The mercury in Lucknow has suddenly rediscovered gravity with a new passion, and is down like crazy. Just like last year, those damned "Western disturbances" have caused another cold wave. Already almost a 100 people have died in U.P. and we aren't even into January. I remember December last year, and it was not so cold. Full-day-fog had not made its appearance, and we would get the regular hours of sunshine. January was horrible last year, with hundreds dying in U.P. and Bihar, both states declaring it a calamity.

This year, the last few days of december have been like January last year. It makes me shudder, literally and figuratively, at the idea of what this January would be like. What makes the cold even more unbearable is the wind. Biting chilly winds blow whole day long, and they make the outdoors seem even colder than they are.

Thankully, I am going to escape the worst of the cold wave, since I will be in Pune and Konkan during the first week of January. Here I come. :)