India, Nov. 9 -- There is a moment, somewhere between the retreat of Diwali celebrations and the arrival of Lohri's bonfires, when Delhi changes its temperament. The debilitating pollution dispels, the air turns sharper, the mornings stretch languidly in a fine mist, and even the trees seem to pause for reflection. The city-so given to noise, haste, and a certain unrepentant vulgarity-slows down and rediscovers grace. It is winter in Delhi, that brief and beautiful reprieve.

The Delhi winter is a mood, an aesthetic, almost a cultural event. The sunlight, filtered through a gauze of fog, has the softness of nostalgia. The avenues-Lodhi Road, Shanti Path, and the colonial sweep of Kartavya Path-are lined with flowerbeds that suddenly awake...