‘Wearing a mask? Everything fine?’ – Ravinder Singh questions Delhi’s toxic‑air normalisation

When author Ravinder Singh slipped a mask over his nose and mouth inside his own residential society, he didn’t expect a chorus of questions. Instead, two elderly doctors, who live in the same building of roughly 2,500 families, walked over and asked, “Wearing a mask? Everything fine?”

Singh, a writer more used to weaving words than breathing clean air, shared the encounter on X. He said it made him pause – why does a simple health precaution feel so odd in a place where the air has turned toxic?

His post quickly caught fire. Users from Mumbai, Kolkata and other metros chimed in, swapping similar stories – some of them already accustomed to masks on their city streets, others bewildered that Delhi residents would step out without any protection.

The backdrop to this conversation is grim. On November 8, Delhi’s Air Quality Index surged to 384, a reading the Central Pollution Control Board classifies as “very poor.” Several monitoring stations reported “severe” levels, turning the city’s sky into a haze that even the most seasoned commuters find hard to ignore.

Singh’s observation, though brief, struck a chord. It highlighted a disturbing shift: what was once an emergency now feels like the new normal. The city’s residents seem to have resigned themselves to breathing polluted air, to the point where pulling out a mask can start a dialogue.

Comments poured in. One Mumbai‑based user noted that their own air‑quality numbers, while not as dire as Delhi’s, have also become a daily concern. A voice from Kolkata confessed to wearing masks outdoors for weeks, marveling at Delhi’s apparent indifference.

In the end, Singh’s little anecdote does more than spotlight a personal experience. It asks a larger question – when protecting our lungs requires an explanation, have we already surrendered to the smog?