Delhiwale: A time to reflect

A winter evening walk around a south Delhi lake

The receding sun has stained the sky with tints of red. And not only the sky — it looks like the lake’s waters, too, are on fire. Yet, the air is cold.

Winter evenings in south Delhi’s Hauz Khas, the area around the lake, turn the place into more than what it really is. (Mayank Austen Soofi)

Winter evenings in south Delhi’s Hauz Khas, the area around the lake, turn the place into more than what it really is. For a moment, this pool, or hauz, of partially-treated wastewater, surrounded with a tree-lined walking track, gets infused with an assortment of colours and moods.

On one rare evening, the sky is free of the customary Delhi smog, enabling the setting sun to take centre stage. From certain vantage points, its golden colour seems to be bleeding straight into the water, and the glassy surface of the lake turns into an alternate sky. A handful of evening walkers can be spotted here and there, along with a few monkeys. The area is dense with grass, and some days ago, this reporter had come across a snake slithering down this very path.

In one corner of the lake, a boat is marooned. It is lying tilted, its front tipped upwards, its rear half-sunk.

Soon, the sky turns a deeper red, and so does the water. The colour gets more intense, so solid and tangible that you might as well raise your hand and pluck it like a fruit from the tree.

And then suddenly it’s gone, all of it. The red colour, the sun and the magic. Some light lingers for a moment, and then everything turns black. The lake disappears, looking like a shiny void. This is the moment when the island in the centre of the lake comes alive, with hundreds of bats flying out of its many trees. Now another magic begins.