India, Nov. 28 -- I won't lie. It's been a struggle. Ever since the pollution kicked in with a vengeance in Delhi, I have been - quite literally - breathless. As an asthmatic, at the best of times, breathing can be a challenge. But when the air is as noxious as it has been in the national capital for weeks on end, drawing a breath becomes a battle - and one that I regularly lose.

So, for the last month or so I have been locked away in my house, air purifiers going on at full blast in every room, inhaler at the ready, and nebuliser on red alert. And despite all these measures, I have a hacking cough that refuses to quit, an inexhaustible supply of phlegm that I constantly cough up, burning eyes, et al. And because of this, I can't remembe...