New Delhi: Every afternoon, Shanti balances water bottles on her head and walks across the construction site at Sarai Kale Khan. There’s no drinking water where she works, so she walks to the tap at the bus stand. “Paani toh mil jaata hai bus stand ke kone se, lekin dhoop se jaan nikal jaati hai,” she said with the weariness of someone who has spent summers in this drooping mien.As Delhi bakes under the sun, many people endure the heat with the help of plastic bottles, one shadeless shift at a time. From auto drivers slouched in their vehicles to tea vendors praying for customers, TOI saw how people coped with the cruel summer, some by devising ways such as arranging a cooler or finding shade, though many remained helpless, forced to choose between risking their health and losing their livelihood.For Vinod, who grew up watching his father serve tea on the roadside, summer isn’t just about falling sales. It’s the silence. The usual clink of glasses, idle chatter of regulars, incessant honking, everything’s gone. “Sales dropped by half. And this isn’t even peak summer yet,” he said, glaring at the sun for emptying the streets.Auto-rickshaws idled near metro stations, their drivers, with a cloth wrapped around their heads, waiting not just for passengers but for the sun to show mercy. Mohan Sha, 34, has been driving an auto for a decade. “In the summer, honestly, who wants to be riding an auto? So where there should have been Rs 1,000, there’s just Rs 600,” he sighed. “What is more, there are no drinking water spots for us. We have to buy bottled water to survive.“Construction workers are no exception. They move slowly, their silhouettes blurred by heat radiating off iron rods, cement mixers and metallic equipment. Some dig trenches under the open sky, pausing only to sip from warm plastic bottles tucked into the shade of half-built walls. A labourer employed by the Public Works Department groaned, “Outside, it’s humid and as hot as a fire. We do get one capful of water, but after that, there is no guarantee our thirst will be quenched. But we have become habituated to this, to be honest.”Further, construction workers start at 8 am and continue until 5 pm. Ashok, involved in the nearby metro project, said, “For us, there is no water too. We have to walk to the Sarai Kale Khan bus stand in the neighbourhood to get one. We eat food in the open; there is nothing, to be honest. But sending money home is also important.”Near marketplaces, parking attendants pace between rows of bikes and cars, their clothes dark with sweat and faces half-covered to keep the hot wind and dust at bay. They have a water cooler, but not more than that. Ravinder uses his own cooler and umbrella against the heat. “Already three of our men had to go to hospital because of the heat. I myself recently had to go to hospital too. There’s nausea, dehydration and light-headedness. Yet we have to be on our toes so we can earn for our children and families.” Gig workers, darting from one delivery to another, often request a glass of water from customers. Suresh joked darkly, “Customer ka ghar hi hamara paani ka source hota hai.”Amid all this, patients waiting for appointments or treatment at AIIMS or Safdarjung Hospital found temporary respite under trees and in subways or at metro station floors. Mohammad Gulshed sat under a tree with his 6-month-old baby under a tree at AIIMS. “We’re here to treat a hole in her heart,” he said, looking at the infant cradled in his arms. “But what’s the point if the child can’t even sleep in this heat? We can’t afford to rent rooms and there’s no shelter.“In various voices, these people announced that in Delhi summer, survival isn’t a metaphor. It’s a minute-by-minute decision — whether to rest, sweat, stop or simply carry on.
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