'Pollutyens' Delhi, 'Chandni Choke': Shashi Tharoor Shares Hilarious Names For Delhi Areas Amid Pollution Crisis

When the air gets unbreathable, Delhi turns to humour to breathe. Amid the smog, social media has turned to satire to make its point. Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also joined the trend, sharing a set of edited images that renamed famous Delhi localities with pollution-themed puns. The images, which were originally shared in his college alumni group, featured clever wordplay on the names of several well-known localities. Lutyens' Delhi was renamed Pollutyens' Delhi, Hauz Khas became Haze Khas, and Dhaula Kuan was turned into Dhua Kuan, while Chandni Chowk was renamed Chandni Choke.

Another image took a sarcastic swipe at the worsening air, placing Delhi's AQI reading of 1,747 next to a mock IQ score of 0000. Sharing the images on X, Tharoor credited his college alumni group and added a playful caption, using a pun on the word AQI to suggest that the pictures were still relevant.

"From my college alumni group: Picture ab bhi bAQI hain," he wrote while sharing the images.

Check the post here:

The post quickly caught attention, and many appreciated the humour and clever wordplay, while others used it to highlight the seriousness of a crisis that remains a major concern for residents.

One user said, "Fun fact: India's official AQI scale stops at 500. Delhi seems to treat that as a starting price."

Another wrote, "Good one Mr tharoor, off the track I really wonder how your alumni group looks like, what great intellects would be the part of that group. What sort of daily discussions, gossips you all would have."

Delhi's air quality improved marginally to enter the 'poor' category on Tuesday, with the AQI settling at 299, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed. On Monday, the day after Diwali, the capital's average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 376, in the 'very poor' category. The improvement was observed due to wind speed picking up.