With mercury levels plunging well below 10 degree Celsius, the Delhi government recently installed geysers at 20 night shelters. Mohd Muqeem, 42, a native of Kishanganj district in Bihar, who works at an eatery in Old Delhi where he makes tandoori rotis, spends his nights at a shelter near Delhi Gate. He says life has changed for the better since the geysers were installed. 1. Since when have you been coming to this shelter? I came to Delhi looking for work in 1998 and since then, I have always spent nights at rain basera (night shelters). But it's only seven months ago that I started coming to this shelter. Until then, I used to spend the nights at another shelter not far from here. 2. So you have a geyser in your shelter. Yes, the geyser was installed nearly a week ago. Since then, life has become much better, especially since it's quite cold these days. Now that the geyser has been installed, I can take a bath before leaving for work early in the morning and start my day afresh. 3. How had you been managing so far? Earlier, I would go without a bath for days. I leave for work early, around 6.30 am and it's usually too cold to bathe. Some days, I would bathe at the restaurant I work whenever I got time. Now, things are much simpler. 4. Who gets to bathe first? Do quarrels break out? Not really. This night shelter has about 45 occupants. We all leave at different timings. For example, when I leave, most of the other occupants are sleeping. So, there is hardly a rush. 5. Do people from other night shelters come here to use warm water? No, they don’t. Only the occupants of this night shelter use the geyser. Those living in the other shelters make alternate arrangements within their shelter.
