India, June 30 -- Oops! Only one person as audience in the hall for a literary gathering. See photo.

Blame the heat. Temperatures are in the 40s. The heat index makes it feel above 50. The programme is due to begin at 5pm.

It is the monthly prose meet at Central Delhi's Ghalib Academy. Open to all, every participant is invited to the podium to read a short story, essay or some such piece of prose that they have written, in any language. But before anyone can read, there has to be an audience.

Yes, dear reader, this is what some of the literary life can look like during Delhi's extreme summer.

Just weeks earlier, despite the oppressive weather, the academy's monthly literary gathering had drawn a higher-than-moderate crowd. This evenin...