
The Air That Betrayed Me: A Personal Reckoning with Delhi’s Toxicity
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. Across the US and Europe, white ribbons mark solidarity with patients, caregivers, advocates and doctors. In India, silence reigns, even though 93 of the world’s 100 most polluted cities are here, and here, lung cancer is rising alarmingly among non-smokers, especially young women.
Nearly one in three lung cancer patients in India today has never smoked, and doctors are seeing women in their late 20s and 30s being diagnosed with advanced disease.
This is not a smoker’s disease anymore — it is a breather’s disease, driven by toxic air and environmental exposures.






