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‘Ready to go into debt’: Woman living in Bengaluru vows to move parents out of Delhi amid worsening AQI
A woman living in Bengaluru said she is considering moving her parents out of Delhi, describing the city as a gas chamber amid worsening air pollution.
A woman originally from Delhi who has shifted to Bengaluru has sparked a wider conversation on air pollution and privilege after sharing an emotional video about her desire to move her parents out of the capital amid deteriorating air quality.
The clip, recorded at a Delhi Metro station, shows Simridhi Makhija describing the physical shock she experienced upon returning to the city after spending nearly two months in Bengaluru.
In the video, she says, “I am ready to go into debt and ruin my financial health, but I want to move my parents out of Delhi. I had been living in Bengaluru for the past 60 days and now I am visiting my parents in Delhi, this gas chamber called Delhi, and the moment I landed, I couldn’t stop coughing. The person with me was like, are you okay, do you need water.”
The video ends on a deeply personal note as Makhija reflects on the link between money and survival in polluted cities. “I am now willing to go into debt and move my parents out of this gas chamber. There is nothing more embarrassing than living in a city where you cough right after landing. I also realised how important it is to earn money, because unless you have that, you are really going to struggle even for your breath,” she says.
She captioned the clip, “I will go into debt. But I want to move my parents out of here.”
Watch the video here:
Online reactions echo shared anxiety
The clip has drawn several reactions from social media users, many of whom expressed similar fears and frustrations. One user commented, “I would have said move to Mumbai, but it’s a gas chamber here as well,” while another wrote, “Do it. Money can be made. You won’t get your parents’ health back.”
A third user asked, “Will your parents agree?” Others pointed to alternatives and despair, with one saying, “Hyderabad skies were as blue as some foreign countries today,” and another adding, “We live in Delhi, just imagine what we are going through.”
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)
