The writer is Dawn’s correspondent in Delhi.
JOSH Malihabadi had a word for the pervasive suffocation that Indians are swamped by of late. “Ab boo-i-gul na baad-i-saba maangtay hain log/ Woh habs hai ke loo ki dua maangtay hain log” (The scent of flowers, the morning breeze, look distant if nice/ In this suffocating stillness a blast of scalding heat would suffice).
In this stillness, both political and cultural, came natural elation over the Allahabad High Court’s ruling recently on civil marriages. The court deleted the waiting time and notice period of 30 days before a civil marriage could take place in Uttar Pradesh. The wait was a needless imposition, the court felt. And the requirement of a public notice impinged on the privacy of those who wanted to marry sans fanfare.