous gases 70 times the permissible limit! And I was in the heart of it.

While the better off amongst us followed doctors’ orders to stay indoors, wear masks and buy expensive indoor air purifiers, millions of others suffered a more miserable fate. I’m referring to the underprivileged, the homeless who can’t afford these luxuries, people who need to be on the move for work and infants, children and the elderly whose immune systems are weaker. #RightToBreathe

Masks and purifiers are jugaad (quick-fixes). They don’t solve the problem. They delay doom. What we need are sustainable, long-term solutions and carpooling is on of them. 

I’ve started my petition. Sign and share my petition if you believe you have a right to clean air today.

#RightToBreathe #Carpooling #Longtermsolution #SupportOddEven